Maureen earned her degrees in interior design and education from Indiana State University, on the advice of her mother, but she says, “It was always interior design for me.” She went back to school for her master’s in interior design from ISU, and shortly thereafter began working for Ethan Allen as a representative, troubleshooting stores all over the country and specializing in training, consulting and working with store owners to better their products and designers. Maureen spent “a lot of years” with the company, meeting her husband, who was head of advertising for the corporation at the time.

Later, Maureen and her husband, Ben, moved to Evansville, Indiana, where they opened Expressions Custom Furniture. They kept the store for 20 years before closing it to retire to the Southwest five years ago, where Maureen says they fell in love with the area and what it had to offer. “The people are so friendly here,” she says.

She began taking interior design jobs after moving here, and developed her company, Environs. She says her designs are stronger when she can truly get to know her client, their likes and dislikes, and how they entertain. “It helps me do a better job when I know how my client lives and what they do,” Maureen says.

“My main focus is satisfying the needs of my client; not my needs, their needs,” Maureen says. “I don’t have a style; I am here to focus on the style of my client and I take pride in that. I don’t want people to walk into one of my homes and say ‘Maureen designed that.’ The home should reflect the homeowner, not the designer.” She says she takes pride in being able to give the homeowner and builder what they want in a given space. “I am eclectic. I can do anything and everything for a client, depending on how they feel and how they want it to look,” she says.

Maureen has experience in both commercial and residential building, and has designed homes for Desert Springs Construction, G.L. Green and Associates, Coventry Development, Wagner Homes in Alamogordo, Jactell Construction, Curry Construction and Jared Curry Construction, and in Picacho Mountain and Organ Mesa Ranch subdivisions. She has also worked with Danny Gamboa, designing the showroom for Casa de Auto, Whataburger, Staybridge Suites and Holiday Inn in Farmington, among others.

One of her recent projects, working with Roy Patel on the new Holiday Inn Express on Valley Drive, has proved Maureen’s versatility and attention to detail. She says the Holiday Inn Corporation has many rules and nuances that need to be followed during design and construction to be considered a part of the InterContinental Hotels Group. For example, every wall of any “public area” must be covered in wallpaper. In addition, each decision Maureen made in terms of color, furniture, tile, décor and other design elements, must be approved, which was an added step in her design process. She didn’t mind, and says, “It’s still going to be a beautiful location.”

Maureen says most builders gear their product toward the Baby Boomer generation, retirees moving to the area who want a great space. “It’s easy [for me] because I am a Baby Boomer,” she says. “I understand their needs and wants. My job is to put everything they want into their home and make the homes these builders create more marketable to that generation.”

Although much of the work Maureen does is with builders trying to sell homes, Maureen enjoys being able to work with families and clients directly to give them what they want. There is a difference between the homes she designs for the builders trying to sell a home and the work she does for homes that have already been sold and are being designed with the families in mind. “I help them make selections that will satisfy everyone and allow them to come to a decision. I moderate as well as decorate. I love seeing a finished product and knowing that it all came together and I satisfied the needs of my client.”

“In my mind, a house is like getting dressed in the morning. Decorating is just accessorizing; putting jewelry on and the finishing touches to make the outfit complete,” she says.

“Design is design – people are people,” she says. “I am here to satisfy their needs; not my own. I listen to people and find out what they want. I ask good questions and really get down to selling a house or designing a house for someone to love.”