Marcia Sherrill
Oh, Mom!
Marcia investigates maternal influences on decorating styles
BY
Marcia Sherrill
PHOTOGRAPHY
Illustration by Christina Payne

As we have grown into our own aesthetic personalities, it’s almost impossible to completely eschew our mothers’ tastes and styles. That umbilical cord has unwittingly coded us for colors and collecting. The womb we make for ourselves today is not that far from our childhood memories—even if we decorate in the totally opposite direction! Even poor little Christina in Mommie Dearest probably had a soft spot for some sumptuous Hollywood Regency style. But that’s just a guess. Here, tastemakers reveal what momma means to them.

MILLIE SLOAN
Even though my mom and I have different decorating styles, she taught me how to sew and to refinish furniture at a young age. Being able to do it myself has been the catalyst for countless creative and budget-friendly design projects over the years.” —Sloan is the brains behind Brilliant Asylum, a popular design blog that originates from Atlanta. BrilliantAsylum.Blogspot.com

MALI AZIMA
“My mother has a creative eye and great instinct about what to put together. She also gets excited about seeing new things, which she passed down to me. She always supported me in anything I wanted to do and never tried to steer me into one direction or another; she let me figure it out and then made sure I had what I needed. She immigrated to this country and I know it was not easy for her and my father to give me and my brother everything we needed and wanted, but she did it anyway, and never let us know the difference.” —Azima is one of the country’s leading interiors, fashion and portrait photographers. MaliAzima.com

MILES REDD
“She indulged all of my fantasies, taught me the importance of manners and still shows me how to have a good time.” —Miles Redd, an Atlanta native, owns a New York design firm. MilesRedd.com

JOEL KELLY
“The biggest thing my mom taught me about style was that it ought to be welcoming. Never a fan of putting on a show, she insisted on making everyone comfortable. For me, that’s translated into everything having a purpose. I love beautiful things, but I love the stories they tell as much, or more, than the objects themselves. The history of our lives creates a more interesting interior design style than everything being perfect. That’s why I like to mix styles, periods and pieces that weave together an interesting story about the client. After all, it’s a reflection of who they are and ultimately it’s a story that they’ll continue to write long after we’re finished with a project.” 
—Kelly is the proprietor of his own eponymous design firm. JoelKelly.com
 

INSIDE STORY
My own momma has definitely turned all of her children into style mavens. Even her eldest son, Jerry, the neurologist, has an opinion about a dining room mural, asserting that his taste level is up there with his competence in epilepsy treatment. My younger brother, Billy, and I have wound up in fashion and interior design, much to our father’s horror. We were drug by our momma to endless garage sales and auctions and were known to sob openly when she stopped at Hancock Fabrics. The words “trunk show” left us trembling in despair. We would wrap our tiny arms around her in an eight-armed tentacle to get her out of a shoe sale. Recently, brother Bobo was so horrified by the obvious truth that Momma’s clutter DNA had been passed on to him that he is now shopping for a loft!