CUSTOM DESIGNS
A Special Edition of OKC FRIDAY Magazine
Cover Story:
Tim Hughes, with scissors, cuts the ribbon on the new Classen Design Center. Tim has built custom homes and commercial properties all across the state. He is joined in the celebration by, among others, Jennifer Parsons-Lane, Miranda Morrison, wife Tracy Hughes, Eric Orleans, Susan Alexander, Michel Orleans, Allie Griffith, Garvin Boyd and Itzel Jaramillo.
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Valerie Naifeh is a rock star of a jeweler with 40 years of experience in the industry. A second location of Naifeh Fine Jewelry recently opened in Utah.
Verona Marble has been serving the residential and commercial stone industry for 38 years. Last year, Verona opened Oklahoma City's only dedicated, cli‐mate‐controlled quartz gallery.
Lighting by TQI serves many clients throughout the Oklahoma City metro area with first‐in‐class expertise and knowledge. Also
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With 65 years of combined experience, the tight‐knit team at The Flower Truck combines its knowledge of quality and design to offer fresh bouquets across the OKC Metro.
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• Benefits of work‐ing with an interior designer, Page 6
• 7 characteristics of modern homes, Page 8
• Flowers repre‐sent different emotions, Page 10
• Shine a light on home design, Page 12
• Kitchen counter‐tops matter. Page 14
Tim Hughes Custom Homes makes dreams a reality
With a good foundation and relationship between clients and his team,
attainable.
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When Tim Hughes graduated from Oklahoma City University, he went to work for his stepdad to be intro‐duced in the business of construction and custom homebuilding.
Through hands‐on learning experi‐ence and working directly with clients, he was able to create Tim Hughes Custom Homes in 1992. Across the state, Tim has built both residential and commercial proper‐ties while intertwining his clients’ sense of style into the architecture. He said one of the best parts about his job involves the process of designing plans and developing client relationships.
To gain a better understanding of what Tim’s clients are looking for, he takes inspiration from the different walks of life of previous clients and focuses heavily on communication. With a good foundation and relation‐ship between clients and his team, Tim Hughes Custom Homes finds turning a vision into reality much more attainable.
“Going from conception to comple‐
tion is one of the biggest deals when a client sees their house,” Tim said. “To do this, we have a massive com‐munication line. We gauge the client’s needs and try to schedule weekly meetings.
“We definitely want our clients to have their dream home. Sometimes, they can't see it all on paper, but when the house is built, we can make sure that our clients are completely happy with the project because it’s a massive investment.”
Tim Hughes Custom Homes stands out from other luxury builders as Tim and his team ensure every aspect of the home building process has received attention to detail.
While collaborating with high‐end architects, Tim uses his creativity and problem‐solving abilities to create the perfect home design.
He has worked with different species of wood to finish cabinetry, learned the importance of lighting and electrical fixtures, and incorpo‐rated different color schemes into his final designs.
Tim Hughes Custom Homes finds turning a vision into reality much more
“Since we build custom homes, our style is what‐ever our clients' vision may be and how we can make that dream a reality,” he said.
For over 20 years, Tim Hughes has been a mem‐ber of the Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association. He had a vital role in opening the Classen Design Center, a premiere home design store full of luxury furnishings and decorative fix‐tures. Despite the many years spent perfecting his craft, Tim ran into some challenges after expanding from custom home building to commercial construc‐tion. Following the buildout of their designer office on Classen, many requests for office buildings have arisen, although Tim’s primary focus is building lux‐ury custom homes.
Before finalizing a project’s design, Tim and his team have to incorporate the homeowner’s ideas, which typically include the size and layout of rooms and preferred architectural style. Over the years, his high‐end developments have been known for their luxury design and property location. Tim Hughes Custom Homes is no stranger to combining excel‐lence with custom and commercial construction.
“My journey has been a wonderful learning process,” he said. “It's both challenging and reward‐ing even after all these years.”
To gain a better understanding of what Tim’s clients are looking for, he takes inspiration from the different walks of life of previous clients and focuses heavily on communication.
Benefits of working with an interior designer are many
[Home is where the heart is, and it's also where homeowners express their style. Though interior design may come naturally to some homeowners, many more can benefit from a lit‐tle help defining their style and translating that style into a beautiful home. In such instances, interior designers can be the most valuable investments homeowners make in their homes.
