By KELLEY R. DAUGHERTY
Special Sections Editor

Did you ever wonder how to create the charming, inviting home everyone else seems to have how to decorate and accessorize so that a surprise seems to be hidden in every nook and crevice in the house without your home appearing cluttered or overly filled?

Ideas for interior design are found in magazines, movies and stores, but that does not necessarily ensure that they will fit your personality, home or budget. Among some of the most beautifully decorated homes in the county are the model homes at various subdivisions designed by Frances Stone Interiors.

Frances Stone Interiors, a family owned and operated business, currently has three generations of experience running the highly prestigious operation. The company has decorated eight model homes in Peachtree City and most recently decorated the new senior living community, Clairmont's model home.

Yet the best representation of their work can be found in the model home on their premises, according to designer Sue Mills, daughter of Frances Stone.

By building their own model home, the designers can personally walk clients through the home showing how and why they placed things as they did. "It allows one on one contact with the client," Mills said.

The design company is owned by Frances Stone, who has had over 49 years of experience and has been operating in Fayetteville for the past 28 years. She still works six days a week at 77 years old. Mills began working with her mother and now works alongside her own daughter Lori Lee Kubbeh, who recently graduated from interior design school.

The company specializes in elegant and sophisticated decor. Throughout the store, original paintings and historically reproduced furniture in model rooms are carefully placed along with flashy antique gold trimmed mirrors and sparkling Waterford Crystal.

In fact, Frances Stone Interiors contains the Williamsburg Reproduction Interior Design Studio, among which there are only 40 in the United States, two in Atlanta, and which is an honor conferred upon the company, not something that can be joined. The store is also the only interior design company that sells Waterford Crystal in the entire United States.

The most unique aspect to this company, is that in actuality, all of their decorating services are free. The company is a complete operation that carries all of the products in house and has a drapery work area and upholstery shop within it. As the customers pick out the items for their home, the store will deliver and help decorate free of charge.

"We can do anything to a person's home but build it," said Mills. "We can work with a person's budget and the quality really shows in our product."

As you walk through the store, Mills notes that their are very few repetitive items and that they strive to create a timeless design.

Perhaps that is why the company has been so sought after by local builders and is also the designer for the Chick-fil-A Corporate Headquarters. The headquarters recently held their Christmas Open House, which Mills described as a "Winter Wonderland."

Lastly, Mills wanted to emphasize that the customer is extremely important to them and that "we put forth every bit of effort we can" on behalf of the client.

© Be dramatic with your design

© Don't try to match (i.e. colors, patterns, etc.)

© Don't hunt a color

© Make things look inviting and beautiful, but it should represent you

© Don't use someone's recommendation unless they have seen your home

© Always know the end result before you begin

© Use bold items

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