To learn more about Peppeard Design, visit www.peppearddesign.com or follow them on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. You can also purchase home decor items at www.thepepline.com or at Trend + Relic, located at 1501 Indiana Ave. in St. Charles.
‘I WANT THE SPACE TO BE reflective of
them’
PEPPEARD DESIGN’S NEW RETAIL LINE, THE PEP LINE, IS NOW AVAILABLE IN THE TRI-CITIES By Vicki Martinka Petersen | Photos by Cassie Anna Photography
W
hen Shannon Peppeard started her interior design company in 2006, she envisioned her business being a part-time endeavor while she stayed home to care for her first child. But thanks to her quality work and word-of-mouth promotion, Peppeard Design quickly catapulted into a thriving business.
“I often get asked by clients, ‘How did you figure out my style?'” Peppeard says. "I just know at some point during the initial meeting with a client the direction I am going to take. I want the space to be reflective of them. My goal with every project is to leave my client's home after the final reveal having it feel like their home, not mine." Her favorite part of the job is the final reveal of spaces.
Today, the St. Charles company serves clients throughout Chicago and its suburbs as well as Florida, Wisconsin and Indiana. And that reach has expanded even more as of late — with the expansion of The Pep Line, a retail line available online and in a local Tri-Cities vintage shop.
After 12 years of working as an interior designer, Peppeard attended a conference that ended up being a game changer for her business. It inspired Peppeard to start an online retail shop, The Pep Line, in 2018. It began with a pillow line, then expanded to home decor.
For Peppeard, design is a natural instinct of seeing how color, texture and scale work together. “My family all saw talent in me in my earlier years. I would always be rearranging furniture when I was younger in my own home growing up and in all my aunts' homes," she says, adding that initially she thought everyone understood design elements before realizing that was an innate talent.
Peppeard “has always favored modern traditional design with bold, warm styling and a mix of both vintage and modern,” according to The Pep Line’s website. This style inspired her curated line, which focuses on livable design and includes kitchen goods, rugs, wall decor, vases, pet accessories and more.
She first realized interior design could be a career after taking a design class in college. However, after college she took a detour into a more lucrative career in mutual funds before circumstances led her back to her passion.
Last fall Peppeard partnered with Trend + Relic to sell her retail wares in a booth at the store. When Trend + Relic expanded its retail space this spring, she was offered an opportunity to be a part of that move.
A big part of her success comes within the first hour of meeting with new clients during a consultation, a time when she gets an idea of what people want to do with their homes.
“People who might not be able to afford a designer now have an opportunity to purchase home decor items I’d use in my clients’ homes and put in their own homes,” Peppeard says. HOME & LIFESTYLE JUNE 2021
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