Homeowners may hear "interior designer" and immediately hear the sound of cash regis‐ters ringing in their heads. However, many inte‐rior designers offer various services, including hourly consultations, that can make them cost‐effective, especially for homeowners who are still trying to define their style and decide just how they want their homes to look. That's just one of the many benefits of working with interi‐or design professionals.
An interior designer can help homeowners create the home of their dreams.
· Interior designers can save homeowners money. Much like it's best for homeowners with no DIY experience to hire professional contractors when renovating their homes, paying an interior designer when you have little experience with design can help you avoid potentially costly mistakes. Interior designers are skilled at transform‐ing homeowners’ visions into finished products, and that’s a valuable skill homeowners don’t necessarily have. Trial and error when designing a home’s interior can be costly, even if you’re not knocking down any walls or swinging any hammers. For example, after renovating on their own, homeowners may find they need to replace a new couch or dining table that they realize contradicts their design scheme. Interior design‐ers can help homeowners avoid such costly mistakes and get it right the first time.
· Interior designers can help you coordinate your style. Each and every component of a home's interior says something about its owner. Whether it's their choice of light‐ing fixtures, furniture or even appliances, homeowners make a statement any time they choose a design component for their homes. Interior designers can help homeowners coordi‐nate their styles so each room seamlessly transitions to the next one. An ultra‐modern living room may stick out like a sore thumb in a home that's predominantly rustic, and interi‐or designers can help homeowners avoid such mistakes.
· Interior designers recognize what's trending. Interior designers tend to be up‐to‐date on the latest trends. That can be incredibly valuable, especially for homeowners who are anticipating putting their homes on the market in the near future. In such instances, designers can help homeowners invest in updates or renovations that will appeal to today's buyers, increasing the likelihood that their homes will sell more quickly, and potentially for more money.
· Interior designers are well‑connected. Interior design‐ers often collaborate with contractors. Those professional relationships can help homeowners avoid the headaches of finding the right professionals to work with when renovating their homes.
Many homeowners have benefitted from working with interior designers. Such partnerships can help homeowners transform their residences into the home of their dreams.
The Rock Stardom of Artist and Jeweler Valerie Naifeh
When in the parlance of fine jewels, Valerie Naifeh and her epony‐mous storefront in historic Nichols Hills have long been hailed a non‐pareil of the industry.
With a near 40‐year history in the business that began with a love of architecture and an eye for design, Naifeh has grown a thriving, brilliant gem of a company from the ground up and collected no shortage of awards and distinctions along the way.
Known for her own line of stunning one‐of‐a‐kind pieces and her superlative use of colored gemstones and high‐carat gold, Naifeh has established deep roots with an elite coterie of boutique jewelry designers over the years, among them Lika Behar, Peter Schmid, Gurhan and the inimitable Robert Procop of Beverly Hills. With state‐of‐the‐art equipment and a team of nine artisan jewelers in her arse‐nal, hers is a full‐service operation that includes custom design, jewel‐ry repair, jewelry restoration and appraisals.
Now in its 25th year, Naifeh Fine Jewelry celebrates a second mile‐stone this summer: the unveiling of its sparkling new location at the iconic Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Naifeh Fine Jewelry is celebrating 25 years in the jewelry industry.
A bonne vivante with a penchant for things beautiful, sartorial and rare, Valerie Naifeh has a disarming charm about her that is equal parts charisma, tenacity and passion for her craft. Her presence commands a room, and when she speaks, you can’t help but lean in. But she’s also profoundly humble and genuinely kind; you’ll never find another who’s as gracious with her attention and her time.
A champion of the arts and philanthropic engagement, she sits on the Executive Board of Allied Arts and Peaceful Family Solutions and is an active supporter of OKC Beautiful, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Impact Oklahoma and the Alzheimer’s Institute. An artist, designer and entrepreneur with an exuberance for life at once gracious and irreverent, Valerie Naifeh is, by all accounts, the veri‐table quintessence of Rock Star.
