I discovered the dynamic duo of Parker Kennedy Living during the “One Room Challenge”, then again when I opened my Southern Living Magazine to find an article written about them and their painted furniture. Needless to say, I’ve been hooked since! I have enjoyed watching them create one amazing room after another. Their use of color, amazing furniture and styling make me happy in so many ways. So, grab your cup of coffee, tea, mimosa or whatever else you choose, and join me this morning for a fun read!

Q: You graduated from SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design) – what was the most important thing you learned from design school that you still use in your projects?

Using the right/proper scale of furniture in any interior and space planning. Space planning is crucial and can make or break an interior.

Q: What or who has inspired you to create this “preppy on the edge” style?

A few places and people: Palm Beach, The Parker Hotel in Palm Springs, Tory Burch and Lilly Pulitzer.

Q: What project do you go back to that you’ve done that makes you smile?

Our first show house we ever did has been one of my personal favorites. It is the one with the lacquer pink ceiling and the navy dragon chinoiserie fabric drapes hanging on Lucite poles. It put us on the map and has been pinned by a lot of famous interior and fashion designers. I cannot get the room out of my head. It caught the attention of the editors of Southern Living Magazine, which led them to ask us to start working with them on features. Out first was this past April 2014.

Q: Is there a project that has challenged you so much that you wanted to refer the client to someone else?

Yes, I work on a lot of student housing projects – it is a division of our interiors group. I have a client that purchases older apartments and turns them into luxury student housing with a luxury “W” hotel look and feel. These are so fun to work on, but last year the client bought a small property that had very little “bones” to work with. I wanted him to tear down the amenities and build new ones, but it was not in his budget. We worked through it, and it turned out great, but I wanted to hand that off to someone else to design… first time ever! BUT – we pulled through and made it happen.

Q: What is the one item that you get excited about when it comes to a project?

My favorite things that get me excited are colors, fabrics, and wallpapers.

Q: You revamp a lot of furniture — how did you get started?

We got started revamping our vintage furniture division of our company for several reasons:

1. I LOVE vintage 1960’s–1970’s furniture – first and foremost I can’t get enough of it.
2. I always want my interiors to be different so I find using vintage furniture that is lacquered somewhere within my design work up always gives my projects that special look and feel and sets them apart from other designers.

Q: Where do you find all of these fabulous pieces?

Seriously, all over the U.S. We travel everywhere. Most of our pieces either come from the mid-west or Florida. We shop all the major antique shows: Scott’s in Atlanta, Brimfield up north and Roundtrip in Texas. I have not been to the LA flea market yet but want to go shop it. Tons of great finds in NYC with the weekly antique and flea markets they have usually on 26th Street and Isla of the Americas area of NYC.

Q: Is there a favorite piece that you have redone that you cannot let go of?

YES… our master bedroom vintage faux bamboo regency style chest.

Q: Perfect Saturday?

Thrifting/antiquing with David in South Florida. We like to take our time shopping for hidden treasures and dining and wine drinking along the way. We then would top off the day with a late afternoon pool side lounge at the Brazilian Court in Palm Beach and then dinner at the Palm Beach Grill. Its always the best way to spend a Saturday. We repeat these every other month.

Q: Tell me something your readers don’t know about you.

We are in the works of developing our signature line of case good furniture pieces to sell to the trade/wholesale. It has been in the works over the past year, and we are still working on it. We want to develop and design cocktail tables, consoles, hutches, desks, side tables, library chests, étagères all with our signature “preppy on the edge”, “Preppy Palm Beach” style, colors and look. We are obsessed with color and want to bring a full blown colorful furniture line to the market.

Ooohhh that would be awesome!!! I would love to see that furniture line, wouldn’t you? I hope you enjoyed reading about Lance & David as much as I have! Happy Monday friends!