Jeffrey Merriman

Jeffrey Merriman, a Knoxville, Tenn., native, grew up wanting to be a singer, and in fact he was as a child. The Merriman Family performed gospel music all over the southeast and even produced a record. Merriman also always enjoyed interior design and "merchandising" his Mom's house. Though he studied computer science in school, Merriman went to work for retailer Welcome Home and was there from 1985–1991.

Working in retail sparked his design desire. He was in charge of new store coordination and display, buying and merchandising and thought he might open his own store one day. After Welcome Home he moved to Los Angeles and did the same job for The Music Box Company and then segued into the wholesale business by working with the Rosenberg Group at the L.A. Mart. Rosenberg repped Toyo Trading and Toyo Trading ended up hiring Merriman as marketing director.

The now 44-year-old found his calling in product design and after several years with Toyo he moved on to become vice president of design at Old World Designs in 2004.

The industry has recognized Merriman's talent; he's been nominated twice, including this year, for the ARTS Award for designers.

"I come across my ideas from traveling, visiting antique stores and looking at fabric," Merriman said. "I also have done a lot of research throughout my career, and that plays a role as well."

Once he gets an idea, Merriman starts with rough sketches and moves on to the computer. He outlines new collections by shapes, finishes, colors and hardware and then ships it to factories in China or Vietnam. Weeks later he visits the factories to review and critique the prototypes and make final adjustments.

"It's amazing what you can get done when you're there," Merriman said. "I wish I could do all that here, but the fun part in working with them is I have an entire team of artists and product development people that work with me and it's all hands-on."

While he can't describe it, customers have told him the products have a "Jeffrey" flair.

"I understand product as a designer, consumer and retailer," Merriman said. "I think about where a product will go, what it will be used for, the story it will tell, etc. when I'm designing a collection."

Much of his work is inspired by his love for antiques and architectural elements, like the New Orleans collection from Old World Designs. In fact, Merriman's favorite design is a 72-inch iron wall panel in the collection, inspired by a trip to the city.

His Southern roots come out in his designs, which are mostly traditional with rich color tones. He has brought in more transitional and contemporary looks as well, but the core of the Old World Design line remains just that — Old World. Merriman typically brings about 250 SKUs to the April and October High Point markets, and adds on to collections for shows in Dallas and Atlanta.

His personal style, he says, is eclectic.

"I mix a lot of old world-looking iron and glass with modern, DWR furniture and leopard print chairs," Merriman said. "My taste is so broad that I just pick up different things that work together."

Staying ahead of the curve, but not too far ahead, is his biggest challenge Merriman said.

"You have to figure out how far you can go with it and still be a success," he said. "I like appealing to our designer business and I want to create something that's fashion-forward and ahead of the curve, but we have to remember middle America is not quite there yet."

Narrowing down all the ideas he has for collections is another challenge and once that obstacle is overcome, there's still the decision of what pieces to put in a line.

"One or two items that don't fit can kill a collection," Merriman said. "You really have to think about the story you're telling and how each piece fits into that story."