INSIGHTS + DISCOVERIES

The Mobile Bay Magazine 2026 Inspiration Home, Chighizola Some spaces make your heart skip a beat the moment you walk in, even when they aren’t pristine and polished. They have something that can't be manufactured: history, soul, and character. The Chighizola House in downtown Mobile, Alabama has a charm that cannot be manufactured, even when it stood empty, with exposed plaster-and-lath construction waiting to be restored to its former glory. Maybe it’s the years of art and

Interior Design & Styling: Rachel Cannon Limited Interiors | Photo: Haylei Smith Nobody talks about August the way they talk about September. September gets the mood boards, the candle launches, and the "hello, fall" content. August just gets... humidity and back-to-school anxiety. But here's what I've learned after years of designing homes and living in Louisiana: August is actually the best time to start refreshing your space. Not because fall is here (it very much is not),

Interior Design & Styling: Rachel Cannon Limited Interiors | Photo: Haylei Smith Most business owners spend a lot of time thinking about their brand: the logo, the colors, the website, the social presence. And then they lease a space, fill it with furniture, and somehow never connect those two things. But your physical environment is one of your most powerful branding assets. It's influencing your clients before anyone says a word. Before a consultation begins, a service is r

Interior design is an aesthetics-driven business. Let’s face it: nobody hires a designer because they trust our spreadsheets (although ours are immaculate). They hire us because they trust our eye, and the first place they test that eye is on us, before they’ve ever seen a single mood board. So when I meet someone for the first time, they’re giving my whole look a once-over. They’re looking for evidence that my personal style is as deliberate about the details as my design wo

Interior Design & Styling: Rachel Cannon Limited | Photography: Kim Meadowlark I'm going to tell you something the interior design industry doesn't usually lead with: what you're paying for isn't a beautiful room. The beautiful room is the result. What you're paying for when you hire an interior designer is relief. Relief from decision fatigue, research, missed details, contractor questions, discontinued items, and mismatched dye lots. What you're paying for is the relief of

Interior Design & Styling: Rachel Cannon Limited | Photography: Kim Meadowlark Oh, the rooms I have seen in my now 22-year career as an interior designer… Beautiful ones where things were tastefully executed; chaotic ones that felt like an adolescent was handed a credit card and turned loose in a craft store; rooms that were obviously expensive, but somehow still had an air of regret; and modest ones that felt like a peaceful exhale. It might be surprising to learn that what

One of my first professional headshots after opening my business. I chose black because I thought it looked professional and serious, but peep the brightly colored shoes I paired it with. Deep down, I knew I really wanted color! When I finally broke down and decided to have my seasonal color analysis done, I’d been an interior designer for years. I understood color theory inside and out. I could walk into a client’s home and tell you exactly why a paint color was fighting the

At my Mamaw’s house in Newellton, Louisiana. She could grow anything, and her hydrangeas were legendary. My swimsuit/jean shorts/athletic socks and velcro sneakers look is pretty legendary, too. Circa 1985 Every June I go through the same experience: craving a slower, gentler pace to my days, while still trying to meet the demands of owning a business. I think it’s a holdover from my childhood in the 80s when we had to entertain ourselves, even if sometimes we had to sit in c

Interior Design & Styling: Rachel Cannon Limited | Photography: Jessie Preza Coastal design often gets reduced to navy stripes and shell collections, but that's not how we approach it. I’ve designed homes all along the Gulf Coast, and while each one looks completely different from the next, there is a method to making sure the “coastal” vibe is present, even when there’s no anchor in sight. 1. The floor plan has to handle a crowd Extended family, weekend guests, and multiple

Interior Design & Styling: Rachel Cannon Limited Interiors | Photo: Kim Meadowlark I have spent twenty-one years as an interior designer insisting that color is the most powerful tool in a room, and the company whose entire reason for existing is color just put my name on it. As much as I want to gracefully and quietly accept this honor, I will take any reason to talk about my most favorite topic and to take a look back on past projects where color won out over another bland

Interior Design & Styling: Rachel Cannon Limited | Photography: Jessie Preza June inevitably kicks off a season of observing how our clients’ homes perform when they’re lived in full-time, with doors left open and wet bathing suits ending up everywhere. While we are a high-end design firm, we also live in the real world. And we believe in creating homes that become places where memories are made, rather than full-time maintenance projects. 1. White linen slipcovers are a lie

Have you ever thought about how everything in your home is an investment piece? Think about all of the items, decisions, and relationships that have gone into building your space. They’re worth spending real money on because they pay you back in ways that compound over time. I want to make the case that an interior designer who uses AI well is exactly that kind of investment. Here’s what I mean: When prospective clients come to me, they’ve often already spent time on the AI-a

A few years ago, I was working with a client who had given me every piece of information I technically needed: the budget, the wish list, the Pinterest board. On paper, it was a straightforward project. In the room, it was anything but. Within the first twenty minutes of our consultation, I understood something that no brief could have told me. This family was in transition. A big one. And what they needed from their home wasn’t just a beautiful living room. They needed a spa

There’s a conversation happening in every creative industry right now, and interior design is no exception. AI is here, and I’d rather talk about it openly than pretend it isn’t sitting right alongside the fabric swatches and finish samples. I’ll be honest with you: We use AI here at Rachel Cannon Limited. It’s useful for research, helps us work through marketing ideas faster than I could on my own, and supports business development. And that’s a good thing because it allows

There’s a version of the design process that a lot of people have experienced and absolutely hated: the one where they feel like they’re managing their designer. Chasing updates. Following up on orders. Wondering what’s happening with the project they’re paying for. Feeling like the whole thing would stall out if they stopped pushing. That experience is unfortunately common. And it has nothing to do with how high-end the designer’s portfolio is. What separates a reactive desi

Two things happen fairly reliably when a client tries to direct the creative process of a project they’ve hired a professional to lead. The work gets more expensive, and it gets worse. Usually, both at the same time. I say this with zero judgment because the impulse makes complete sense. You’ve invested a significant amount of money in your home. You have opinions. You’ve been pinning things for years. Of course, you have ideas about what you want. And a good designer absolut