Madsen Home & Garden
100 S. Prospect Ave. in Park Ridge
MadsenHG.com
847-858-0769

Q: Your company specializes in “creating classic, livable spaces that suit our client’s lifestyles.” Explain what that entails.

A: Creating a peaceful sanctuary to come home to. Our clients’ comfort and well-being is the most important thing about what we do. Good design can change your life for the better. And this is what we strive to achieve for our clients. We want you to pull up to your home, walk in the front door and feel absolutely delighted with your spaces. The emphasis on “classic” is related to making timeless design choices that will last for years to come. Your investment is very important, we understand the significance of this, and we want to provide you with something that really reflects you, not the trends, so that your investment truly goes a long way.

Q: What can potential clients expect from one of your initial consultations?

A: We meet to get to know each other. We want to get to know you and what will make you most comfortable, and to learn you preferences. We assess the property/rooms so that we can determine the scope of the project. We explain the design process during that first meeting and then provide a quote for your review. We do not provide designs during this initial meeting, as that follows when we begin the actual project together.

We want to create a peaceful sanctuary to come home to. Our clients’ comfort and well-being is the most important thing about what we do. Good design can change your life for the better.

Q: How important is it for your projects — interior or exterior — to keep their appeal throughout every season… and for the long haul?

Carol: It is of the utmost importance because I want my clients to enjoy their gardens at every time of the year and also for years to come. My designs are planned to provide four-season interest. When I design, I design the winter landscape first — what it’s going to look like when all the flowers and leaves are gone. Then I add in the colors and textures for the remaining three seasons through blooms and foliage.

Mandy: We want our clients to feel good in their homes, so it is essential. We are very intentional with our designs. We want our clients’ investments to last a long time, so we make classic and timeless choices that relate to the home’s architecture and our clients personal preferences for color and textures.

We want you to pull up to your home, walk in the front door and feel absolutely delighted with your spaces.

Q: What’s a fun interior design project you’ve done lately?

A: We recently completed a project for local clients who had returned home to Park Ridge, where they both grew up and have tons of friends and family. They had a very clear vision of what they wanted to create: a warm and welcoming house that would be centered around spending quality time with their people. Most of all, they wanted to wake up every morning in their home and feel like they were on vacation! Like they never had to travel anywhere to have an incredible day. They wanted lots of color and original and unique designs. They were open to new ideas and they trusted me, so I just ran with it!

Their home is a historic farmhouse, but they absolutely did not want a farmhouse vibe. So we chose bold and colorful nature motifs like birds and flowers in wallpapers, we color drenched the office, and wallpapered the dining room with an orange grasscloth. Our clients brilliantly designed a modern kitchen with Italian-made cabinetry in walnut and laquered white, and we made an English countryside-inspired great room with bold prints and pinks and blues in the drapery and textiles.

Each space is a showstopper, but it all flows and is so cozy and welcoming. Looking out the kitchen window to the pool and Carol’s landscape design, it looks and feels like Disneyland. It is a delight.

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Q: What’s trending right now in terms of interior design/makeovers and landscaping? 

Carol: For landscaping, simplicity in design and professionally designed, low-maintenance landscapes (young people want it, older people need it). Seasonal blooms and color are big too.

Mandy: For interiors, maximalism, sustainability and personalization. Maximalism in everything: colors, patterns, textures, luxe materials. We are decorating in a big way. Minimalism is out.

Sustainability means a focus on quality materials, so it’s buy once to last a lifetime. Rejecting fast-fashion mentality because it’s bad for the planet. Vintage and antiques are really important again.

As for personalization, the customization is for you, for your preferences and desires. This is a result of the aspirational living we see on social media, but in the end, it is really good for design and for people when done thoughtfully. Your home should look and feel like YOU!

Working together (with my mom) is very productive and seamless. We have our own areas of expertise, and we respect each others strengths. We have the same design mind and a very similar aesthetic, so when we collaborate on a project, we are pretty much on the same page as to how we want the outcome to look.

Q: What’s it like working hand-in-hand with your mother in this business?

A: It is very productive and seamless. We have our own areas of expertise, and we respect each others strengths. We have the same design mind and a very similar aesthetic (it’s in the DNA), so when we collaborate on a project, we are pretty much on the same page as to how we want the outcome to look. After working independently for years, our partnership came together very organically, knowing that we could provide comprehensive design services a homeowner would need: interiors, exteriors and landscapes.

Q: Finish this sentence: With Madsen Home & Garden, you’ll never be…

A: At a loss for who to call when you need any design services for your home, inside or out.