The One Room Design Duo Sharon Falcher and Sherica Maynard Will Never Forget

Interior designers and other experts in the home industry work on an impressive number of spaces throughout their careers. But even if some of the makeovers and redesigns start to blend together after a few years, there are some rooms that are just truly unforgettable. 

So, to give designers a chance to revisit their favorite projects—and to bring you plenty of inspiration for your own home—we’re sharing the one room these pros will remember forever. For some, there’s a sentimental connection, for others, there was an obstacle they never thought they’d overcome. But no matter what, these rooms are worth remembering.

For mother-daughter design duo Sharon Falcher and Sherica Maynard, the founders of Interior Design by S&S, getting the chance to makeover this keeping room at the start of the pandemic was unforgettable.

"We never thought interior design would be an industry that would have such a high demand, so this definitely gave us hope," Falcher and Maynard tell MyDomaine. "What stood out about this project mostly for us was that our client really wanted this space to be the new hub of her home. If she was cooking, the kids could be watching TV or at the desk doing homework while her husband could be at the island on his laptop. One thing that we all learned during the pandemic is the importance of family and being able to create a space that can bring a family dynamic closer is very special to us."

When working in a tumultuous time, Falcher and Maynard stress the importance of staying flexible and focusing on the clients' needs.

"You cannot design with a pre-notion of how a room 'typically functions,' Falcher and Maynard say. "Every room is different, every client is different and the function of each space must be custom to the people occupying that space."

Keep reading to learn more about how this dynamic duo created the perfect central hub for their clients.

With an oversized sectional, bright orange poufs, and an accent wall of patterned wallpaper, Falcher and Maynard nailed their vision of a "functional, cozy, cool" space, but decorating during a shutdown wasn't the only challenge this team faced.

"The room orientation really threw us for a loop with the furniture layout," Falcher and Maynard explain. "This room is very narrow from the wall all the way to the kitchen island. Because there is an island, we have to allocate space for stools, and we also had to take into consideration a walking path so that you can enter into the space. At this point, there just wasn’t enough space for us to add a sofa or loveseat to face the TV in the keeping room."

The duo had to get creative in order to land on a layout that worked for this family.

"This is a true testament that every room is different and every client's needs are different as well," Falcher and Maynard explain. "Our client wanted this area to have multiple functions, so we took an unconventional approach to bring the layout together. You normally wouldn't put a sectional facing a kitchen island, but in this space it really worked."

Though the room is full of bold accents, their favorite piece is the custom curtains, handpicked by Sharon, who got her start in the industry by fabricating window treatments.

"We used this beautiful textured orange-colored fabric to create two asymmetrical valances to frame the windows while still allowing the double doors to open," Falcher and Maynard explain. "We also added two stationary panels mounted under the valances to add a coziness into the space and to gave us the opportunity to interject our client's personality."

While the window treatments had to be aesthetically pleasing, the design duo made sure they were functional as well.

"Our client wanted privacy in the kitchen, but she also wanted the ability the capture some natural light.," Falcher and Maynard say. "We used these 'top down/bottom up' shades that allow our client to either raise the bottom of the shades, pull down the top of the shade, or simply have the shades all the way up or all the way down."

Falcher and Maynard's favorite part of the entire project was revealing the finished space to the client and her family.

"Seeing the reaction of our client's son when he saw the room made it all worth it," Falcher and Maynard say. "His eyes lit up and he ran and jumped on the sectional. It made us proud because the whole goal of that room was to make it a place the family could come together, so seeing his reaction was just like mission accomplished."

When looking back on this project, Falcher and Maynard think of two words "gratitude" and "joy."

"Gratefulness simply because of the timing and joy because our client really allowed us to have some fun with this one," Falcher and Maynard say. "This townhouse is located in the Krog Street area in Atlanta, which is a kind of an industrial artsy part of town, so we were able to really bring those elements into the design. We used a very playful pattern on the window treatments, industrial exposed concrete wallpaper, which has some copper specs in it, and a funky distressed TV credenza. So we’d say this space brings us a lot of gratitude and joy!"