We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephanie Abernathy a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Stephanie , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Some of the most interesting parts of our journey emerge from areas where we believe something that most people in our industry do not – do you have something like that?

Shopping second hand or repurposing existing items to give them new life. Most people in the luxury interior design industry really put value on bespoke, antique, custom- but all of that can become so incredibly expensive. I think we focus on mixing high and low and how that can include secondhand items or repurposing existing pieces. It saves the clients money in the long run and can add more layers to the story telling!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Ashley Malone (business partner, co-founder, and principal designer) and I met at Savannah College of Arts and Design in the interior program. We hit it off immediately and had a lot of similar life experiences. We really bonded over a love of antiques, original art and how interiors could really display the story of the individuals who live there. We both graduated and worked independently in the industry as designers before joining together during the pandemic and launching Studio Wellington in 2021. We offer full service interior design for clients, architectural drafting services, and are coming out with a line of bespoke furniture. We are also working with an artist on a collaboration of bespoke accessories.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

During the pandemic things were booming in the interiors space, but the quality of the client/spend wasn’t always consistent. One thing we have had to be able to do is pivot to provide the services that the clients needed. From 2021-2023 we expanded our offerings quickly and often to match the requests and needs our many various clients had. If they needed custom furniture, we would figure out how to source that, if they needed a specific product we would find it. Whatever was needed, we always would find the answer. We also constantly got really creative with how to provide services at more reasonable prices because we ran into so many road blocks- we had terrible shipping delays on products, we lost a shipping container off the cost of California in a storm, we had Covid shut downs, and the prices of all contracting services (as well as materials in the construction industry) skyrocketed. We had to think on our feet to stay on track with our projects and come up with unique solutions. We also did a lot of work to build up a staff that could support is in those pivotal moments.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

We really believe that spaces that we live in should be as unique as the individuals who live there. Your home should reflect YOUR story not a trend or style that is replicated everywhere. The pieces we own should display a sense of the soul of who inhabits that space. We want to lay out a layered collected history of our clients that can be built on by future generations. We don’t believe in fast design, in temporary space, or home. We want things to feel like they will last as long as the family does.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.studiowellington.com
• Instagram: @studio_wellington
• Other: Principal and co founder Stephanie Abernathy @stephaniegabernathy Principal and co founder Ashley Malone @ashleymalonedesigns

Image Credits
Lauren Chambers Interior Photography