The main lobby for Golden Comm, an website design firm in Irvine.

We are officially over the moon! For the third year running, our bustling design firm, LRM Interior Design, has taken home awards from the ASID OC’s annual Design Awards! This year’s was held on September 11, 2011 at the historic Mission San Juan Capistrano. Although Lisa McDennon, our esteemed leader, has always had a bit of a competitive streak, she only entered our work for the first time three years ago, and has won a total of four Gold awards during that time.

This year we took home the Gold Award in the Commercial category—for the first time. Our previous three awards were for residential projects, so it means a lot. The winning project we entered was for the offices of Golden Comm in Irvine, where we created bright and modern interiors that matched the web design company’s technological arena.

“Competition in the Commercial category was fierce this year,” commented Lisa on the award. “We were up against all types of commercial designs, including restaurants and other corporate offices, and we are so honored to have won the Gold Award. It is a phenomenal feeling to be recognized in this way by my peers in the industry!”

Last year’s Gold Award in the prestigious Home of the Year category showcased our work on one of Lisa’s luxury bachelor residence projects in Newport Beach, and the previous year’s awards were for Best Living Room and Best Special Room, and both properties were in our home town of Laguna Beach.

This year’s award in the Commercial category tracks the progression of both Lisa and the design firm, as she has been taking on as many commercial projects as residential over the last year. One such project is for acclaimed lighting company Hinkley Lighting, who has hired us to redesign their national showroom in Dallas, plus we’ve also been hired for special projects by luxury Orange County resorts such as the Montage and Pacific Edge.

You may remember last year how Lisa McDennon was recognized by House Beautiful magazine as one of their Top 20 Designers to Watch and was named Top 20 Women To Watch by OC Metro magazine—obviously an accurate prediction by both publications. Lisa (and, of course, her firm!) has continued her trajectory of success in 2011, and she has no intention of slowing down in 2012 and beyond!

Are you ready for award-winning design in your home? Have you been searching for the right interior designer to take on your new office space, or redesign your restaurant? Call Lisa McDennon and her team of talented designers on 949-497-6806 now to schedule an appointment.

Bold colors and thoughtful accents make LRMID's design perfect for a Joie de Vivre hotel.

When the Pacific Edge Hotel, the latest addition to Laguna Beach’s upscale cadre of hotels, needed some interior design in a jiffy before the season ended, they called LRM Interior Design.

After reading about Lisa McDennon’s qualifications and accolades, and finding out that she runs a local company, the owners of Pacific Edge were sold. Joie de Vivre Hotel Group, the company that owns and manages Pacific Edge, is known for their cutting-edge design and style for boutique hotels here in California, and it’s no surprise that LRM Interior Design was chosen for the job.

Without a lot of time to finish the hotel’s Greenroom Lounge, the team at LRM couldn’t take the time to special order or custom design any pieces, and relied on some of their trusted suppliers to furnish the lounge—that also happen to be open to the public, both online and at their retail locations.

For instance, the dining table was selected from Z Gallerie, and the wood chairs and coffee table came from Crate & Barrel. West Elm provided a glass-topped, kelly-green contemporary table, while pillows came from Pier 1.

Some items were from local sources, naturally, like the stunning photography on the walls from Tony Clark. Many of the accessories came from a local’s treasure trove, Laguna Colony Company in the heart of downtown, where the team selected many of the shell-decorated items and teak bowls.

But there are some things that have to be provided by the best, and that was the fabric by Kravet. The yellow and blue pattern of the communal table’s banquette could not be a better choice to complement the dramatic photo of the wave that hovers above.

This project finished just weeks before the 2011 ASID Orange County Awards, where Lisa and her team won yet another award, this time for Commercial Projects. Winning the Gold Award in this category with their modern designs for Golden Comm, a strategic web design firm in Orange County, proved LRM Interior Design’s prowess in this area that they seem to be moving into more and more frequently.

If you have an office, restaurant or hospitality space that needs just freshening up or a whole new look, contact LRM Interior Design for a consultation. With award-winning talent and the ability to translate a client’s dream into reality, it’s no wonder LRM Interior Design is one of Orange County’s top interior design firms. Call now on (949) 497-6806 or click here to use our online form to contact us.

Don't you want your next party here?

This glass-topped table with a natural-tree base is from Z Gallerie.

Pillows from Pier 1 and chairs from Crate & Barrel, accessories from Laguna Colony Company.

Cozy up next to the warm fire at the Pacific Edge Hotel's Greenroom Lounge.

Lisa's inimitable style can be seen on the landing of the large, custom-built home.

