Welcome to Design track mind by Melissa Gulley

I am an interior designer from Newton, MA having a lot of fun writing this blog between client appointments, kid stuff, kid school stuff, dog stuff, husband stuff, husband's company stuff (http://www.fueldog.com/), life stuff, old house stuff, family stuff, extended family stuff and the rest of the detail stuff. I am not a writer (clearly) so please ignore the typo's, spelling mistakes and desperate need for proofreading.

Testimonial: Making My Dream a Reality

I lived in my apartment for 18 years, wishing that it was decorated differently. I wanted to move my kitchen to the other side of my apartment, reduce the size, as well as moving and downsizing my laundry room and second bathroom. If you’ve ever lived in an apartment building with vertical plumbing and sprinklers, you know that any architect or contractor would just say; “IMPOSSIBLE!”

Melissa had done a few things for me in my 15th, 16th and 17th years in this apartment. New window treatments, new carpeting, a beautiful wall unit that she designed, and new dining room chairs. I wanted contemporary (my apartment bordered on that but not quite!) so with a few new things, it was looking better.

I was going to retire from my job in 2008 and be at home during the week as well as the weekends, so in 2007 Melissa and I began discussing what to do and how to start making my apartment my dream contemporary home. The wall unit (the entire wall: 20 feet!) could stay, as it included a built in desk, drawers, cabinets and an entertainment system, but the rest of the apartment had to go.

Melissa went above and beyond what I believe most decorators do with their clients. She helped me interview contractors, she found an architect, and she designed another wall unit. I picked a porcelain floor for most of the apartment other than the bedroom and she designed the layout. All of the contractors thought it was crazy and impossible to move the plumbing in a high rise building but she convinced the contractor I chose that it could be done. She found an architect to draw up the final plans after she had designed the space. She also worked with the contractor who had very different ideas on how to get it done.

She also helped me furnish this new space (I got rid of my 20 year old stuff) so the result is my dream; a contemporary, minimalist, whitish apartment. I spend a lot of time at home now that I retired, and I love my home! It’s exactly what I wanted.

I’ve seen some other projects that Melissa’s been involved in and “contemporary” isn’t her only talent. That’s why she’s great; she can design any style but she can read her clients and figure out what they want. In other words, she doesn’t force her style on her client.

Amy
Boston, MA