“ADAC is pleased to partner with the American Craft Council’s ‘Make Room: Let’s Entertain’ exhibition. When we heard about the opportunity to create a room vignette, we immediately thought that designer Tish Mills would be up for the challenge.”
— Katie Belveal, general manager, ADAC

About ADAC: ADAC has more than 60 showrooms offering 1,200 of the design industry’s finest product lines including furniture, fabric, rugs, lighting, and more. In addition, ADAC hosts industry presentations, educational programming, and networking opportunities each year.
 

Designer: Tish Mills, ASID for ADAC
Design firm: Harmonious Living by Tish Mills
Inspiration: Becky and Steve Lloyd, ceramic vessels; Michael Szabo, sculpture
Design style: The common characteristic of my work is that all spaces are peaceful and balanced. I believe great design is not a reflection of the designer but a reflection of the homeowner and setting, so I incorporate collections or items that are dear to the homeowner.
Vision: The piece that struck me by Becky and Steve Lloyd is light and balanced but has such a complex and intricate pattern. I love the simple, neutral color palette mixed with the strength of the piece. Coupled with that, I'm inspired by the grace of Michael Szabo's piece.

Designer: Loretta J. Willis, ASID
Design firm: Loretta’s Interior Design
Inspiration: Jorn Piel and Kathleen Braunschweiger, wooden vase with precious stones
Design style: I’m known for my classic and timeless interiors with French and English influences. I use custom furnishings and treatments, layering in diverse colors and textiles to personalize my spaces.
Vision: This is my second year participating in the ACC Atlanta show. This year, I’ve chosen Piel and Braunschweiger’s beautiful colored vase. I’ll use it with classic furnishings to draw the occupant of the room in to take a closer look and to inspire his or her own creativity.

Designer: Jackie Naylor, ASID
Design firm: Jackie Naylor Interiors
Inspiration: Brooks Barrow, ceramic tea light holders; Mike Sluder, metal vessel
Design style: I love the eclectic and transitional, and most often present spaces that are simple and uncluttered. I love contrast between light and dark, materials and surfaces.
Vision: Sluder’s vessel caught my eye immediately with its elegant yet casual nature. The gentle movement of the curves with a slight touch of bronze gives it a twist of informal elegance. I’ll place the vessel front  and center on a table in my vignette. It will be enhanced by the clean and simple design of Barrow’s stone votives. The irregular and organic nature of the votives complements the curved vessel, with the candlelight illuminating the flecks of bronze and showcasing its implied movement.

Designer: Rick Anthony Bonner
Design firm: Insidedesign
Inspiration: Lucrezia Bieler, papercraft; Michael Scarborough, wooden tea set and serving tray
Design style: My style is cosmopolitan but comfortable, curated without being kitschy. I consider it referential rather than derivative. My approach is to create a classic modern mash-up that’s never a repeat of anything I’ve done before.
Vision: The intricate cut-out designs of Bieler’s woodland settings inspired the design of my space, “Tea in the Garden with Sabrina and Julia,” a tribute to my young nieces. It led me to Scarborough’s fairy-tale tea set; its organic structure and smooth turning is a perfect complement to the paper piece.

Designer: David William D’Ambrosio, ASID
Design Firm: Redefined Home Boutique, Inc.
Inspiration: Amy Flynn, Fobot, mixed media
Design style: My design style is urban classic. I use neutral tones and incorporate texture and patterns to bring the space to life. I add a sense of timelessness by layering vintage and antique one-of-a-kind pieces that complement the new.
Vision: I was drawn to Flynn’s work because each piece has a soul and a story. Each Fobot (a “found object robot”) comes with its own tiny heart and birthday certificate. I want to take the fanciful world of Flynn’s Fobots and turn them into a space full of unexpected twists and surprises.

Designer: Loren Audrey Taylor, ASID
Design firm: Anna Abrams Design
Inspiration: Alan Daigre, wooden chaise lounge
Design style: When I design a room, I make the key function of the room be the focal point — for example, if I am designing a bedroom, the bed; a living room, sitting spaces; kitchen, place of fire/stove and the table; and so forth. Stylistically I run the gamut from classic to new traditional.
Vision: When I saw Alan Daigre’s chaise, it spoke to the interest in ancient world classic furniture I developed at the tender age of 5. I was obsessed with furniture related to Mesopotamian and Egyptian cultures; something about this chaise brought that to mind.

Designer: Lori May
Design firm: Lori May Interiors LLC
Inspiration: Derek Hennigar, carved wood chair; Lynn Pollard, fiber wall hanging; Jim Whalen, ceramic vase
Design style: I call my work “clean traditional.” I start with a traditional core design and add modern touches.
Vision: Hennigar’s beautiful chair inspired me to create a space for a gathering of friends and family. It will be complemented by Pollard’s indigo-dyed paper piece, which sparks something different in my imagination every time I look at it. The deep orange of Whalen’s vase, with its rich textures, adds a warm and welcoming touch.

Designer: Erika Hollinshead Ward, ASID
Design firm: Erika Ward Interiors
Inspiration: Cindy Grisdela, quilt
Design style: I love merging bold color and patterns with classic pieces, and am drawn to warm wood furnishings. I almost always incorporate some sort of ethnic print into my spaces, in the form of ikat (a dyeing technique used to pattern textiles) or chinoiserie.
Vision: I’ll be creating a contemporary space that invokes nostalgia through the quilt and invites the occupant to feel comfortable and at home.

Designer: Chip Cheatham, ASID
Design firm: Chip and Company LLC
Inspiration: David Bryce, clay sculpture; Vicki Essig, textile wall piece
Design style: My work is classic, modern, and intuitive, with an eye toward the East, where I travel and work with local artisans to design furnishings, as well as collect unique decorative objects. I delight in using organic natural materials, light, shadows, and clean lines to define spaces.
Vision: My design combines the best of modern, uncluttered living with the natural and organic to create a tactile, harmonious living environment that reinforces our connection with nature. Here, I’m layering in the delicate threads of Essig’s fine woven textile piece with hard, unyielding surfaces and smooth materials. The Bryce sculpture adds a bit of the Eastern aesthetic I love.

Designers: Julia Stainback and James Hess, AIA
Design firm: Stainback-Hess Studio
Inspiration: Keith Holt, wooden sculpture; Kathleen Plate, recycled glass chandelier
Design style: As architect-designers, we favor well-executed design - whatever the style. Modern architecture was born from an artistic reaction to classical design. What makes any architectural style successful is simplicity of form, attention to detail, and skilled balance of proportion.
Vision: Plate's recycled glass chandelier is both a statement piece and an architectural element in our room. Holt's beautiful carved sculpture injects classical references into a contemporary style. We like that wood and glass are primary design elements of both the architecture and craft of this soft, intimate space.