Recently the home developer Terra Bella came to Lisa McDennon, principal of LRM Interior Design, and asked her to help with one of their “spec” homes in Covenant Hills. Covenant Hills is the area of Ladera Ranch where homes are exclusively custom built, and this one is on one of the best lots in the development with stunning views over Orange County.

A “spec” home is a custom home built by a developer or investor, not by an actual homeowner. In order to show the beautiful home in its full glory, Terra Bella knew they needed the deft touch of Lisa McDennon and her team.

Since it was more of a staging than a home remodel, Terra Bella did not want to spend the money for the LRM team to design the entire property, but they knew that any additions she made would add that perfect touch. They asked Lisa to focus on architectural details, one of her specialties, plus items such as advising on flooring choices, wall finishes, lighting, and the tile work on the pool and the master bath.

Lisa was very pleased to get a call from the developer last week, raving about the finished product. Each room he went into, he said, he was amazed by how Lisa’s input had elevated the space, making each room she’d added to so much better. It was a definite confirmation that even just hiring her for direction, for choosing key materials and design services in certain areas had a huge payoff.

If the look of the place wasn’t enough to convince Terra Bella’s owners that they had made the right decision, the offer they received within days of the first open house certainly did. That was another happy call that Lisa received last week!

The home, at 81 Bell Pasture in Covenant Hills, is still open for viewing by appointment only. Take a tour through the home and see that hiring a designer is worth every penny, even if it’s not a full remodel. By using their knowledge and guiding you through choices for materials, furniture, accessories, lighting and fixtures, you can not only save money, time and your sanity, (think of all the mistakes you WON’T make!) but you’ll also elevate your home’s design to a level you only dreamed of.

Ready to have LRM Interior Design consult on your design needs? Call (949) 497-6806 for your complimentary consultation and a customized design profile.

The chair next to the contemporary fireplace are strategic details arranged by LRMID.

A stunning chandelier, chosen by Lisa McDennon, hangs in the vaulted ceiling of the stairwell.

We love creating custom designs to embroider on fabric.

Do you ever wonder how interior designers always seem to find the perfect fabric for the project? How the drapes just seem to be created by magic, and the pillows and shams on a bed look absolutely made for the bed?

It’s not really magic, although we’d like you to think so. We’ll say it again: the entire staff at LRM Interior Design is obsessed with every detail. That means if we can’t find the perfect fabric for your curtains, or the perfect pillow for your bed, or the correctly sized cushion for your window seat, we make it. From scratch.

Honestly, we wouldn’t—and couldn’t—do it any other way. Everything installed on any and all of our projects has to be perfect. So if we can’t order what we need for the design, we are lucky to have the contacts that will create our projects to our specifications.

For instance, the piece in the photograph above is for a project in Newport Coast. We designed sheer panels to hang from the canopy of the bed in the clients’ master bedroom, and had this complicated pattern embroidered directly on the fabric. This is just one of many custom embroidered pieces throughout the home; we also have created custom window treatments and specially designed sheets and pillowcases.

What we love about custom embroidery is that we can choose from any fabric and any design and have it produced using one or many of their hundreds of colored threads to choose from. We love making fabrics, pillows, window treatments and other soft furnishings completely personalized for our clients. As a matter of fact, we have a special affinity for custom window treatments, cushions and pillows. We know that your friends and guests won’t realize that the work is custom; what they’ll notice is how amazing every detail in your home is.

And even if no one but you and your significant other ever see your master bedroom, it’s a wonderful feeling to know that your bed the only bed like it in the world, and it’s just how you want it. Below is a photograph from another project, this time on Laguna Beach’s coast. The room’s focus is the bed, yet every detail in the bedroom is coordinated. And it’s not just us that think so: This room won LRM Interior Design an ASID award in 2009.

Are you looking for a fabric pattern or soft furnishing that you just can’t find anywhere? Look no further. LRM Interior Design can create whatever fabric pattern, pillow or window treatment you require. We can also mix and match ready-made bedding with custom pieces to design the bed of your dreams. For a consultation, please contact LRM Interior Design on (949) 497-6806 or contact us online.

From the headboard to the bedskirt, this bed was designed and customized especially for our client.

Lisa McDennon

We’re very proud to announce that Lisa McDennon and LRM Interior Design is featured in Hinkley Lighting‘s latest catalog feature “Lighting Style Tips and Ideas from Fabulous Designers“.

In a series featuring renowned interior designers from across the country, Hinkley Lighting composes a simple yet articulate guide on how to properly utilize lighting, both natural and artificial, as an essential component in designing interior and exterior spaces.  Lisa McDennon has lent her impeccable eye for design to this guide, offering stylish tips on how to maximize the effectiveness of lighting in order to create the perfect ambiance.

