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There’s something about the model home that serves as headquarters to Cindy Friend Lifestyle Studio and Cedar Creek Homes that brings to mind a scene from the film “Brewster’s Millions.” In that movie from the 1980’s, the title character has been torturing an interior designer with his ever-changing wants and needs for some time. Finally, toward the end of the movie, he reaches a point at which he is satisfied. He tells her, “I could die in this room.”
Friend, a local interior designer whose resume includes 20 years in the business and five first place finishes in the Fort Wayne and Northeast Indiana Parade of Homes, creates the kind of spaces people are more than happy to, if not die in, live in, and live in for a long time. Her approach to design might seem simple. She is an artist with an innate sense for design who makes a point to remain abreast of all the current and trends.
“Interior design is a gift. Either you have a sense for it or you don’t. You can’t teach someone to have an eye for balance and taste,” Friend says. “But I do make sure to attend the main conferences in our industry, the International Builder’s Show, the International Kitchen and Bath Show and the International Furniture Market in High Point. Those shows are great places to get new ideas.”
Friend rarely has had to struggle to come up with new ideas. She’s noticed that the trend in home décor and construction design is moving toward clean lines and sparse spaces. She also has her finger on the pulse of the go green movement. She and her team won the bid to work on a green-friendly home they hope will be named the first LEED certified house in the area. LEED certification is a prestigious distinction handed down by the U.S. Green Building Council that recognizes homes that conserve natural resources and create less waste, all the while providing a comfortable and pleasing residence for their occupants.
“I think while they’re rare now, LEED certified homes will eventually become the norm,” Friend says. “For a long time there hasn’t even been the option to build in a more environmentally friendly way, and soon I think people will be inspired by not only the savings, but the style and fact that they’re doing a good thing for the planet.”
Friend and her husband, Tim Stauffer, started the Lifestyle Studio/Cedar Creek partnership in 1998. Since then they have been in business of both new home construction and smaller, more intimate remodeling projects. On the Lifestyle Studio side, Friend consults with clients on everything from flooring to countertops, furniture, décor, and window treatments. Cedar Creek Homes creates the spaces where those choices come to life.
Such choices, says Friend, should reflect who you are as a person. She is a firm believer in the idea that our homes are an extension of ourselves, and in keeping with that idea, she and her team design spaces that cater to every client on an individual scale. In other words, the people at Lifestyle Studio and Cedar Creek Homes are not interested in anything that warrants the label cookie cutter.
“We truly care about our clients and we want to know all about their lifestyle, their needs and their routines. We ask a lot of questions, and those questions are designed to get at creating spaces that are specifically tailored to our clients,” she says. “That doesn’t mean that you need to have a 10,000 square-foot home. We’ve worked in apartments, and in 1,500 square-foot homes. There’s no limit to what we’ll do.”
That concept applies to the model home, located just across Jefferson Boulevard from Jefferson Pointe Shopping Center. There is no limit to what that house does. It acts not only as the home offices of Lifestyle Studios and Cedar Creek Homes, but as the display space for the many local vendors and artisans the companies use, as well. It also houses a clothing boutique, hair salon and a state-of-the-art kitchen where local chefs will be treating interested parties to a few lessons in the art of fine cuisine.
“My goal was for this place to be a lifestyle center, a destination really,” Friend says. “People can come in and buy everything from a chair or armoire to a vase or a purse, and they can learn about beauty and cooking and even get their hair done. I wanted it to have that ‘Wow’ factor we in the design world are so often trying to achieve.”
Wow is a word Friend uses quite often, and she’s earned it, both as a professional and a philanthropist. Every year she donates her services to Francine’s Friends, the sponsors of Mobile Mammography Coach. Every woman who visits the screening bus is entered in the drawing for Friend’s interior design services.
Friend says she enjoys combining her work with community service because of the profound impact a person’s immediate environment can have on their emotional well being. That same concept motivated her to begin offering her consultations services by the hour. Those at a loss of what to get for the person in their lives who has everything might want to consider purchasing just 60 minutes of Friend’s time.
“I’ll come in and we’ll rearrange some pillows. We’ll move the furniture. We’ll switch things up. You’d be amazed what small changes can do to a room. We’ll give your home or even your apartment a whole new look, and we’ll give you a new outlook on life,” she says.
Kennedy, Deborah. “Design to Die For.” Business People October 2009: 55-59. Print.
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