Colorful House Tour with McCheeks Mayhem

The bold colors of Carole Smith’s Houston warehouse remind me so much of her work for her ceramics shop, McCheeks Mayhem. I love it. And I hope you will too because today I am sharing Carole’s home, along with a mini interview, for this week’s house tour. It will probably be the last for a little while – so enjoy!

Tell us about yourself.

I am a restaurant manager four days a week, Im starting to teach children ceramics, and I have my ceramics business McCheeks Mayhem and a blog too. Its a busy life!

On average, about how much time per week are you able to put into creating?

I try and get two full days a week in to make my ceramics, I am always taking photographs too or working on the garden. Its a constant juggling act between work, exercise and creating so it does vary from week to week.

And what is your favorite thing to create for McCheeks?

I really like slip casting my mugs and milk jugs, it is such an interesting process, with so many parts to it. I love to open the kiln after the third firing and see all the finished colorful birds and flowers all over them.

Your work has received some great exposure, with features on sites like Apartment Therapy, Decor8, and Design Sponge. What advice can you share on getting a business started?

My advice on starting an Etsy shop is to have a definite product already finished and made, take good photographs and upload regularly to Etsy. Work on it a little bit every day, especially if it isnt the only “˜job youre doing.

Getting featured on other blogs helps tremendously and provides traffic to your shop. Communicate promptly with your buyers, and ship quickly, good customer service really helps!

Great tips. Let’s talk more about your house. What kind of home do you live in?

I live in an old metal warehouse building with my husband and three cats.

It was made into a living space by the previous owners  and we are working on building another apartment to rent out. It is mostly open plan, with two separate bathrooms and two bedrooms .We have a second warehouse next door  which has my husbands T Shirt printing shop and my ceramics studio and kiln.

We also have a large ramshackle yard.

How would you describe your home design style?

Eclectic, vintage, colorful and a mixture of styles

What is your favorite room of your house and why?

My favourite room of the house is our living room, which includes the entrance way, kitchen and sitting room, I like the way it is so open plan and expansive, one part has a very high ceiling . It feels welcoming and spacious.

I see several collections around your house. What is it that you collect, when did you start collecting it and why?

I suppose I collect ceramics in many forms, plates, beer mugs, mugs, cups. I use  many of them as the original for making a plaster mold of , then I cast that in clay. Some of them I just like to use at home to eat off and some to purely look at. I find them very inspiring to have around.

I love going to thrift stores and coming away with a good “˜find I was brought up that way by my parents in Scotland and my husband is also into it here in Texas.

And lastly, what is your favorite decorative element in your home?

The entrance to our house is my favourite part, I painted the wall an intense blue and hung an orange oval mirror with an old wooden pew in front of it with large patterned cushions made by an old friend in London.

Thanks so much Carole for sharing your vibrant home with us today. Please visit Carole’s links for more…

Shop: McCheeks Mayhem

Blog: also named McCheeks Mayhem

Flickr: McCheek