Hinkley Lighting actively sought out our fearless leader for this feature, after monitoring her rise in the interior design world after she was named one of the Top 20 to Watch by House Beautiful.  McDennon, who has always admired Hinkley Lighting for their craftsmanship, was thrilled to be invited to work on the Lighting Style Tips & Ideas guide for Hinkley Lighting’s website and print magazine.

“It’s always an honor to be recognized,” says Lisa. “But to be honored by and aligned with a brand that I admire is even more exciting! I look forward to a long relationship with Hinkley Lighting.”

Hinkley Lighting has been illuminating the world one lighting fixture at a time since 1922.  Starting out as a small family company, Hinkley Lighting quickly grew to become one of the most respected designers and manufacturers of beautiful lighting fixtures in the world.  Hinkley Lighting prides on constructing, with superior craftsmanship, their products from the finest material available, to create lighting fixtures that blend both design and functionality.

Not only is Hinkley Lighting committed to creating beautiful lighting fixtures and keeping “Life Aglow”, but they also seek to shed light upon national and local level organizations striving to make a difference in the world. As part of their on-going commitment to the community, Hinkley Lighting continuously collaborates with numerous organizations, providing sponsorship and funding to help raise awareness on various issues.  Some of the organizations include: Flashes of Hope (raising funds for pediatric cancer), Goombay Bash (non-profit lighting industry charity whose funds go to cancer research), Habitat for Humanity and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Hinkley Lighting’s Lighting Style Tips & Ideas is another subset of their Life Aglow campaign, which they hope will kindle an inspiration of creatively using light to create, enhance, or complete a beautiful design.

Everything a client needs to redesign a room fits inside this beautiful box.

Everyone is talking about “Design in a Box” nowadays, and more and more clients have been asking for it. What is Design in a Box, actually? How can someone who knows nothing about design put together a room that’s been designed by a professional? Especially a multiple award-winning designer like Lisa McDennon?

LRM Interior Design has perfected the process, offering a complete road map from a client’s starting point to their dream design. LRM Interior Design does all of the hard work, from creating a color board, a space plan, selecting furniture, designing architectural details, window treatments and lighting, and manages to fit all of it inside a beautiful, richly colored box. In addition, LRMID provides two folders containing paint swatches: one that outlines the color palette for the room, and the other to be used as a quick reference guide for furniture and accessories. And, last but not least, a shopping guide that lists all of the retail stores where the furniture and accessories can be purchased.

Why has Design in a Box been so popular? Firstly, because you get a professionally designed room for much less the potential cost of having the designer on the project from start to finish. With some legwork, shopping and a little elbow grease, a client can avoid the fees that a design firm has to charge for purchasing materials, hiring contractors and generally keeping on top of the project (aka project management).

Another reason is that the client gets to play designer! How fun is that? With a magic box that lays out a spectacular design, a client can be involved hands-on in creating beauty in their home.

The greatest thing about Design in a Box is that the LRM team does not have to be near the client to produce it. Because LRMID has perfected the process, they give the client a questionnaire to fill out and instructions on taking photographs and measurements, all of which can be mailed or emailed back to the studio. If you are in Orange County, a client can request an on-site consult that includes professional site measurements and a presentation in the studio for a $500 surcharge.

Prices for the LRM Interior Design Design in a Box service starts at $1,500, and increases are based on additional services. If you are interested in LRMID’s Design in a Box services, or the full design service, please contact us by email or by calling (949) 497-6806.

Even bachelor pads deserve to shine.

As you know, we at LRM Interior Design love a little sparkle, whether it’s sinks, wallpaper or chandeliers. We like to add it somewhere in most of our designs. Hmmm…you may think. Isn’t LRM Interior Design known for designing Orange County’s best luxury bachelor pads? Well, yes we are. So how do you get sparkle in a gentleman’s home?

Sparkle can be masculine too, especially when it is in rock form—agate geodes, specifically. “Agate and other geodes are nature’s sculpture,” says Jan Smith, Senior Designer at LRM Interior Design. “We like to include them in rooms, as they are great for added abstract shapes and color.”

In LRMID’s Newport Beach luxury bachelor pad, which just won the 2010 ASID Award for Best O.C. Home Design over 3,500 sq. ft. (don’t worry, more on that soon!), an agate geode mounted on a stand creates a wonderful accent for the powder bathroom on the ground floor. The metal veins running through the agate are brought out by the organically shaped, solid bronze sink and faucets, and creates a look that is elegant—but not girly in any way.