7 characteristics of modern houses
HHomes contain a variety of components that appeal to homeowners with different ideas about the perfect place to call home. That starts with the style of a home. Buildings are classified according to share components. A Craftsman style home will have a covered porch with a set of wide base columns, while a Cape Cod home is often defined by a gabled roof and dormer windows. Modern houses, which are sometimes called contemporary homes even though the terms are not interchangeable, will have their own sets of unique characteristics. Here's a look at seven features that make modern homes unique.
1. Minimalist approach: Contemporary and modern homes both employ an approach that leans toward mini‐malism, including clean design lines. Spaces are open and airy without the clutter of too many ornate architectural details. While modern homes may have some curvature to their design, contemporary ones are all about an angular look.
2. Neutral color palette: Modern homes tend to utilize a neutral color palette. Modern homes may use "earthy" elements, such as wood and brick, in ways that do not look rustic. Contemporary homes rely on a color palette of black and white with shades of gray or other neutral colors.
3. Geometric shapes: Modern homes have strong horizontal and vertical elements that showcase geomet‐ric shapes in their designs. Contemporary homes often have flat roofs, while modern homes may not.
4. Large, unadorned windows: Most modern homes showcase a lot of natural light by utilizing large win‐dows that are not covered up by heavy window treat‐ments or elements like shutters and thick trims. Large windows are the focus of the interior and shift atten‐tion to the view outdoors.
5. Open floor concept: A hallmark of modern interi‐or design, the open concept floor plan removes many of the walls that tend to separate common areas of a home. This helps to foster the spread of natural light and maintains the emphasis on simplicity of design.
6. Smart elements: Thanks to the proliferation of smart technology, smart homes are cropping up with greater frequency. While smart devices can be included in any home style, they tend to feel like they were designed specifically for modern homes. In a similar vein, modern homes may include environmentally friendly elements, such as solar panels, upcycled mate‐rials, added insulation, and energy efficient lighting.
7. Updated kitchen spaces: The clean lines and attention to technology and open space generally extends to modern kitchens. Modern kitchens tend to feature efficient, top‐tier appliances with additional storage and space amenities that keep the room from feeling clut‐tered.
Modern houses, which are sometimes called contemporary homes even though the terms are not interchangeable, will have their own sets of unique characteristics.
While some may con‐sider modern homes austere, many others are right at home among their clean lines and airy spaces.
Verona opens OKC’s only dedicated, climate‑controlled quartz gallery
Last year, Verona opened Oklahoma City's only dedicated, cli‑ mate‑controlled quartz gallery.
Forty‑six individual hand‑select‑ ed quartz slabs have been set up on display racks and remote access is available for the consumer to enter and go as they please during busi‑ ness hours. The Quartz Gallery was designed and created specifically with the OKC community in mind.
The facility is located at 430 W. Wilshire Blvd.
Verona Marble Company is a wholesale importer and distribu‑ tor offering the largest selection of Santamargherita quartz and mar‑ ble‑based engineered tiles and slabs in North America. The com‑ pany also imports and distributes carefully‑selected natural materi‑ als including granite, quartzite,
marble and other natural stones from around the world.
Verona Marble has been serving the residential and commercial stone industry for 38 years. The company’s mission is to be recog‑ nized as the best company in the stone industry by providing excel‑ lent service and integrity, high quality products at a fair price, knowledgeable and friendly staff and years of industry experience.
In 1984, a partnership between Santa Margherita and Verona Marble Company was formed in Dallas, Texas. Verona Marble Company was established as the sole distributor of Santamargherita Marble and Quartz based engi‑ neered stone products for the US market. The primary focus was large scale commercial tile projects
specified through the architectural and design community.
As demand for natural stone grew in the US, Vernona Marble expanded our product line to include natural stone tiles and slabs from around the world in 1996. The company opened a new dedicated slab facility with 10,000‑ square‑feet of indoor and 20,000‑ square‑feet of outdoor slab stor‑ age, serviced by three overhead cranes. This new facility allowed Verona to expand into the residen‑ tial countertop market, along with the current commercial tile mar‑ ket.
Verona went on to expand to other areas of Dallas/Fort Worth, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
For more information, visit vmc‑ stone.com.
Different flowers convey different feelings. The gladiolus symbolizes honor, infatuation and strength.
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Flowers can represent various emotions. Flowers play a prominent role in many and holidays, as well as “just because.”
