By Design — Volume 3

by DESIGN

first impressions

Welcomed Home By Charleston Forge

the jewelry of your home

Katy Skelton Acuff Lights Up The Room

conversation spaces

The Elegant Pear and Bittners

First Impressions

Entryways are the first impression of a home. Featured here are interior designers who have chosen Charleston Forge to make a lasting statement in their client’s homes.

The foyer or entryway to a home serves as a welcoming space from the public exterior to the private and intimate interior. It sets the tone and provides a moment of pause. it is a catch-all place to collect coats, keys, school supplies, or mail. Foyers may seem like an optional space, but a good interior designer knows they are important for the overall experience of a home. Benches are usually the preferred foyer seating, while console tables fuse practical and pretty.

We love Moxie Design Studio’s slogan, “We design to capture the spirit of the client and the essence of the space...with a dash of Moxie.” Moxie Design Studio is a full-service interior design firm located in Truckee, CA that designs from initial concept to completion for custom interiors and renovations. For this project, Moxie’s Principal designer, Debbie Costa, chose Charleston Forge in the foyer. The Legacy Bench is heavily forged and twisted, topped with a luxurious leather cushion. Although she chose dark wood, leather, and steel, the foyer is full of light and invites you into this Mountain Modern Farmhouse home.

Above: Debbie Costa, Founder, CEO, and Principal Designer of Moxie Design Studio in Truckee, California.

moxie design studio

Right and Above:

A Charleston Forge Monarch Console sets the stage at a Reno-area residence.

Interior design: Aspen Leaf Interiors

Photography: Tom Zikas

First Impressions

Aspen Leaf Interiors is known for its award-winning designs, including this Sierra home. The home took about a year of design and another year and a half in construction. The home makes an amazing first impression with a soaring great room and open loft above, flanked by ledgestone walls, and floor-to-ceiling glass with views to downtown Reno.

“It is hard to find a straight line in the entire house,” says Darin Murphy of Murphy Built Construction. “Every wall and feature has a slight curve, as would be expected in following the architecture of a plane; even the cabinetry is curved.” Which is why the Charleston Forge Monarch Console is a perfect fit. Guests entering the home immediately notice the console which sits in the grand room, part table, part

sculpture. A second Charleston Forge piece, a Watson End Table, also occupies the room.

“It’s very minimalist, in a sense,” Marcio Decker says. “I wanted to make sure that we really allow the natural landscape — which is that foothill Nevada native vegetation — to be a focal point. On one side, you have city views and lights and on the Nevada side you have nature. We didn’t want to hide any of it.”

Decker Founder, Principal Designer

Marcio is an interior designer and visual artist known for designing unique and high-end spaces. Since starting Aspen Leaf Interiors in 2004, he has been designing timeless and elegant homes throughout Lake Tahoe, Reno, the San Francisco Bay Area, and beyond.

Marcio

aspen leaf interiors

Kristine Vowels Founder and CEO

The Luxury Look is an award-winning interior design firm and studio. They specialize in residential and commercial design, Airbnb’s, luxury home staging and consulting, and offer unique furniture buying trips.

To see this project in its entirety and more of Kristine’s work, please visit www.Theluxurylook.com.

Interior Design by The Luxury Look

Photography: Hub Media Company

Left: An entryway featuring a Charleston Forge Belvedere Bench Designed by Katy Skelton Acuff.

A Charleston Forge Cooper Cocktail Table

Interior Design: The Elegant Pear Photography: Erin Waynick Photography

Conversation Spaces

the elegant pear

Cherilee Blubaugh has over 25 years of design experience. She knows design is not really about creating a magazine image, it’s about the emotion that her clients have when it tells their story. “The best design is when your friends and family walk in, feeling and seeing – you.”

Cherilee Blubaugh Owner, Lead Designer

The Elegant Pear opened its retail doors just over seven years ago and now offers both full design services and a wonderful personalized retail experience. With hundreds of lines to draw from, they focus on quality and uniqueness.