And we don’t just tuck them away, either. Larger agate geodes look wonderful as table-top decorations, especially paired with succulents in the living area. “Putting the two together emphasizes the organic and elemental,” comments Jan. “Plus, they come in so many shapes and colors, you can definitely find one for any room you’re working on.”

We also never forget the Bauhaus motto: form and function. You can find many agate geodes online that have been polished and split in two, perfect for using as bookends, and heavy enough to actually work. Jan explains: “They add a little sparkle to bookcases while serving a purpose.”

We’re not shy about our talent for accessorizing, and we always are available for shopping trips with our clients to pick out accessories for a room or decorating for a special occasion; the big holidays of the year are approaching rather quickly! Hallowe’en will be here before we know it. There’s no time to delay. Call LRM Interior Design now to organize that shopping trip or for a free consultation for accessorizing one or more rooms in your house. Make sure it’s tip-top for when family comes for the holidays! Call (949) 497-6806 or click here to send us an email.

Please vote for design #20!

LRM Interior Design is up for the People’s Choice Award for the 2010 ASID OC Design Awards! Please help us by voting—it’s simple. All you have to do is click here, scroll to Design #20 and vote. The photo should look like the one to the left.

Vote now! Tell your friends and family! The awards are this Saturday night, so please vote right away.

For 2010, LRM Interior Design has entered two projects in to the ASID competition, and both are upscale bachelor residences. The People’s Choice Award is a separate category, and we would certainly love to get that kudos!

Last year, in 2009, you may remember that it was LRM Interior Design’s first time up to bat in the ASID OC Design Awards. For the first time, LRM Interior Design entered the competition in two categories. Our fearless leader, Lisa McDennon, barely had time to sit down before she was called up to receive her first award. And if you think she was floored by that one, you should have seen her when they called her name for the second time!

Then there was the win for the Designer Runway Extravaganza and, although not technically an interior design award, it showed Lisa and her team’s ability to adapt, roll with the punches and show grace under pressure.

So for the 2010 ASID OC Design Awards, we expect nothing but the highest marks and to take home all the awards we can. So keep your fingers crossed on Saturday night, when Lisa McDennon and Senior Designer Jan Smith will be at the ceremony, sailing Newport Harbor on The Endeavor. And keep your eyes peeled for an update after the event! Best of luck!

The dramatic New Zealand coastline

LRM Interior Design is pleased to announce yet another new project, and an international project, no less! One of LRMID’s longstanding clients has recently decided to redesign a beach house on the New Zealand coast, and has awarded LRM Interior Design with the project.

Lisa has a way with beautiful designs for coastal properties, maximizing the natural light and bringing the organic elements of the seaside to the interior. The project is sure to be another wonderful example of the talents of Lisa McDennon and the LRM team, and it’s suggested that it will lead to another redesign project for the same client.

The team has their bags packed for a trip down under, but before that happens, there is much preparation to be done. The client is in the process of sending over photos of the rooms to be redesigned, and when we get them we will definitely share. Colorboards and space plans will be created, and we will keep you all updated with everything that inspires the team on this project.

So stay tuned for an update on the New Zealand project!

Christian Horan and his assistant Scott line up the living room shot

Last Thursday the setup started early, with accessories and home goods being carefully unpacked and unwrapped after a week of shopping. Hours of arranging, rearranging and careful placement followed. Finally, one of LRM Interior Design’s Newport Beach bachelor projects was, shall we say, ready for its close up.

It wasn’t just the LRM team that was involved in setting up the shoot, there was help from the outside. For the green touches that bring an almost unconscious beauty to a room, Instant Jungle was called in for their expert eye and green thumb. Lisa McDennon uses no one but Instant Jungle for all of her plant needs, both internal and external. Greg Wallace, owner, was on site to make sure everything looked perfect—and he should know, as he’s been supplying plants for gardens, interiors, and home staging for 30 years.

Another integral part of the team was our favorite photographer Christian Horan, whose eye for detail, light and composition beautifully complements Lisa’s interior design. He and his assistant Scott moved furniture, helped style tabletops, climbed up and down ladders like monkeys to get the perfect shot every time. Catching Christian between his international shoots in Mexico and the Caribbean was tricky, and we were lucky to get him—and his special blend of energy, humor and talent—on the shoot.

It was an exhausting day, but it will be worth it when we see those photos of the house in print….hopefully soon! In the meantime, check out Lisa McDennon’s work and Christian’s photos in the upcoming August issue of Romantic Homes magazine.