Shoppers can look to various blooms to send the right message to that special someone in their lives. In fact, each type of flower conveys its own unique message.
• Amaryllis: This flower is symbolic of splendid beauty and can be used to indicate worth.
• Aster: The aster symbolizes patience, elegance and daintiness.
• Calla Lily: This bloom symbolizes magnificence and beauty, as well as purity and innocence. That is why Calla lilies are often the flower of choice in wedding bouquets.
• Carnations: These are one of the most popular flowers in the world and are gener‐ally symbolic of love and fascination.
• Daffodil: Daffodils symbolize regard and chivalry. They also can be indicative of rebirth, new beginnings and eternal life. A single daffodil can signal misfortune, while a bunch expresses joy and happiness.
• Gerbera daisies: With large, beautiful blooms in a wide assortment of vibrant col‐ors, gerbera daisies are a favorite flower for cheerful sentiments.
• Gladioluses: These tall, striking flowers are eye‐catching and make great gifts for significant others. The gladiolus symbolizes honor, infatuation and strength.
• Iris: Irises represent faith, hope and wisdom and are cherished for their big, beau‐tiful blooms.
• Peony: This flower, which resembles a rose, symbolizes a happy life, happy mar‐riage, prosperity, and good health.
• Rose: Roses symbolize love in its various forms, and different colors of roses sym‐bolize different things. For example, yellow roses represent care and friendship, while pink roses are given as a token of admiration.
Flowers are popular gifts any time of the year. Choosing a flower that best repre‐sents the feelings gift‐givers want to convey can incorporate even more meaning into a bouquet or basket.
The Flower Truck can help brighten any day
\If you’re looking for a floral arrangement to brighten someone’s day, The Flower Truck OKC has a plethora of blossoms and daisies to choose from.
With 65 years of combined experience, the tight‐knit team com‐bines its knowledge of quality and design to offer fresh bouquets across the OKC Metro.
These high‐end floral designs are tailored to fit any cus‐tomer’s needs, whether it be a dinner party, shower, funeral or school dance. The Flower Truck OKC also offers daily deliveries for customers in search of a way to spruce up their living spaces.
“We started because of COVID as an actual mobile truck and then grew into a brick‐and‐mortar business, so we got to know our customers on a personal level during the pandemic,” said founder Randal Marsh. “We try to target our arrangements toward each individual’s preferences.”
The Flower Truck does weekly and monthly arrangements for customers looking for ever‐changing bouquets. Its florals can be found in anything, from country clubs to cake toppers.
“We get half our flowers locally, and the other half from all over the world, including Holland and South America,” said Randal. “Our flowers are flown in overnight for the freshest and most long‐lasting florals.”
Randal’s business provides various flowers in different colors and sizes to bring a touch of vibrance to every space. For any spe‐cial occasion in OKC, The Flower Truck offers fresh and colorful bouquets, corsages and floral decor.
— Annabella Potts
Shine a light on home design
LLighting is an essential component of interior and exterior home design. Not only does lighting add style and make spaces more appealing, when done correctly, it also makes a home safer and more functional.
Homeowners who plan to utilize outdoor spaces like back‐yards, front porches and walkways to the fullest should think carefully about lighting. These guidelines can assist with select‐ing outdoor lighting fixtures.
Security lighting
Flood lights and security lights are a good investment for those who want to beef up visibility and security around the home. These lights are high‐intensity and designed to illumi‐nate large areas. The brightness and reach can serve as a pre‐ventive measure to keep animals and even criminals away. Motion‐sensor lights will immediately engage if something crosses the path of the sensor. Some lights will remain on from dusk until dawn. Lowes Home Improvement suggests using the correct wattage on outdoor security lights so they flood an area thoroughly without affecting neighboring properties.
Wall, post and ceiling lights
Outdoor lighting fixtures beyond security options come in a variety of styles, according to Lamps USA. Wall lights are mounted to the outdoor wall of the home. These typically flank doorways or the garage. Post lights are often installed on the posts of decks and porches, or are free‐standing on properties, providing visibility but also style. Ceiling‐mounted lights may be above doorways or installed in any structure that has an overhead area. Warm‐colored temperature bulbs in these fix‐tures can create an inviting atmosphere that is not too bright and jarring, especially when multiple lighting fixtures are working together. When selecting lighting for wall‐mounted fixtures, experts suggest sizing up if you are not sure of the size to pick, as lights will look much smaller in scale from a dis‐tance.
