SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 | SOUTHERN HOME 14SH: Do you remember the moment you knew you would become
a designer?
MDS: It wasn’t an intentional moment. I decorated our own house
after we moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and it ended up
on the cover of House Beautiful. Around the same time I had started
my blog, Chic People, Glamorous Places, Stylish Things, so people
knew how to reach out to me, and they starting asking me to do their
houses. It’s crazy how it all started. I always say the blog was the most
important thing I’ve ever done in my career. It was my way of compiling
and cataloging all the things I loved and thought were beautiful, such
as stripes, gardens, and blue and white. I wrote it for myself, but it
developed a large following and seemed to resonate with a lot of
people. It definitely built the foundation for what I’m doing now.SH: Who or what has inspired your pursuit of beauty over the years?
MDS: The what would be things I’ve always loved since I was a child:
the color blue, big white houses, expansive grass lawns—nothing has
PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMY NEUNSINGER; COURTESY OF MARK D. SIKESreally changed in what I find beautiful and appealing. The who, well,