Maggie Stieven Jewell has grown up with the interior design gene. She has followed in her mom Mary Stieven's, footsteps by transforming homes all across the St. Louis area with her designer touch. Jewell worked alongside her mother at MKS Designs for nine years, solely running the business the last four years. In 2014, she started her own design business to allow her the flexibility to be both a mom and a designer.
SLHL: How can homeowners incorporate color trends into their homes?
Maggie: I am not really a person that follows trends. If you love what you have, use it and use that as a starting point for designing spaces. I do a lot of reupholstering for clients and taking their old chairs and making them look fresh and new. Fabrics, good quality, crisp, fresh fabrics, are a big part of transforming a room. I am such a texture person. I like to feel everything. You could have an all-white room, but with different textures it could look amazing.
SLHL: How do you create a coordinated color palette in a home?
Maggie: I usually try to incorporate one color throughout each space in different ways. For example, in a project I am currently working on the color blue is a main color throughout the home. In the dining room we have blue and white wallpaper. The living room has a blue-and-white rug with touches of pink in the pillows. The hearth room includes blue velvet chairs and a blue lacquer console table, while the office woodwork and walls are painted a deep blue.
SLHL: How do you open up a small space with color?
Maggie: I love using wallpaper in small spaces. Actually, I love using wallpaper everywhere! My sister recently moved and her first-floor bath is pretty small. We wallpapered the walls and ceiling, and it looks incredible.
SLHL: What colors are you loving in 2018?
Maggie: Personally a color that I am always drawn to for my own home is that ochre green/gold color. I think I like how it looks so clean in the fabrics, accessories, artwork, and rugs that I have bought over the years. I just haven’t gotten tired of it. Typically, I am not really a pink person, but in a recent project we used the color. We are doing a blue and white Schumacher floral wallpaper with pink velvet dining chairs. I think it looks incredible, and we have gold chandelier that is kind of mod and a really bright piece of art that ties it all together.
SLHL: How has the experience working with your mom impacted your design aesthetic?
Maggie: I had the pleasure of working alongside my mom before she became a grandmother and retired, but I still love to bounce ideas around with her. When we see something that we both like, which is a lot of things, we get the same look on our faces. I love showing her projects that I am working on and challenging myself to always be creative.
SLHL: How do you keep your aesthetic and business fresh?
Maggie: I always strive to bring new ideas and energy to projects that I am working on. I never do the same things for clients. I guess I enjoy the “thrill of the hunt”, or as my sister would say I have a shopping problem. I think I am a pretty good finder of things; it is one of my favorite aspects of my job.
