After more than 20 years as an interior designer, Lisa Peck, owner and principal designer at LiLu Interiors in Minneapolis, this spring introduced her own fabric, wall covering, and rug line. She spoke with Susie Eaton Hopper about her inspiration for the Sylvie & Mira collection.
There’s clearly an artist inside the interior designer. Do you have a background in art?
I have a BFA in studio art from Iowa State. I always was intrigued with the resist method (common in tie-dye and batik pieces). I was doing tie-dye as a kid. Since college, I have wanted to do a textile line.
Where did you get your inspiration for the line?
I woke up with the patterns in my head—my DNA is slightly off! I love color. The colors in the line are favorites of mine. My daughter had a 1980s day at school. She wore a vintage Esprit shirt that was full of those slightly off colors I love: mossy greens, hot pink, plummy purple, grays, nuanced blues. Those are my colors. The line is named after my daughters, Sylvie and Mira.
Why now?
My daughters are older now (14 and 9), and I have time to paint. This was on my bucket list. If the line does well, I will do more. I want to do things that are joyous and make you smile. It’s a way for me to keep things fresh.
How did you begin to design the line?
I made pen sketches and then started the watercolor paintings that are the patterns. You can add a little of this and that color in the paint mix. They have a watercolor look.
How did you develop the relationships and vendors you needed to produce your line?
After I tried manufacturers in New York City, Los Angeles, and North Carolina, LiLu designers went to a conference in Minneapolis and found a digital printer locally they thought could do the line. So we are working with them. Fashion has been using digital printing for a long time. It took about six months to get the line done, with Julie Dasher Rugs doing the rugs with Tibetan artists. We did four colorways and three patterns, Tri Dot, Deckle Dot, and Leap. The textiles and wallpaper are smaller patterns, and the rugs are larger-scale.
See more of the Sylvie & Mira collection at Blended Blue, Julie Dasher Rugs, and sylvieandmira.com.
By Susie Eaton Hopper
Photo courtesy of LiLu Interiors