Home Decorating Attitudes
Content Ideas
Why Home Decorating?
About Mary Cynthia
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What's the biggest emotional reaction people have that is associated with interior design?
It always seems to be a double edged sword:
Embarrassment. I am always fascinated that people will brag about how much they spend on their cars, but are strangely quiet when it comes to how much they paid for their carpet. They lack confidence because the average person only redecorates a room every 10 years or so.
Excitement. My students are always eager to know the latest trends. When I tell them it’s more about who they are than what’s hot, I see a light in their eyes. They want the best for their homes and families, and just need someone to give them some confidence. They want to experience the satisfaction of doing it themselves.
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What do people hate or dread the most about decorating?.
Actually making a decision. Some people make impulsive decisions which cost them money. Some people get “analysis paralysis”. They have so many choices and so little confidence in themselves or who they’re working with, they may actually postpone their purchases. Even worse, they settle for “builder beige” when what they secretly wanted was screaming red!
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What opinion, belief, advice, or information do you have which is "counter-intuitive" for most people when it comes to home décor.?
Where is it written that just because you’re a woman, you should know how to match colors or pick paint? We don’t come into the world with knowledge, we learn as we go. Most people don’t have the homes they really want not because of lack of money, but because of lack of confidence and know-how. So they settle for copying something out of a magazine, a corporate marketing image, rather than expressing who they are in their home. I call it the “Martha Phenomenon”.
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If you had to make people laugh--or at least smile a little--by talking about some aspect of your topic, what would you talk about.?
“The glamorous world of interior design, dahling”: rummaging through closets filled with cobwebs, sweating buckets while hanging pictures or moving furniture for older clients who have the heat on all summer, dealing with hysterical customers (we do call them “hystericals”, by the way), bailing the carpet installer out of jail, doing a whole room around a buckboard in someone’s living room.
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How can you help people with their decorating?.
I’m a storyteller. I’ve dealt with about 3,500 class students and design clients, and I know which ones resonate with people. 25 years of public speaking and teaching home decorating allow me to handle virtually any “decorating dilemma” on the fly. I have over 5 hours of professionally edited videos to paint a picture about in area of home decorating: matching colors, furniture carpet, window treatments, home accents and much more, including 30 minutes of buying tips alone.
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What’s the biggest decorating problem you help people with?.
I eliminate “decorating disasters”, costly mistakes and endless hours of hit and miss. Almost everyone I meet as a client or in my decorating classes has experienced the disappointment and frustration about spending large amounts of money and time. Many people secretly admit they are afraid to take a chance with their decorating because of the uncertainty of how to do it. They settle for less, when they could have a much more beautiful home for the same—or less—money!
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What are the five most common questions the media usually ask you?.
- Are designers expensive?
- How does someone decorate with color?
- Can I use ‘my stuff’?
- What can I really use from all those HGTV shows?
- Where do I go for good ideas?
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What, if anything, could you do with callers or a live studio audience?.
I have enough experience to become the “Design Doctor” I’m like what the Mafia calls a “cleaner” in the movies. I’ll tell you how to fix most any “decorating disaster”.
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What specifically are the products or services that you offer?.
My interior design firm, Martin Durr Caldwell, offers full-service interior design or one time only consultations.
“Decorate by Design with Mary Cynthia” is a complete home decorating system, with over five hours of tips and secrets on every aspect of home decorating. Rather than an endless series of tips and tricks, the course gives simple rules that work no matter the taste, style or budget of the view.
My new book, "Decorating from the INSIDE, Out!", combines the best of 50 years of interior design excellence, and 30 years of making it simple for DIY'ers.
It's all about the joy of self-expression!
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If you have to raise a controversial question that relates to this topic in some way, what would that question be?.
There are a whole lot of housewives with tax-exempt numbers that call themselves designers. Beware!
Another question to beware of: what the big box stores don't want you to know! For example, not many people know most blind manufacutures have SEVEN grades of quality! My advice: make sure you're comparing "apples to apples" when you buy home decor products.
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When is your topic usually in the news?.
Looking back over the last 50 years of our business, I find people tend to re-decorate around important events of life: weddings, graduations, holidays. People with kids graduating from college or getting married are becoming “empty nesters’ and looking at making lifestyle changes. When the housing market beginning to look less rosy than in past years, people will look to build equity in their homes and work with what they already own, making it look better and last longer. Currently, the hot topic is “McMansions”—whole subdivisions put up overnight.
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When has your topic been in the news?.
There are dozens of shows and whole networks devoted to home decorating. The average consumer is bombarded by ads, endorsements and marketing. It’s time to cut through the clutter, learn to express the real you, and create a home that’s truly yours.
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There are a lot of men out there who may not be that interested in decorating. What can you do for them?.
Any woman can learn to have a more beautiful home. A 55 year old man can figure out a way to save enough money to buy season tickets for the home team. A 30 year old man can finally learn what women want!
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What's your personal story? Why did you get into interior design?.
My dad is a designer, too, so I got into the family business. But I guess I really got hooked on design with my very first client. My dad, who I was interning for, gave me my first client: a retired custodian from a small country school. She lived in a one room house by herself. She wanted privacy for her windows, and only had $50—could I help? I couldn’t believe my dad had given me this project. Six windows for $50?! No way!
This was way before HGTV, so I hand painted some scrolls on roller shades. There weren’t as many options then as now, so I put some thought and some effort into this small project.
When I hung the shades up and pulled them down to show the scrolls, this woman set down on her bed and wept. I had a great lesson in humility that day, and have come to understand the smallest project matters, because everybody matters.
The greatest thrill I have as a designer is to see people blossom when their homes become an expression of who they are and tells a story about them.
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There’s a lot of decorating shows and books out there. What makes you different? What do you say that others don't say? What, if anything, are you willing to discuss that others are not?.
- I don’t give a flying flip about trends! It’s about you and expressing yourself in your home.
- Games retailers play. I’m not sponsored by a box store or anyone else. My family owned a retail store for over 50 years, and I’ll tell you what carpet stores, paint stores, furniture stores don’t want you to hear.
- I teach simple design principles that work with anyone’s taste, style or budget.
- I give secrets away, because I’m learning new things all the time.
- I don’t teach people to make chandeliers out of tuna cans. It’s about people who need to buy paint, but don’t know what color to pick, need to buy carpet but don’t know what they’re getting for their money.
- I work with a wide range of income levels. I work for schoolteachers, small business owners, and your next door neighbor.
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How do you make your living?.
I have been a professional interior designer for the last 25 years, and own the second oldest design firm in Central Kentucky. I have been a public speaker for over 20 years on do-it-yourself design and self-empowerment seminars.
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Why should people care about what you have to say?.
I teach people to turn their decorating disasters into designer dreams. They’ll have more fun and less stress decorating, and have a few laughs at the same time as I tell them about my own exploits as a designer for over 25 years.
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How many people have you helped?.
I have taught live classes to over 3,000 people, and practiced what I preach in over 1,500 homes.
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What would you like to be known as?.
The Diva of Decoration. The most trusted advisor on home décor in America.
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What is the one action you want people to take after hearing you on the radio or reading about you in a newspaper or trade publication?.
Go to my website and become a member, where you can learn dozens of tips and tricks, watch my video series online, buy our complete decorating system, call me for public speaking engagements.
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Is there anything else you want us to know?.
I am often referred to as a stand-up comic by my decorating students. I laugh at myself, laugh at life, the characters I meet, the travels I have had, and life in general. My goal is to write a book titled, “An Idiot Lives to Tell”.
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