Thank You to Our Supporters at High Point & Design on a Dime!

11 May Thank You to Our Supporters at High Point & Design on a Dime!

Posted at 22:06h in Design by Deborah Main 0 Comments

Photography by, and with permission from, Jonathan Legate.

Its never too late to say thank you and one can never say it quite enough….especially to those individuals who have supported my work from the very beginning (like some of you!) and those of you who’ve recently discovered my work and support it now, continually opening up new and exciting opportunities for Deborah Main Designs.

April was a BIG month for our little studio this year! I am truly grateful to two incredibly talented interior designers who showcased my one-of-a-kind pillows in their spaces: Jonathan Legate and Kelli Ellis. And two savvy small business owners who exhibit at High Point Market each year: Heather Karlie Viera of 20th Century by HKFA (who debuted the Modern Look Book – read my interview with Heather HERE) in the Antique & Design Center and Ruth Olbrych of Antiques by ZAAR in the ZAAR Design Center.

Jonathan Legate – Thank you to Jonathan Legate, the first international designer invited to participate in Design on a Dime NYC (DOADNYC). Above are the three pillows I handcrafted for his vignette and below are some images of his vignette. It was such an honor to custom design with Jonathan and be one of fifteen donors for his gorgeous vignette at DOADNYC. Jonathan’s vignette was in the top tier of highest selling spaces and helped reach 1.2 million. A staggering amount raised for Housing Works!! Congratulations to all the designers and vendors who participated in this outstanding event sponsored by Elle Decor.

Graphic design by, and with permission from, Design on a Dime Benefit.

You may not know this about me, but my heart has and always will be with non profits. Prior to creating decorative pillows, I was a staunch advocate for young and old, starting a chapter of Generations United in Texas and volunteering or 5 years as a C.A.S.A. (Court Appointed Special Advocate). I then raised my own family, discovered my artistic expression through pillows and now donate hundreds of dollars every year through our in-kind pillow donations for many local and national causes from breast cancer to child abuse prevention to ending homelessness. Being an advocate for three helpless young children ( whom I still keep in touch with today) made me realize long ago I could not save the world, but

if I could help one child, one family, one elderly person, and one homeless person, then I would make the world a better place one pillow at a time.

Photography by, and with permission from, Jonathan Legate.

The above one-of-a-kind Deborah Main pillow, displayed on a modern wing back chair donated by Ambella Home, is handcrafted from a vintage Richard Allen silk scarf in a very striking mosaic pattern. It is backed with rich black velvet and the scarf is hand stitched to the top of the pillow.

Photography by, and with permission from, Jonathan Legate.

Jonathan’s vignette had so many generous vendors who donated many, many beautiful items from all the mirrors, to the incredible rug, chairs and more. Please see list HERE.

Designing for two top interior designers was exciting and challenging, but I loved it because both projects were completely different. With Jonathan, he was very involved in the design process and more hands on because his vision was for a stand alone vignette for Design on a Dime charity event in NYC and he wanted it all to be perfect. Jonathan had pieces of his vision, but it all came together when he fell in love with the gorgeous rug. Please see my interview with Jonathan HERE.

I was nervous about working with both designers because lots of people and other top interior designers and press would be viewing these rooms. So with Jonathan, I will admit I panicked for a moment not sure if I’d ever find the perfect textiles for him.

What reassured me, is I didn’t have to look further than my own studio to hit the nail on the head, as I had the textiles all along in my collection.

I also discovered that Jonathan was a “purist” like me who valued “the integrity of the designer scarf” so we agreed I’d hand stitch the scarf on the pillow. Jonathan also wanted black velvet piping on one of the vintage textiles. I must say, his choices helped create stunning pieces for a completely unique vignette project and look. His color palette was soft and very specific with a gold/moss green/cream and black color way. I was also able to offer him one of our new “Linen and Wood” pillows below.

Photography by, and with permission from, Jonathan Legate.

Above is a sneak peek of our brand new pillow collection “Linen & Wood”. Jonathan and I selected a fabulous moss green modern vintage French trim. Our new collection attaches any of our vintage French trims (we have a huge collection!) to a wooden circle, stained in black, hand turned by Jeff Hornung of The Walnut Log. Jeff and I had been working on this new collection for about six months so it was absolutely thrilling to have both Jonathan and Kelli feature our NEW Linen & Wood pillows in their spaces. I love how the green trim complemented the beautiful moss velvet chairs donated by Empirical Home. (New Linen & Wood pillow collection will be available on our BRAND NEW website, coming VERY soon, so please sign up for our blog HERE, so you don’t miss a thing!)

Pillow photography by, and with permission from, Gregg Cestaro.

Kelli Ellis – Thank you to Kelli Ellis, an HGTV celebrity designer based in Vegas who also launched her new art collection at High Point. It was great fun to work with Kelli, who was more hands off giving me total creative freedom to custom design pillows for her installation for Universal Furniture. I enjoyed both approaches by the individual designers! She sent me a pic of Universals new upholstery line, a blue velvet sofa and said she wanted custom pillows that mixed up color, pattern and size. And boy, do I love to mix it all up!! Only later did I find out it was for High Point’s inaugural Elevate Design Tour gala event for top luxury interior designers.

But in some ways, not knowing everything is part of the fun and challenge. So I didn’t have to think but one nanosecond of which textile immediately came to mind for the blue velvet sofa. I have my own blue velvet sofa, albeit it’s vintage and a tiny tuxedo love seat. But I’d been dying to find the perfect project for this (below) brilliantly colored vintage satin scarf filled with many shades of orange and red and touches of navy blue, in a kind of stained glass pattern.