Bill Griffin and Michael Forde own the Asheville-based Four Corners Home (in two locations) and Mobilia. Their stores focus on furnishings with a modern but comfortable flair and design elements that run the gamut from tastefully affordable to downright show-stoppers.
The expansive formula must be working: what began as a single store has blossomed to three showcases of their eclectic yet clean, contemporary style. Carolina Home + Garden recently caught up with the busy businessmen to find out the various secrets to their success.
CHG: How would you describe your personal style?
Bill Griffin: Our personal style is very similar. We’re really sort of minimalistic.
Michael Forde: We’re into very simple, very clean lines, but we add a twist with things that we’ve purchased from our travels, accessories that mean something to us. We’ll throw those in as something unexpected. Both of our stores, Mobilia and Four Corners Home, are built from our own personal taste.
What draws you to design in the first place?
BG: I was working for a design firm in Florida and got really burned out on it. Michael and I took nine months off and literally traveled around the world. Everywhere we went, we would see handcrafted items that I would think were really beautiful, and that surely there was a market for. Once we came back from the trip, we started importing this artisan-made ware through fair-trade organizations. Then we opened the retail store here, started carrying some furniture, and it was just sort of a natural progression from there.
MF: Design for me comes very naturally. I get a buzz from helping customers. Often when we deliver furniture for people, we almost do it like [on the reality-TV show] Extreme Makeover: we send them out of the house while we bring in the furniture, and they walk in and it’s all done. The look on their faces! They probably never thought they could have a room like this. To me, that’s worth a lot of work.
What do your stores specialize in?
MF: I would hope that our stores are much more than the products we sell. I hope it’s the atmosphere, I hope it’s the personality, I hope it’s the way people feel when they come in. I hope we inspire them. Most of our customers know what they like and what they don’t like, they just need to find it, and a lot [of them] just need help pulling it together. I don’t want them to ever call it a furniture store. It’s so much more.
What are some of the services that you offer beyond retail?
BG: We offer turnkey design services. We’ll frequently work long-distance with people who are buying and furnishing second homes here. We can do everything from sell someone a sofa to doing a comprehensive design plan for an entire residence. We also do home staging and builder models.
Your aesthetic is rather modern. In an area where more rustic design can prevail, what made you think modern could be successful?
BG: I think that there are people coming to Asheville from lots of different markets, from lots of different aesthetics. We have a lot of clients that go to architects and have plans drawn for contemporary homes and have them built. Builders and developers in this area tend to play it safe and want to do the pseudo Arts & Crafts design or pseudo mountain-lodge design. But that’s not necessarily what people coming from New York, Boston or California want. Even if they’re coming here and buying an Arts & Crafts or lodge-style home, they don’t necessarily want to do the interior with Arts & Crafts furniture or have a grizzly bear standing in the corner. They want to do a clean, modern interior.
You’ve expanded at a time when other retailers are struggling. To what do you credit your success?
MF: Our success has been built on putting something different into the marketplace and giving people a different experience. We’ve only been able to grow our business because of referrals. Most of our customers are very loyal, and they refer us to their friends.
BG: You hear people talking about the “new normal” as far as the economy goes, and I think that concept translates to design as well. People want quality, but they also want functionality and simplicity. They want beautiful objects that serve a function. We see people who may have considered a 5,000-square-foot home a few years ago that are now focusing on 2,000 square feet, but want it done really well. They want the interior features to be top of the line and they want the furnishings to be of good quality — well made, but not too showy or ostentatious.
What are the biggest design mistakes people make?
MF: Trying to do theme rooms. Adding too much color and not enough texture. Getting the wrong scale. And trying to do each room differently, instead of having one consistent plan throughout the space.
BG: They have a difficult time focusing on the big picture. They may focus on one room or one component of a room, but what you need to do is step back and consider the whole home. Everything in that home needs to relate. You need to be able to establish continuity within the space.
What’s the biggest design mistake you’ve ever made?
BG: I had a client who was a urologist. He was a bit quirky. He wanted to have several key pieces in his house kidney-shaped. Probably the biggest mistake I’ve ever made was not telling him, “Whoa! Do not go there!”
MF: Most of the mistakes I’ve made are on my own time and my own budget — I try not to make them in a customer’s home. There’s never been a costly mistake to the customer…thank God.
Do you tend toward any theme or specialty with your stores?
MF: The biggest thing for us, and this surprises people, is that we don’t have a signature, a cookie-cutter look. The biggest thing for me is finding out how they live. How can I help them find pieces and design it unless I know how they live in that space?
What are good tips for designing on a budget?
MF: Spend the most money that you can afford on the pieces where you can tell the difference. So, if you sit on it, lie on it, buy the best you can afford. If all you do is look at it, save money.
BG: Look at pieces that can be used outside of their normal context. We have pieces that can be shown as wall art, but they’re really platters meant for serving. They look so cool hung — they’re very inexpensive, but hung on the wall, you can create a grouping that looks more expensive than it is. Look for pieces that can be culled into service in different ways, like a dining chair that can be pulled from room to room as needed.
What’s some good advice for working with a designer?
MF: The number-one thing is to understand the personality of the designer. If the designer does more talking than asking, they’re probably not a good designer. Understand that it’s a total trust relationship. If you don’t trust that person, don’t venture down the road with that person. If we didn’t work well with people, they’d never recommend us. It’s as simple as that. You hear often, unfortunately, about designers that don’t listen to what the customer wants. But ultimately, it’s not about the portfolio, it’s about who’s going to live in that space.
Any parting words of wisdom?
MF: Have a glass of wine every day. Also, if you’re trying to find a designer, find out who they’ve done jobs for and talk to them. It’s not always about the end result, it’s about the process. It should be fun. Life’s too short. If you don’t have fun with the process, you’ll never like the end result, because you’ll end up resenting it.
Four Corners Home , Grove Arcade, 1 Page Ave., Suite 112, Asheville; 828-398-4187, www.fourcornershome.com Mobilia, 43 Haywood St., Asheville; 828-252-8322 www.mobilianc.com