Specialty Retail: Home Décor

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From traditional to contemporary
Grimm Interiors aims to make you feel at home

When Becky Grimm and her family and friends set out to take a dilapidated building on Washington Street in Morton and turn it into a rustic showplace nearly a decade ago, it was what she called "a labor of love."

That's how she still feels about the building that about half a block west of Main Street and about her home décor business, Grimm Interiors. And that building reflects Grimm's business in that it mixes old with new, traditional with contemporary.

"I had always dreamed of someday renovating an old loft building. This isn't a loft, of course, but I loved the character of this building. But it still needed to be functional and it took a lot of work to get it there. Now, it has come to define our studio," Grimm said.

The décor of her store, which she said "was a real dump" when she bought it after it had stood vacant for many years, reflects her tastes while maintaining its industrial warehouse look. That's basically what it was at one time. Grimm said it was originally a masonry on one end of the building and a cleaners on the other, with a brick yard in between.

You couldn't tell today it was ever in ill repair. "I'm proud of what we've done and I am very proud of the business we've built here and I'm confident of the future." That business is, in a nutshell, interior decorating. Grimm and her staff of five, including one in Galesburg, work with clients to find the image that suits them, whether it's for one room or an entire house. That entails asking many questions about a family's lifestyle and "looking for the rights levels of formal and casual, because every family is different. For example, I would put one piece of furniture in a room that is seldom used and a whole different type of piece in a room where kids are going to be jumping on it all day."

"I try to be logical," she added.

Her color schemes run to warmth and "homeyness," Grimm said. "I try to make the look fit them and make it feel like home, that when they come home and walk in the door they feel good, they feel safe."

Grimm first became interested in home decorating when she was young and her parents taught her how to hang wallpaper. Then, after he two sons started school she bought a Decorating Den franchise and began learning the interior decorating business first hand.

"It was very hands-on learning and it served me well. I like to put colors and fabrics together and see what fits well and through Decorating Den I got the chance to really do it. But I found Decorating Den too confining," she said, explaining that franchisees work out of a van without much ability to show what they can do in a studio setting.

Having a studio that clients can visit and look at the possibilities "makes it easier to convey the image they want."

Grimm said she doesn't stop learning, however. "I am constantly reading about the new styles and studying. I go to markets at least twice a year to see what is the trend, then match it to the area where I work," she said.

That area, central Illinois, "is a unique space. It's a little more on the conservative side, more earthy."

Because of that she knows fashions that lean more toward traditional typically will sell better here. However, she is more than willing to do contemporary designs, using steel and glass and sleek colors if that's what a customer wants. A trend right now is urban restoration, which leans toward more traditional styling but a little more casual.

She changes the furniture and designs in her studio fairly frequently. "While we sell some furniture, we are not a furniture store. We are a design studio that can order anything a customer wants, from small or large furniture to window treatments and art on the walls," she said.

Grimm said service also is important, down to the designer going on furniture deliveries to ensure it meets their vision. "We hold the customer's hand through the whole process if that's what it takes. We try to give a level of service that goes beyond expectations. One reason I don't really concern myself with what the competition does is that I feel if we do our job right the business will take care of itself," she said.

The economic downturn had an effect because money spent on home decorating is expendable income. "But we try to make sure our customers are spending their money wisely. I would rather under-decorate than over-decorate," she said.

Grimm Interiors
111 W. Washington St., Morton
(309) 266-5250
www.grimminteriors.com
Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to noon Saturday; closed Sunday.

Offers interior decorating products and consultation to meet a wide range of budgets and lifestyles.

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