Designer believes every room needs texture

Holcombe assisted with the ground-up design, decorating and styling of this Peachtree Corners home, including the open kitchen. Contributed by Greintime Productions

Holcombe assisted with the ground-up design, decorating and styling of this Peachtree Corners home, including the open kitchen. Contributed by Greintime Productions

Designer Cristi Holcombe creates spaces that are as unique as the clients who live and work in them.

The designer: Holcombe grew up on a horse farm in small town Alabama and showed horses until she was 17. After graduating from East Tennessee State University with a degree in interior merchandising, she moved to Atlanta. Initially, Holcombe set her sights on store and set design, but apprenticed under a residential designer, fell in love with it and switched her focus. She later managed design for Lodgian Inc. and its 40-plus hotels across the country. She also planned and executed design concepts for several award-winning communities at Beazer Homes before starting her own firm.

The company: Cristi Holcombe Interiors started in 2009. The Atlanta-based, full-service design firm offers design services for residential homes and light commercial projects, often from construction to the finishing details.

Big break: In 2011, she joined Chip Wade on his HGTV show, "Elbow Room." She worked as a production designer behind the scenes and an on-camera design coordinator while running her design business. "It was great exposure, and I loved the fast-paced environment of TV reality. "

Claim to fame: Spent three seasons on HGTV. Earlier this year, Holcombe was recognized as Best Interior Designer by Perimeter North Lifestyle Magazine.

Every room needs: Texture.

Design pet peeves: Overuse of anything … gray, planked walls, barn wood or too much of anything in general.

Current design obsession: The color jade.

New (or re-emerging) designs I like: Brass and pecky cypress wood.

… and looks I am glad to see go: Most arabesque patterns, subway tile and cool grays.

Unusual request: A client requested that their new build home be designed exactly like their old home that had been renovated 15 years earlier.

Fun (or unusual) spaces: Just completed a home in Peachtree Corners with an indoor, high school regulation-size basketball court.

Biggest designs mistake I made: More than once I've assumed something special to a client was being replaced when it wasn't. Over the years I've learned to be more tactful. I now ask: "what stays and what goes."

… and mistake homeowners make: Overdoing it. Sometimes people don't know how to edit. But less is more, most of the time.

Favorites

- Blogs/or websites: Pinterest; Studio-McGee; StyleBlueprint; and The Every Girl.

- Magazines: Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, House Beautiful, Veranda, Southern Living.

- Instagram: Designers such as Kate Marker, Brook Wagner and Amy Morris.

- Atlanta area home/design stores: Stanton Home Furnishings; Redefined Home Boutique; Bungalow Classic; and Scott Antique Market.

- Places unexpected finds: Kudzu; Queen of Hearts; and other booth-style antique shops.

- Recent project (s): Just finished two residential homes in Johns Creek and Peachtree Corners. Now working on two new build construction projects in Berkeley Lake.

- Up next: Next year she will be working two, multi-family projects in Sarasota and Tampa, Fla.

Find Cristi Holcombe at:

· Website: cristiholcombe.com

· Facebook: cristi holcombe interiors

· Instagram: cristiholcombe