Meet Meagan Givens, Homebody Design Challenge Winner

We just wrapped up another design challenge with Homebody, a company on a mission to create the most comfortable sofas on earth. We think they’re doing a pretty good job considering our members can’t get enough of them! In our latest challenge, we asked our talented design community to design the ultimate relaxation space using a favorite piece from Homebody.

‍Meagan Givens won first place taking home a Homebody Recliner, while the rest of the participants won a $500 gift card to Homebody. Learn more about Meagan, her winning design, and what products she has been loving these days.

Hi, Meagan! Describe yourself in 3 emojis.

🌿☕️👶🏻👦🏻👦🏼 (my 3 boys count as 1 😉)

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Tell us about yourself and what led you to design.

My story is similar to many young professionals. When I was in my late teens/early 20s I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do. I went to school for advertising with an emphasis on graphic design because marketing and advertising were popular choices at that time. I have always been creative and I thought graphic design could be a great outlet for that. I was very wrong! I’m terrible with technology and didn't enjoy solely working on the computer. Through many career changes, I found my way to visual merchandising and display work. I loved it! I loved working with my hands to create the displays themselves, but it wasn’t sustainable long term. During this time, my husband was a realtor and we were introduced to home staging.

After our first son was born, we decided to start our own home staging business. I quit my visual job shortly after. That was over 7 years ago! Since then we’ve grown as a company and evolved to offer a variety of interior design services in addition to our staging service. So, to answer the original question, motherhood ultimately led me to interior design. It forced me to go out on a limb and build something I could be proud of. I’m not sure I would have had the courage otherwise.

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What was the vision for your winning design in this challenge?

I wanted to create an elevated, cozy space that represented the Homebody brand. I spent some time looking over their website and really got a feel for the comfort level of their products. Their sofas and recliners are not only made to be incredibly comfortable, but they are also gorgeous. In order to evoke calmness, I chose to stick with a mostly neutral color palette while bringing interest to the design through pattern and texture. I also made sure not to clutter the space and really focused on the sofa itself. Adding furry friends was the best part!

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Where do you find your inspiration?

Anywhere really. Nature can be incredibly inspiring.

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Tell us about a designer or artist you love. What about them and their work are you drawn to?

I love Kelly Wearstler because she takes big risks in her designs. She's not afraid to break the rules and it usually pays off.

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What do you do on your time off to recharge creatively?

With three young boys, there is very little downtime. It’s chaos and I love it! I do what I can to find balance. I used to recharge creatively by finding the perfect coffee spot, strolling the antique mall, or going to the farmer’s market. Now it’s more like forts, movies, and popcorn on the living room floor.

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What's the best thing you've consumed recently?

An iced oatmeal latte from my neighborhood coffee shop, Espresso Yourself, in St. Louis, MO. The ice cubes are actually coffee cubes making it even better as they melted.