“Since the first time using Charleston Forge, it has become a “go-to” in many of our projects. Because of the wide ability to customize, we never feel that we are offering the same piece twice. We also love having it on our retail floor and watching our customer’s amazement at the craftsmanship and the unique and artistic features that each piece has.”

To see this project in its entirety or more of Cherilee’s work, please visit www.elegantpear.com.

The Jewelry of Your Home

designer katy skelton acuff

lights up the room

This page: A Linear Light.

At right: Hollis Pendant Lights, Barnard Sconces (back wall) and Amalie Counterstools .

“Lighting is the thing that makes a design come together,” says Savannah-based designer Katy Skelton Acuff. “You have to have light in your house, and you want something to define your space and make your home warm.”

Katy’s career in home furnishings started in furniture and has wound its way through several media before her focus settled on lighting. Katy describes her style as being classic without being traditional. Her designs are clean, distinctive, and very beautiful, embodying her belief that lighting is, as she calls it, the jewelry of the home.

“I like things that are timeless and elegant, elevated but not stuffy,” she says. “I just like really simple things without a lot of extra adornment.”

Katy achieves this by using a limited palette of materials, colors, and textures to create lighting that enhances a space, not dominate it. Brass is the primary material she uses in her designs, combining it with leather, wood, ceramic, and aluminum elements to create contrast in some pieces and harmonies in others. Always keeping an eye out for new materials she can use in unique ways, she’ll

soon be introducing alabaster elements as well to her lighting lines, playing with the unique translucence of the stone. “It will be beautiful,” she says.

Katy’s first foray into the world of furniture came while working at the headquarters of Four Hands in Austin, TX. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, an early interest in architecture and design evolved into a passion for furniture. Even though she didn’t have prior experience in the field, she found herself entrusted with designing product lines for Four Hands and working on sourcing and manufacturing for the company as well.

In 2009, after two years at Four Hands, Katy left the company to pursue an MFA in Furniture Design at the Savannah College of Art & Design. Upon graduation in 2011, Katy and her husband, Drew, moved to Brooklyn, where she worked on expanding the design lines she had developed while at SCAD, and building her furniture and lighting in the two-bedroom apartment they lived in. Her early designs were influenced by her interest in mixing materials, such as wood and metal, as well as the simple fact of who she could find to build her products.

As a young designer just starting out, she found it challenging to find a manufacturer who was willing to invest time developing the product with her without the guarantee of volume production. The result was that she started working with small, family-owned businesses like wood furniture maker Keystone Collections in Myerstown, PA, who were willing to build product to order.

Continued on page 14

Above: A Wallis Sconce and a Crawford End Table. Left: A Warren Sconce and an Amalie Ottoman. Far Left: Anderson Sconces.

“My design aesthetic is a little bit softer so wood speaks to that more,” she says. “But it was also a matter of finding a factory that would work with me.”

Top Left: A Perry Double Sconce and Connor Double Sconce, a Belvedere Bench and a Derby Drink Table.

“So that’s why I focused on wood at the beginning and then started introducing more metal pieces into the line,” Katy says, which is when she came across Charleston Forge. While she continues to use these types of companies to manufacture her furniture (although Keystone closed its doors in 2021) all her lighting is made by hand in their Savannah facility.

The days of working out of a Brooklyn apartment are long gone. “We did need more space,” she says.

“The biggest challenge we still face is we move into a new facility and quickly grow out of it.”

As well as she and her husband Drew working for the company, they now have five full time employees.

About 80% of their business is from architects, interior designers, and several developers for whom they are the primary lighting source. The rest of her business is direct to consumer through her website. You can see more of Katy’s work at www.katyskelton.com, where you can also find information regarding how to open a trade account.

Above: A Perry Sconce, One Drink Table, Camp Bench, and a Lone Star Sconce

Katy Skelton Acuff

Right: Custom Pendant Lights, a Linear Light, a Collins Canopy Bed, and a Collins Nightstand.

