Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Lindsey Wilson.
Mary, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
As a young girl, I was obsessed with playing Barbies and wanting to be a doctor or psychologist. For me, it was all about designing their homes and wanting people to be happy and healthy. When I was around seven years old, our house caught on fire and the renovation that followed was transformative. We had an interior designer help us, who was a dear friend of the family and larger than life! He inspired me to pursue a career in interior design. After I got my degree in Interior Design from Texas State University, I worked for several of Houston’s top firms and then started my own business, Live Beautifully, LLC. It’s been an interesting journey and I have worn many ‘hats.’ I feel like I have combined both things I loved as a child: design and the healing arts.
Has it been a smooth road?
Is the road ever smooth? I have had to learn a lot! I received an excellent academic education. However, I think experience is the real teacher. I have had wonderful teachers, mentors and guides along the way. I have a life-long passion for learning and to find the gift in all situations. I enjoy creating beauty and harmony in people’s lives. This passion to find beauty in the chaos emerged as I overcame an abusive past and addiction. Looking back, I recognized that I had created a facade that my insides didn’t match my outside. It sparked my recovery process, spiritual growth and self-development. As I have learned, healed and grown, so has my desire to help and inspire others.
Please tell us about Live Beautifully.
I really have two facets to my business. I am an award-winning interior designer and a life design guide. I help people to “Live Beautifully.” It’s a holistic approach to designing a home and a life you love. It is both interior design, as well as lifestyle design.
Our environment and how we live our lives is intimately connected. Your home tells me what is going on in your life, what’s working and what’s not. I have the ability to ‘see’ and ‘feel’ the energy of a space. The patterns and energetic imbalances reveal themselves to me. Everything is connected. It is beyond Feng Shui. This knowing sparked a curiosity in me and I began studying different philosophies and energy modalities. The work I do is truly transformational. I have so many wonderful stories about how people’s lives have changed through working together! One client was so tightly bound to trying to conform to traditional standards in her home design and with her work, it was literally making her sick! She was innately creative and deeply desired to live outside the box, yet struggled with this. After working together, she finally revealed she would love a purple couch. This was in the days when that was unheard of, and her family and friends all were horrified by the idea. She literally needed permission to have what she truly wanted, a purple couch! I created a beautiful purple couch and she was thrilled! Her friends and family ended up loving it. Once the purple couch was a reality in her living room, she gave herself permission to make changes in other areas of her life.
With the “Lifestyle Design”, I coach people and facilitate classes using the principles of design. Great design doesn’t just happen. It is deliberate and intentional. Most people think life just ‘happens to you’ or they live by default. I believe our underlying beliefs run the show. It’s like trying to use “Windows 95” and expect that to work well for you today. Most people are operating under old programs that no longer serve them. I help identify the old programs and beliefs. Together we create new beliefs aligned with what they want to create. I facilitate a “Design Your Life” class, where I have seen remarkable results in people’s lives. Through the process, they discover what is important to them and what they would really like to be doing and the confidence to do it. I am most proud to offer this holistic approach that is so powerful and has helped so many.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
In interior design, post-pandemic, I see people really redefining their spaces for how they really use it. More people will be working from home, so home offices will become more important. Less wasted, unused space, which might mean scaling up or down on the size of your house, depending on how it’s being used. Probably more communal living, extended families, or friends sharing space, re-evaluating what they really want and need versus having design defined by a big box or a retail brand. Creating a unique oasis. More home gardens. We will definitely see more upcycling and repurposing of items – a renaissance of creativity!
In lifestyle design, post-pandemic, I think people will have had an opportunity to reflect on their lives, relationships and work and will be making more conscious choices, feeling empowered to live differently. We are craving authenticity. People are tired of trying to keep up the facade! It doesn’t work and it certainly doesn’t bring fulfillment. I also think people are becoming more aware of energy. Aware of their own energy and the energy of their space or environment, the colors they wear or surround themselves, what they eat and drink and how their experiences and narratives affect them. Energy balancing techniques will become more mainstream.
It’s my desire for people to live consciously and beautifully and to determine what that looks like for them personally, not what someone else dictates for them.
Contact Info:
- Website: LiveBeautifully.net WholeLifeDesign.net
- Phone: 713-201-8313
- Email: mary@Livebeautifully.net
- Instagram: lifedesignmuse and LiveBeautifully_llc
- Facebook: @livebeautifullydesign @lifedesignguide
Image Credit:
Debbie Porter
Michael Hart
Michael Hunter
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