Neighboring Notable: Firstborn's nursery draws attention to designer

Shortly after Laurie and Andy Rhoney learned they were expecting their first child, Laurie got to work designing the perfect nursery.

"We wanted to create a special room that would inspire creativity and create a cozy refuge," said Laurie, who heads Rhoney Design, a Hickory-based company that specializes in residential and commercial design projects.

"It was important to me that we incorporate old and new elements in the nursery, and that the colors work well with the rest of the house.

"In many ways, this has been my favorite project ever, but the hardest, too. I wanted everything to be just right."

Judging from the international response to 6-month-old Mallory Gray Rhoney's nursery in her parents' 1920s bungalow in northwest Hickory, Mom achieved her goal.

The nursery has been spotlighted in various publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, both print and online versions.

Laurie said one of the biggest challenges was designing the room not knowing the sex of their child. She and Andy went with a color palette (dove gray, butter yellow, antique white and a blend of natural finishes) that coordinated with the rest of their home.

They combed local antique stores for vintage pieces of furniture, and turned to the Internet — and Walmart — for newer, cleaner elements. Laurie designed the nursery's bedding and window treatments.

"A room always speaks to me most clearly when everything is not new," Laurie said.

"Then, too, there are always places in a nursery to splurge as well as places to save."

The Rhoneys consider their biggest indulgence to be the many vintage children's books in the nursery.

They include out-of-print editions of Alec Wilder and Maurice Sendak's "Night Songs & Lullabies." The couple framed pages of sheet music from the Sendak book and hung them above Mallory's crib.

Their favorite design element in the room is the wallpapered ceiling. Artist and illustrator Julia Rothman created the birds-in-flight motif.

"We were pleased, and other people seem to like it, too," Laurie said.

Mallory Gray's nursery got its first major exposure on a Hickory native's blog: www.theestateofthings.com

Betsy Moyer, now a Los Angeles resident, has known Andy Rhoney since elementary school. She decided to celebrate the birth of the couple's first child by featuring the nursery on the blog she and Sarah Farrell co-author.

"As soon as I hit the publish button, I started e-mailing some of the other big blogs out there to make sure they took notice," Moyer said.

"And they certainly did. The blogging community loves that nursery."

Moyer said Laurie's mix of vintage and modern creates a highly designed yet personal space.

"Injecting thrifty, antique or vintage elements into a room is a great solution for those of us who are interested in matching our design budgets with the economy," Moyer said.

"Also, Laurie's understanding of current interior design trends and her love for art influence her vision, and these combined efforts result in the kind of successful interior that inspires a community of design lovers."

Since making its Internet debut on Moyer's blog, the Mallory Gray nursery project has been picked up by more than 40 other bloggers and has been featured on such sites as apartmenttherapy.com and urbangrace.com.

Andy Rhoney, director of sales and marketing for Catawba Paper Box Co., works part-time for the 4-year-old Rhoney Design, handling marketing, branding, commercial graphics and other duties.

He said the nursery project has brought welcome exposure to Rhoney Design, boosting a business that was hit hard last year by the recession. Rhoney Design's Web site (www.rhoneydesign.com) is now booming with hits, and the business is getting requests for Laurie to design nurseries throughout the country.

Laurie embraces the interest, and hopes it will lead to more opportunities in commercial as well as residential design.

"All the attention the nursery has brought has taken me to a new level of success, especially with children's design," she said.

"I want to keep doing projects that I love, and there are other areas I'd like to explore.

"At the same time, I've got to have time for my family."