The Softer Side of Charleston Forge

meet our upholstery team

Bryan Hildebran, right, leads our in-house upholstery team with Janet Hager and Victor Coffey. Each have well over 30 years of experience in the upholstery industry, having worked with the likes of Century, Vanguard, Taylor King, and Thomasville, to name a few. The team’s eye for quality and their understanding of how to meet our customers’ discerning expectations ensure that we keep the highest standards possible.

To learn more about our upholstery options and COM program, please visit www.CharlestonForge.com.

At Right: Charleston Forge Springhouse Lounge Chairs. As a full-service interior design firm, Moxie Design Studio creates custom interiors for new builds and renovations that stand the test of time. To see this project in its entirety or more of Moxie Design Studio’s work, visit www.moxieidstudio.com.

Lake House Living

details interiors

For this Lakehouse Project, Wendy Woloshchuk owner of Detail Interiors created a space for their clients that mirrored the color and feel of the water in Beaver Lake in Ware, Massachusetts. Because of the elevation of the house, the view of the lake is spectacular, it was

important that the interior reflect the water view.

“When we asked our client what her style was she said she liked things that are different and updated. But beyond that she wanted us to just have fun and create a beautiful space.” Says Wendy. “I believe that great interior design can change your everyday life. It’s about more than just

Wendy Woloshchuk Founder, Principal Designer

beauty and function. It’s about creating a home that feels like a warm hug when you walk in after a long day.”

The pièce de résistance in the living room space is the custom Charleston Forge Lotus Cocktail table which supports a stunning oval piece of 3” thick Seascape Fusion glass which mimics the ripples on the top of the water on the lake.

Please visit www.detailsfullserviceinteriors.com to see the entirety of this unique project and more.

In partnership with Andrew Pearson Custom Glassworks, Charleston Forge offers a wide variety of unique, luxury glass products and services for our furniture as well as custom products.

Above: A custom Charleston Forge Lotus Cocktail table with Seascape Fusion Glass

Interior Design: Details Interiors

Photography: Rachel Elliott Photography

Conversation Spaces

bittners, an iconic interior design firm

Lori Andriot is Vice-President of Residential Design at Bittners, a leading interior design firm based in Louisville, Kentucky. Opened in 1854 by a woodworking craftsman, Bittners is an iconic firm with deep roots in handcrafted furniture, cuttingedge residential and commercial design, and timeless environments. Lori is a key member of the Bittners’ design group with projects throughout the country.

This intriguing bar sets the tone for stylish entertaining using layers of textures and patterns. It features cypress paneling, grass cloth ceilings, and ebony-stained oak cabinetry with brass inlay and cremone bolts, all paying homage to Kentucky’s bourbon industry which was requested by the client.

The design of this moody, chic bar is anchored by the versatile Talmadge Bench by Charleston Forge. It creates the perfect intimate space to enjoy great conversation with good friends and the warmth of a fine bourbon.

Visit

Lori Andriot Vice-President, Residential Design BITTNERS

Introducing The Prism Collection

ethos design collective

From the creative and colorful minds of Ethos Design Collective, comes The Prism Collection. Ethos Design Collective is a group of luxury interior designers known for the stunning, high-end interiors they create. For the Las Vegas Market, several Ethos members brought their creative take on various Charleston Forge products.

For more information, please visit www.ethosdesigncollective.com.

The designers in this collection are: Kelly Schellert, Nisha Tailor, Melissa Frederiksen, Jessica Duce, Elizabeth Scruggs, Robin Burrill, Donna Grace McAlear, Jennifer Hyman, Dottie Eaton, Jaime Rogers, and Sharon L. Sherman.

Left: Reimagined Amalie Ottoman, by Elizabeth Scruggs.

Above Left: Reimagined Emmitt Lounge Chair, by Melissa Frederiksen.

Above Right: Reimagined Vero Dining Chair, by Kelly Schellert.

Custom Cooper Desk, reimagined by Nisha Tailor

3D Rendering by Theresa G Design

Photography by Mindee Malloy