Today we’d like to introduce you to Maja Edwards
Hi Maja, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I worked for a defense contractor as a Project Financial Administrator at the time my husband and I bought our first home on James Island. It was a lovely yellow house that needed a lot of love. It was just sad looking inside, but I had a vision bigger than the fear of renovating. All the improvements made to the house were done on a major budget, which meant it needed to be super intentional and purposeful, while still reflecting our styles and personalities.
I was posting before/after pictures of our home reno journey on my personal Instagram account and was surprised how many people reached out to ask if I would be willing to help with their homes. Shortly after, I had my first client in Mt. Pleasant. It was something that happened very organically for me. I never planned on doing this. I never forced it. I was just having fun. But something clicked. I knew interior design and decorating is what I wanted to do. It’s a feeling I had never had before because everything always felt like a chore or a job.
My mom was an architect and my dad was a sales manager for a large construction company, so home and how we feel at home was always very important for us. Perhaps, that hidden talent in me finally resurfaced when we bought our home and I rediscovered myself in the best way possible.
It wasn’t until I got pregnant with my first baby three years ago that I finally quit my full-time job and opened the doors of Maja Interiors. It took a lot of courage to do this, a lot. But I have always existed as an individual who takes risks over tapping in one place pondering if “the timing is right” to do something.
Only a year later, I was featured in the CB2 catalogue, Architectual Digest France, Apartment Therapy and Cosmopolitan. It was so fun for me because it seemed almost unreal that I was able to completely change my life in less than one year.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Number one struggle was the question “Am I good enough to design other people’s homes?” So, when I think of struggles, I think of mental struggles more than anything. Then one day, a complete stranger on Instagram that I engaged with said to me: “If you like your work, others will like it too.” Hearing this sentence was everything for me and to me. It changed in its entirety how I approach things. And I am forever grateful to that person for what she said to me that day.
But, some of the more obvious struggles I’ve had was finding clients in today’s overly saturated market when you are a new designer with 200 followers. Most of my clients are still word-of-mouth clients, and I am not complaining! It can only mean that people are happy with my work, right?!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Maja Interiors is an interior design and interior decorating studio based out of Charleston, SC. It focuses on cultivating a distinguished style based on an eclectic approach to thinking while relying on principles of simplicity and minimalism in execution. The spaces that we create are sophisticatedly simple, representing a calming harmony and distinctive balance of lines, textures and color, and abound in carefully selected pieces. The goal is always to get rid of the superfluous and create spaces that evoke positive feelings. My aesthetics rely on natural light, earth tones and organic materials that can be mixed together to provide more effortless lived-in look.
I am originally from Belgrade, Serbia and my designs are a curated blend of different styles inspired by many of my travels in Europe, especially places like Copenhagen and Juan Les Pins, as well as Joshua Tree/California desert.
Charleston is pretty homogeneous when it comes to personal style and home style, and at one point I was contemplating if my interior business needed to pivot in style to cater to “the low-country lux” crowd. I quickly decided that it was a hard “no” for me and I am so glad I did.
How do you define success?
Success for me is defined by personal fulfillment. Personal fulfillment for me is a well created balance between five things, and five things only: work, family, sleep, hobbies and having time off to travel.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://majaedwardsinteriors.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maja.interiors/
