We are pleased to introduce the newest members of the LRMID team:

Kelley Goodwin is an IDI student working towards her bachelor of arts degree. Interior design is a new passion and career choice for Kelley, who previously worked as a nurse. Kelley will be joining the team two days a week.

The second IDI student to come on board is Julia Nanula, and she looks forward to graduating this June with an associates degree. Julie’s penchant for style and color were bolstered by previous experience as a buyer for designer clothing, and from living the big city life in Manhattan, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Julie will be assisting the LRMID team one day during the week.

Our youngest intern is Rachel Daley, a senior at Costa Mesa High School, and this is her first foray into working life. Since she’s contemplating interior design as a career choice, she’s using her internship to complete the 20 hours required by her school to graduate. Although her interior design experience is slim, her class in Advanced Placement Photography has given her an artist’s eye. Rachel will be working at LRMID two days a week.

Help us welcome Kelley, Julie and Rachel! We are so excited to have them on the LRM Interior Design team.

Lisa McDennon, Principal of LRM Interior Design

Tomorrow at 10AM, students of interior design will be crowding around a podium at the Laguna Design Center, waiting for the keynote speaker. Seeing how the event, the Second Annual ASID OC Student Career Day, is co-sponsored by House Beautiful magazine, it’s no surprise that the keynote speaker is our own Lisa Rachelle McDennon.

Students will have the opportunity to have their portfolio reviewed, and learn about all aspects of interior design from Lisa and other award-winning designers attending the event. Topics of discussion and presentation include model home design; restaurant and hotel design; high-end custom home design; corporate spaces; oceanfront and estate property design; kitchen and bath design; yacht and small space design; and even landscape design.

Students can learn a great deal from the course that Lisa chartered, back before she was published in House Beautiful magazine and was a mere student herself, earning a degree in Fine Art at the University of Irvine.

Even though she was specializing in Drawing and Painting, Lisa realized that she never wanted the term “starving artist” to apply to her. Practicality set in, and Lisa began taking every architecture class, eventually signing up for an unpaid summer internship with an Orange County architect.

After four weeks, the architect was so impressed with her work and enthusiasm that he offered Lisa a salaried full-time position. Over the next four years, Lisa every aspect of drafting and planning for the company’s commercial clients. Just like her employer, Lisa was surprised to discover her aptitude for this “interior design” aspect of architecture.

Lisa found Newport Beach’s Interior Design Institute (IDI) in her own backyard, and after only one week knew she had found her true love. Three and a half years later, Lisa graduated as the class valedictorian, and gained her second bachelor’s degree.
During her time at IDI, Lisa supplemented her coursework by working for Orange County’s leading designers, and learned as much about her chosen field as she did about how a design studio should not be run. This unofficial training became critical sooner than she thought: after an unsuccessful two months hunting for the perfect job, her family encouraged her to start her own studio.

Only one week after giving her two weeks’ notice, she landed her first client—a private resort in Fiji. Over ten years later, Lisa runs her own successful studio in downtown Laguna Beach with three full-time design assistants, each contributing their own special talents and energy to every project.

Lisa continues to use her original background in art and architecture to provide clients with unique, hand-drawn renderings alongside architectural drawings, helping a client see their dream realized before the project begins. This process, along with knowing the value of listening to clients’ needs, creates exceptional designs, builds strong, long-term relationships with not only clients, but also with architects, contractors and developers.

For more information on the event, visit www.asidocc.org. For more information on Lisa McDennon and her design studio, visit www.lrmdesign.com.

Stacy Shawver, hired in November of 2008 as the office’s Administrative Assistant, has a background in customer service, billing and administrative management. “I was interested in working for LRM Interior Design because it is a new and exciting experience,” says Stacy. “Plus, Lisa McDennon produces such fantastic design work!”

Kristen Rusert joined just last month as LRM Interior Design’s Executive Administrator, bringing three years of experience in the design industry to help manage projects, expedite orders and coordinate with both vendors and clients. With qualifications from Newport Beach’s Interior Design Institute, Kristen pursued a job with Lisa McDennon and her team. “LRM Interior Design is a place where I know I can expand my design skills, and I am excited to learn from Lisa and her team,” says Kristen.

In January, owner and principal Lisa Rachelle McDennon also hired Either/Or Media, a marketing and public relations firm, to expand current marketing efforts and help build the company’s online presence. Either/Or Media has over ten years of experience promoting a wide range of clients, including luxury hotels, retailers of high-end jewelry and watches, interior designers, financial institutions, exclusive golf clubs and non-profit organizations.

“Lisa McDennon is a woman of style who stays focused yet inspired while balancing her clients, her projects, her staff and her family,” states Jennifer Myers, Either/Or Media’s Creative Director. “She is a rare talent with beauty and intelligence, and I look forward to working with her and the LRMID team.”

For over ten years, LRM Interior Design has provided the Orange County and international community with full service residential design, assistance with the selection of architectural details, architect and builder collaborations, functional living spaces and designing custom furnishings. Owner Lisa McDennon’s extensive background in art, architecture and design allows her to provide clients with unique hand drawn renderings in addition to architectural drawings, thus transforming a client’s needs and wishes into tangible realities. LRM retains affiliations with both ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) and IIDA (International Interior Designer’s Association).

To find out more about Lisa Rachelle McDennon and LRM Interior Design, visit www.lrmdesign.com, or call 949.497.6806 to arrange a consultation.