A well-designed home will reflect the family who lives in it more so than the person who designed it. For interior designer Brenda Friday, achieving a unique identity for each family’s home she designs is an important part of the process. “I really try incredibly hard to find pieces that are really purposeful to that family and the house,” says Brenda. “I don’t want people walking in and saying “Oh Brenda Friday was here.”
Brenda Friday’s Commitment to Uniquely Personal Design
For one of her projects, the Fox Chapel home of Dave and Joanie Fuhrer, Brenda sought to turn the 1929 Tudor home into a cool, comfortable space that the family could actually live in and enjoy. She has redone the kitchen, dining room, entryway, and family room, with plans in place to do the patio space and the upstairs at another time. Each room has its own identity with pops of color, intricate wallpapers, eye-catching light fixtures, as well as a careful curation of art.
Left: Over the staircase, a chandelier from Ochre. Right: A gorgeous settee and mirror adjacent to the stair.
Bringing a Vision to Life No Matter the Means
And when Brenda says she gives homes unique pieces, she means it. “Any time I can’t find what I’m looking for, I just make it,” she adds. For the living room, there is a floor-to-ceiling cabinet and shelving structure custom-made by cabinet-maker Mike Lucci, who also created the bar in the living room, as well as the cabinets in the kitchen and butler’s pantry. At the bar sits luscious pink velvet stools all the way from Portugal.
Left: A floral design by Anne Dixon brings the entry hall to life. Right: The built-in cabinetry was built by Mike Lucci.
“That was a really hard search to find just the right bar stool because I wanted something sexy in there to even out all of the hard architecture,” says Friday. In the living room, a large space with 18-foot ceilings, Friday wanted to emulate “a cool cocktail lounge in London,” something elegant but still comfortable. Contrasting the pink stools is a set of cobalt couches, all of which are offset by leopard-print window shades. It’s not a room anyone would walk into and think “the people who live here have no personality.”
Brenda Friday’s Creative Spirit
In an era of design where minimalism has blossomed like a weed, Brenda’s designs are refreshing. Instead of white and beige interiors that feel like a cold museum, her rooms have bursts of color and life, reminding you that homes are for living and enjoying in. In the kitchen of the Fox Chapel Tudor, white walls are offset by forest green cabinets and an eclectic window-shade print from Christian Lacroix. “Even the most modern kitchens have a tendency to feel like a black-and-white film. Modern life isn’t meant to be played out in greyscale,” states Brenda on her website.
If the walls in this Fox Chapel home could talk, they would do so with charisma; many of the walls have a statement piece of art, a statement wallpaper, or both. Much like her affinity for color, Brenda goes for bold prints, like in the dining room where a wallpaper from French company Pierre Frey combines 18th century illustrations with modern abstract shapes. One of many unique lighting fixtures in the home completes the room. When designing the breakfast room, Friday used a whimsical, bright yellow wallpaper as the starting point for the cheerful, yet cozy room.
Lush color and material choices bring the living room to vivid life.
Pittsburgh’s Worldwide Decor Destination
Sourcing pieces from around the country, and the world, is another central part of Brenda’s design process, whether it be Portuguese stools, or a painting by Pittsburgh’s own Mia Tarducci. “I don’t want any of my pieces or rooms to feel [repetitive] or anything that’s typical,” says Friday. “I like it to be a little different, a little edgy, a little out-of-the-norm but still functional.”
Shoppe B on Butler Street in Lawrenceville is Friday’s personal creative space. It houses Brenda’s design studio in the back, while the front retail space showcases small furniture, art, and other pieces. Clients can pursue potential pieces in person and Lawrenceville shoppers can take home decor, too.
Story by Hannah Lynn
Styling and Interior Design by Brenda Friday
Photography by Joey Kennedy
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