I have a special treat today! We will be touring Meg Hosler's home, that is Meg of Meggie H. Interiors.
Meg
Hosler is the founder of Meggie H. Interiors. As a former educator and
full time mother, Meg has always maintained a passion for decorating.
Meg’s interest in decorating was very obvious from early on in her life
as she enjoyed her mother's decorating magazines instead of the usual
teen ones. I would say that's a sure sign!
Meg's obvious love for
decorating was undeniable and instead of the usual gifts for a graduate
she was received her first oriental rug. Fortunately Meg's husband was
smart and understood his wife's love for all things involved with
interior decorating. She chose beautiful paintings and furnishings to
fill their lovely home. After receiving encouragement from a dear
friend, Meg started Meggie H. Interiors. After fifteen years of
renovating and decorating five homes of her own and helping numerous
friends with theirs, Meg started Meggie H. Interiors in 2008, working
part time while still maintaining focus on her family. Eight years
later with her first born setting off to college and her baby about to
get his driver’s license, Meg is able to pursue her passion full time.
Meggie
H. Interiors is a decorating, and interior design consulting firm
located in Wenham, Massachusetts, just north of Boston near Cape Ann. You can visit and contact Meg Hosler at
Meggie H. Interiors.
Meg, your home is rich in color from the walls to the paintings and textiles. Have you always been drawn to color?
I
love color, however it is more about the space and the climate. My
first home was in the Silicon Valley where it is sunny and hot most of
the year. Add to that, most of the architecture leans towards
contemporary. Using lots of bold color in our first home wouldn't have
worked. It would have made the space feel as hot as the outdoors, as
well as dealing with high ceilings and walls without breaks, saturated
wall colors would have been too intense. I went with an all blue and
white theme, keeping the walls white and the textiles in various blues
and white. It wasn't until I moved back to Massachusetts, where the
climate is colder for most of the year and many homes have been built
before 1930, that I began to go a bit bonkers with saturated colors. If I
were to decorate an older home on the east coast in a warm climate,
like Florida, I would use color, but paler softer colors for walls, then
bring in more saturation with accessories and fabrics.
Do you believe that people can have an emotional response to certain colors?
Absolutely,
emotionally and physically!! It has has been scientifically proven. The
book 'Drunk Tank Pink' written by Adam Alter is a great resource on the
science behind how color affects us. I highly recommend reading the
Prologue and chapter seven, entitled Colors. The title of the book is
based on Professor Alexander Schauss' paper he wrote for the academic
journal 'Orthomolecular Psychiatry' where he goes on to explain how pink
is a soothing color, hence why drunk tanks were painted pink. Pink was
also used in sports, using it to paint the visiting team's locker room.
It was shown that the athletes with the pink locker room did not perform
as well. It is now illegal to paint an opposing team's locker room
pink. I love pink in a living room because of its soothing quality, well
that and pink makes everyone look better.
Dining Room
When
decorating a room, what is the first step for you? Everyone starts
somewhere different it seems. Is the color first? Where does the idea
come from? Is a fabric pattern? Wallpaper? Or art?
Great question
and my answer is simple. What will the room be used for? Will children
be in here, pets? Will it be used for entertaining? Is it going to be a
formal or informal space? From there I will go to what the most costly
item the client owns that will be in the space. Usually it is an
oriental rug, but it may be a piece of art work. If we are starting the
room from scratch then I start with a printed fabric. This will be that
to die for fabric that the client absolutely loves and has to have. Now
that I know what colors I have to choose from, I let the room pick how
those colors will be used. How much sunlight does the space get? Do we
need to make the space bigger or cozier? How do the clients want to feel
while they are in that room? Once I have all these questions answered I
can pull it all together.
As
you all know my house is over the top with color, however my kitchen is
very neutral with white and cherry cabinets, soapstone counters, black
appliances, dove white woodwork and pale oak walls. My pop of color
would be the oriental rugs I have on my pine floors. They give the room
so much warmth and they are marvelous at hiding dog fur. - Meg
I
know many with the neutral homes rely heavily on accessories to bring
interest into the room. In a sense does the color fill the room so that
there is less need for small clutter?
I don't think so. In fact, I
think the answer to that can be found in the first part of your
question. If someone needs more accessories to make their neutral space
interesting, then that tells me that they aren't happy with their space
being neutral, but are afraid to commit to painting the room a color or
to use a bold fabric. Accessories should be things you LOVE,
collectibles, family heirlooms, art and memories. You can have a very
colorful room and still have lots of accessories. However, when you are
purchasing pieces to just fill space, they will just be things and
things can't make you happy. Take the chance and paint the room, if you
hate it after 4 months, paint it back. It may end up being less money
than all that useless tchotkes you would have purchased.
The
biggest mistake being playing it safe. Now I believe do what you love,
never settle, and if it doesn't work change it. - Meg
Library
I
painted the whole room in a high gloss coral. The only way to make a
dark room light is with lamps, not paint. However, you can make it feel
warm and that is why I had the entire space painted coral. - Meg
Some
say we are drawn to the colors we would wear, is that an accurate
description for you and do you think that is why you are drawn to
certain colors?
I do believe that there is some truth to that. We
all have colors we love and colors we dislike, so it only makes sense
that we want to surround ourselves with colors that make us happy. I
tend to wear a lot of black and grey, colors I rarely use when
decorating. However, I do find myself drawn to orange based pinks,
whether they are pale peach, apricot, salmon, or deep coral. In almost
every room in my home you will find an orangey pink, even if it is just a
bit in an oriental rug or painting.
Dressing Room
Are you loyal to a color or do you find yourself bored with colors and want to change them often?
The
curse of being a decorator. We always find something on our hunts for
clients that make us want to redo our whole space. Right now I am still
in love with my pink living room and coral library, and they have been
these colors for over five years. I love my bold blue dining room and it
probably receives the most compliments, but I have seen a half dozen
other wallpapers I would love to redecorate with and they are all green.
As for my clients, I pay attention to the colors they love and how
those colors will work in their spaces.
Jan
