944 / December 07
Rebecca Masterson, owner of the new Embellish Home furniture boutique on 10th Street and Camelback Road in Phoenix, lives a life straight from a television plot. Once a practicing attorney on the partnership track, Masterson left her Law & Order career to pursue a life that more closely resembles Divine Design bu opening a European furniture store. Her shop doesn't feel like Sanford and Son, though. She actually carries great stuff.
Relocating to the North Central Phoenix area from Chicago with her husband, Masterson found herself constantly traveling to North Scottsdale to buy furniture for her new home.
"There's no place for people who live in Old Town, North Central, the historical districts and Arcadia, " says Masterson. "I really wanted to serve where I live, so my furniture has been designed for smaller houses." All the pieces in Embellish Home, some of which are bought from market and some accessory items exclusively available in her store, are small enough to fit in the 1950s ranch home or a historic bungalow.
That's one reason why Uptown was the right location for her whimsical shop. Not only does Masterson live in the area, she better understands her customers' needs. She also has lots of creative friends in that part of town, whose wares she carries at Embellish. One great find: a tattoo artist friend of Masterson's created a line of hand=painted dining accessories, including plates and salt and pepper shakers, with striking urban designs. Embellish Home also sells exclusive magnets, coasters and nightlights, all created with chiyogami paper, that have incredible details and vivid colors.
Masterson recommends bright and bold colors to decorate a home. "A big trend right now is taupe," says Masterson. "No taupe. I want to be the anti-taupe." Instead of bland colors, Masterson recommends trying something new or rather, something old. "Chintz is coming back, which is that crazy, English garden floral, [but] in little pieces. If you've got a more solid, demure couch with the crazy floral fabric on it, I'm telling you, it looks great," she says. Looks like the All In the Family look is back in style.
Another recommendation: wall coverings. "I love wallpaper. Especially if you're going to do an accent wall, there are some really great new wallpapers modeled after vintage patterns," Masterson says of the papery décor making its big comeback. "Huge stripes are great in a kitchen backsplash, or if you've got one accent wall in your dining room and you want to do a soft wall and put a buffet up against it," she says.
Masterson's been accenting her shop with bustling activity. Beverly Love, an interior redesign industry specialist, will stop by Embellish Home to give a lecture on the do's and don't of accessorizing for the holidays, and Masterson recently hosted a fundraiser for the Big Brother Big Sisters of Central Arizona. This event has a very special meaning to Masterson, as she has a "little sister" who moved into her home right as plans to open Embellish Home were getting off the ground.
"Now I've got Zac Efrom pictures hanging up and the whole High School Musical theme and Avril Lavigne on the wall," Masterson says of her little sister's design choices. "Butt she's 12 and she loves it. It's her personality and she's at home in her room."
Sounds like a Lifetime movie in the making. The moral of this story, though, if Masterson hadn't quit her career as a lawyer to open a fashionable furniture boutique in a part of town that was desperately needing one, then all the rectangular homes with large front lawns wouldn't have had the necessary interior decoration that they needed. And she may have never become a Big Sister to a young girl. Masterson followed her passion and everyone is happy in the end. Can someone get Oprah on the phone?