Two is better than one. That's exactly what Blair Parkes and Susan Lamb were thinking when they joined forces to form their interior design firm, Parkes & Lamb Interiors in 2014.
Blair and Susan were introduced by a mutual friend in the design industry, and as they say, the rest is history. Both ladies were interested in different aspects of the interior design business and wanted to lean into their individual passions. Their strengths have worked in their favor, as the duo stays in high demand and remains as busy as ever. While P&L works with contractors across the southeast, one of their favorite and most recent projects, which is highlighted in this article, was completed by builder Joe Dunaway of Dunaway Construction.
“Joe brings great professional advice, gives real attention to detail and cares so much about quality," says Parkes. “The client was so much fun to work with as well! She has great taste and a great eye, so it made for a really fun project all the way around.”
“Each project is so different which makes our day to day so interesting. For this particular project, our client wanted high texture, no fussy patterns, clean lines and natural materials incorporated into each space,” says Lamb. We also wanted to ensure that the home was functional as they have two young children. One of the first elements we tackled is how to give each light and bright space some warmth. We decided to give the hearth room a Pecky cypress ceiling and a plaster fireplace. We also incorporated plaster on the kitchen hood, compliments of Kevin Salyer with Immaculate Painting. Vintage Millworks supplied the gorgeous powder vanity made of Sassafrass.”
If a picture is worth a thousand words, these before and after pictures say it all. Parkes & Lamb pride themselves on knowing their bandwidth before committing to a project, and not allowing themselves to be spread too thin.
Like everything else in the world, the supply chain for interior design vendors has been greatly affected by the pandemic over the last few years. When asked how they handle those challenges, Parkes says, "We try to manage expectations from the beginning with clients. We'd rather wait on what's right instead of just filling a house with materials that aren’t up to our standard of quality. If something is out of stock, then we will research or make a trip to a showroom to make sure the re-selected material is of the best quality. For furniture updates, our office manager provides spreadsheets with tracking updates for our clients to help manage that piece of the project."
While their career passion is interior design, their real passion lies within people and the relationships they form along the way. With these two working in tandem, there's no challenge or renovation they can't face.
