Interior Stylist — Mindy Taliaferro

Hello Friends!

Welcome to the beginning of what will surely be a beautiful journey into the endless rabbit hole that is my mind on design, but first let’s get to know each other a little bit.

It all started under the tall southern pines in Savannah, GA. The cobblestones that nearly broke my ankles led me to classes that went on to shape me as a person for the rest of my life. The magic, the cockroaches, and the history I got to live and learn in were truly inspiring; there is nothing more powerful than learning about architecture and interior design in a city that is a living history book.

Senior Capstone Project at Savannah College of Art and Design.

From Savannah, I went out into the world and ended up not too far away in Naples, FL. There I worked with CID Design Group. It was an incredible experience in that I got to do things most entry-level designers did not get to do. I was an Interior Design Assistant on their FFE team. This meant I got to put presentations together focused exclusively on furniture and decor. But better than that, I was able to go on-site and install and style the pieces at multi-family dwellings across the United States. I oversaw art installations, furniture placement, deliveries with loads of broken items, and deadlines that had me going until the last minute. I quite literally ran through airports and got comfortable begging stewardesses for water before we even had taken off.

This on-site experience, allowed me to get first-hand knowledge of how being stuck in a floor plan without venturing out to the actual job site could be detrimental to learning how to be a great designer. It’s something different to be right there with the building managers and installers, and getting to talk through what worked, what didn’t, and what I was going to need to report back on for future projects. This nitty-gritty work taught me that the maximum amount of shopping carts you can tie together at Target is three, the pillows must always be chopped, tags and cords must be tucked and controlled, and most importantly there is always going to be some quick thinking involved with pulling off a beautiful installation.

The beaches were beautiful, but I craved a little more city life and friends under seventy. My partner and I did the only respectable thing and packed up our Uhaul and drove it straight to the fabulous Midwest.

Chicago was full of potential and I wanted to get more experience in what I deemed to be “real” design work. To me, that meant that I wanted more experience doing technical drawings outside of the CAD furniture space planning and details I had been doing.

Boy oh boy did I get it!

After a lot of Metra rides and interviews; I started as an Interior Designer at Dunne Kozlowski (formerly known as d+k) in West Town, Chicago. I attribute most of my expertise to some of the hard lessons I learned at d+k; trial by fire was a term I became very familiar with. I was able to get my hands on small and large restaurant and bar projects. I also worked directly under the owners and their lead architect. My manager who in addition to being a hardass, was also incredibly passionate about making sure I understood what I was doing and that I had a strong purpose and intent behind all of my design decisions. I would not have learned so much in such a short amount of time without him and am eternally grateful.

At d+k nothing was more difficult or inspiring than pulling off complicated design concepts and then being able to pitch to the client directly with my small team as such a young designer. From start to finish I was able to see a project I designed come to life, and experience firsthand the outcome of all of my mistakes and successes.

Unfortunately, the pandemic had other plans for the restaurant and bar industry though; and my partner and I took it as our opportunity to see a little more of the world after being laid off. I did what I thought might stick during that time; and got a job working at Revolve Design Build, in Wheat Ridge, CO doing residential design.

Residential design was a natural fit, as I had always loved it growing up. I was able to lead several of my projects from conception to completion; a several-year process that instilled the value that good things don’t come easy. I got to learn so much about passive and sustainable building design while being on site almost every week throughout the build process; in addition to getting to build relationships with vendors and tradesmen alike. I was also able to get my feet wet on TV, where on their 2024 Emmy-nominated show Idea House: Mountain Modern; I was able to give a tour of one of my projects.

When I decided to leave Revolve; it was not without a heavy heart. I had been recruited by Oz Architecture in Denver for their education design team. In my mind, I had finally “made it”. I had an opportunity to work at one of the largest and most respected firms in the region, on incredibly special projects that surely would win all kinds of design and sustainability awards.

It was not more than a few weeks in that I knew I had made a very grave mistake. The projects weren’t what I had imagined in terms of creative potential and I was feeling a little bit like an accountant for light switches and door hardware. I did get to work under a fabulous manager; whom I had wished had come into my life much earlier in my career.

From there I made the great leap! They are not kidding about the wild ride that being a freelancer can be. I started by testing the waters and doing technical drawings for a local residential design firm. But I had rushed into it during a time of personal crisis outside of my career and ultimately knew it was not the right fit.

I tried another segway from the design world and took a contract position at Crush Studio. I was attracted to the event design world because the projects were fast-paced, nothing like my two-year build projects. It was an unreal experience to get to design a lounge for the Miami Grand Prix, I was exposed to the event industry at one of the largest feats mankind performs, the work that goes into an event like the Grand Prix has been compared to putting a man on the moon. Ultimately, I found myself wanting to spend more time at home instead of on installs and found that putting my whole heart into a space that would be taken down after a weekend just wasn’t my thing. I learned so much from the fearless all-women team and gained a new respect for the event industry as a whole.

Sooooo……….what the hell am I up to now?

I am working with my partner as an art director and producer for our photography and production studio, which has been an incredible journey thus far. We are navigating the ins and outs of being entrepreneurs and the only limit to our creative endeavors is in our tenacity to execute them. Working directly with the marketing teams of clients has been insightful and I’ve learned the power of loving who you work for. When you align with a brand’s values, and they trust in your creativity; the sky is the limit.

So that’s me, professionally speaking. I look forward to including you in the next part of my journey.

-Mindy

Notable Projects

CID Design Group

1401 South State Street

Dunne Kozlowski

Revolve Design-Build

Berkeley Modern
Bonnie Brae Transitional
Episode 6, Idea House: Mountain Modern, Roku

Crush Studio

It's me....Hi!

Notable Projects