Accent and landscape lighting
A bevy of accent lighting choices are available. Accent light‐ing is designed to enhance the mood and appearance of certain elements of a landscape. Accent lighting is not intended to add bright light. For example, upward‐directed lights can be cast on trees or shrubs to accentuate their shapes. Accent lighting also may call out a structure, such as a garden or a fountain. While accent lighting may be hard‐wired, homeowners who want the luxury of changing lighting can opt for solar fixtures, which are more mobile but not as bright.
Additional pointers
When shopping for bulbs, consider the number of lumens. A standard 100‐watt bulb produces around 1,600 lumens. Security lights should range from 700 to 1,300 lumens for opti‐mal brightness. Other lights needn't be so bright.
Accent lighting is designed to enhance the mood and appearance of certain elements of a landscape.
TQI brings your home to life at night
WWhether you’re looking for striking and dramatic or soft and elegant, let Lighting by TQI bring your home to life at night, and extend the use of your beautiful outdoor spaces.
Many people pay high prices for bold architecture and gorgeous sweeping landscapes, but fail to light it properly after dark. Create the perfect ambiance for your home with timeless outdoor lighting, which has always been shown to be more of a deterrent to burglars than replacing doors, locks and windows!
Lighting by TQI serves many clients throughout the
Lighting by TQI serves many clients throughout the Oklahoma City metro area with first‑in‑class expertise and knowledge.
Oklahoma City metro area with first‐in‐class expertise and knowledge. Because it’s very difficult to adequately photo‐graph and capture lighting at night, we offer in‐person tours upon request so you can see the stunning end results first‐hand.
“Offering beautiful lighting to clients is not my job, it’s my passion” said Lighting by TQI Owner Ashley McMillin. “I do all the design and installation from start to finish because I enjoy it, and I stay involved in 100 percent of the job.”
Kitchen renovations are high on many homeowners' to-do lists, and there's many decisions to make once they commit to redoing the room.
Kitchen countertops matter!
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Kitchens are the busiest rooms in most homes. Kitchens have become more than just places to prepare meals, with many functioning as gather‐ing spaces and even go‐to dining spots in homes that do not feature formal dining rooms.
So much time spent in the kitchen makes it worthwhile to invest in these popular spaces. Kitchen renovations are high on many homeown‐ers' to‐do lists, and there's many decisions to make once they commit to redoing the room. When renovating a kitchen, homeowners will have to choose which countertop material they want to install, and the following rundown of popular options can help simplify that decision.
Quartz
Quartz is considered a low‐maintenance and durable countertop material. The home improve‐ment experts at This Old House note that quartz countertops are typically 94 percent ground quartz and now come with an honed, sandblasted or embossed treatment, which makes them appealing to homeowners with varying ideas on the ideal look of a kitchen countertop. Quartz can crack if it's not handled properly, and edges and corners can chip over time. Rounded edges can minimize the risk of chipping. Costs vary by loca‐tion and product availability, but quartz typically costs about the same as natural stone.
Kitchen countertops can define how the room looks, and homeowners have many options to choose from when designing a new kitchen.
Granite
Consumer Reports notes that no two slabs of granite are the same, and that uniqueness has long appealed to homeowners. Tests run by Consumer Reports found that heat, cuts and scratches did not harm granite, though this mate‐rial, like quartz, can crack around edges and cor‐ners. Granite is a durable material that, if proper‐ly maintained, can last several decades. Granite also is nonporous, which makes it resistant to bacteria.
Laminate
Laminate countertops appeal to budget‐friend‐ly homeowners and Consumer Reports notes that they're easy to install. Home Depot also notes that laminate countertops come in a wide range of colors, textures and designs. Laminate counter‐tops also are durable, which helps budget‐con‐scious homeowners stretch their dollars even fur‐ther. Laminate countertops are easily maintained, though it's also easy to permanently damage them with knives, so Consumer Reports recom‐mends always using a cutting board when preparing meals on laminate.
Kitchen countertops can define how the room looks, and homeowners have many options to choose from when designing a new kitchen.
