Design Studio Celebrating Five-Year Mark

Big things are happening in Martinsville at kate!!!designs, whose owner, interior designer and artist Kate Curran, is preparing for its five-year anniversary at its location on Washington Valley Road.

Curran said the studio will be hosting “An Evening of Art,” an art show that will feature works from a variety of different mediums to commemorate the showroom’s unveiling of a new, custom-label furniture line.

“We have a lot of botanicals, we have some contemporary pieces and we’re doing some fine art. she said. “We’re doing mixed media, really, so it’s going to be really cool. It’s going to be a big mix in range of artwork coming in. We’ll be displaying it for a while, and then we’ll be bringing in more art for the event.”

The event will also commemorate the showroom’s 2007 opening. Curran, who had previously re-upholstered antique chairs in her own home, found she was running out of space and decided to rent a larger area to perform and showcase her work.

“The showroom came about because I purchased a lot of old chair frames and started to re-upholster them and give them a new life,” she said.

It has turned into quite the successful venture for Curran, a lifelong artist in a long line of art-minded relatives.

“My great-grandfather was a great textile designer and won numerous awards back in Paris during the early 1900s, so it’s kind of an innate thing in my system,” she said.

That is why Curran, a fine arts major while in college, has always been passionate about the fine arts, which has translated into additional enthusiasm for helping people design and create a unique living space all their own.

“We specialize in antiques, we do art and we do full service kitchens and bathrooms,” she said. “We’ll gut a room out from start to finish. We’re full-service interior design. We do everything.”

“It’s just a passion,” she added. “I just totally love it.”

Curran has also been fortunate enough to gain support and network with several of her fellow Martinsville business owners. kate!!!designs has worked with shops such as Renaissance Tile and The Martinsville Florist, and hopes to work with more of her fellow entrepreneurs in the very near future.

Curran believes that working together, especially in an economy such as this, is the key to survival for close-knit business communities like the one along Washington Valley Road.

“I think it’s really nice because you’re there for each other," she said. "It’s just nice to talk to other people as business owners themselves. You’re down one day, you’re up another day. Having a business is a lot of work. It’s hard work."

“We’re getting a lot of good feedback with the economy," she added. "Everyone seems to think it’s picking up.”