Interior designer and artist Whitney McGregor makes her home in charming Greenville, South Carolina. Not surprisingly, this home is beautifully designed and was recently deemed worthy of the pages of Southern Living Magazine. It was on the pages of that publication that we discovered Whitney had chosen our Retro Active 2.0 to create a cheerful checked pattern in her vintage-inspired kitchen. We reached out to Whitney to learn more about her design style and inspiration, her take on “what’s next” in interiors, as well as the scoop on one of her favorite projects.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I am a mom of 3 and was trained as a sculptor and painter. I studied business in college and graduated into the recession with no job prospects. So I went for plan B mostly by accident! I have been designing homes as a profession for almost 8 years and I feel blessed and grateful every day that I get to do this thing I love and call it work!
Describe your design style.
My personal design style changes with the wind! As far as the work I do for my clients, it varies. There are three main elements of my vision as a designer. First, I am a vessel for executing my client’s vision for their home. Second, I can work with any taste as long as it’s good taste. I could take that one step further and repeat a quote I once heard “Good taste is better than bad taste and bad taste is better than no taste.” I really enjoy working with a range of aesthetics! It
makes my job interesting and different every day. And last, I am a firm believer in letting the house take the lead. A house will tell you a lot about what it should be and I like to honor that.
Where do you seek inspiration?
I am most inspired by nature. The shape of a weed or a pile of red azalea petals. I love to be outside and am always foraging and collecting found objects. I also love to travel but with three little ones, it’s a bit difficult during this season of life.
What are 3 things clients should know when working with an interior designer?
For starters, Rome wasn’t built in a day! Good design takes time. The other thing that I always say that relates to this is “Good, Fast, Cheap – Pick Two.” Because all three isn’t possible!! The third thing I run into a lot is clients who want their space to look completely different but they want to be able to use all of their existing pieces. I’m a designer, not a magician!!
Tell us about one of your favorite projects.
My home that was featured in the April Southern Living is so near and dear to me. That house was like my design laboratory. It took years for me to curate the right pieces and put it all together and the end result was just right. The pictures are really lovely, but the feeling of the house was indescribable. It was so cozy and enveloping, like a favorite sweater. We sold the house this past Fall and it will forever be home to me in some way.
Click here to view the slideshow, “This South Carolina Cottage is Bursting With Charm, Color, and Personality,“
