Muffin Lemak is the epitome of style. She’s also artistic, adventurous, charismatic, and hugely philanthropic. And did we mention funny? We’re talking seriously funny.
We recently caught up with the multitalented interior designer at her chichi new digs in Museum Tower. She and her husband, John, hadn’t planned on moving. But fate intervened when someone knocked on the door of their Highland Park home and made an offer.
Muffin admits it was hard moving out of the house where she’d raised her four kids.
“It was time,” she says. “We loved that place, but we were living in like four rooms.”
The question was where to go. Muffin had always wanted to live in a high rise; John, not so much. And in a tight real estate market, there weren’t a lot of choices.
“It wasn’t until somebody handed him the check that he started to panic,” she says.
Luckily, both took to their new urban lifestyle.
“It’s pretty great. We used to have a property manager. Now we just make a call downstairs.”
It’s easy to see a designer lives there. Muffin’s covetable art collection works perfectly in the space, as do her myriad collections. Many of her favorite pieces are in the blue and white room. She also has an affinity for white and gold porcelain.
Muffin describes her design style as eclectic with a traditional edge. “We like to mix things up so it doesn’t look like a showroom. Rooms should look like you live there,” she says.
The “we” she’s referring to is her long-time partner and friend, Susan Palma. In addition to their interiors business, The Design Girls, they also launched a line of pint-sized mini chairs appropriately named Little Sits.
“We both love little chairs. I have a pair that I bought in Europe,” Muffin says. “At the time, we were going to a lot of baby showers and thought, why not come up with a gift that would be everlasting?”
The business took off from there. Frames are imported from Italy and customized for each client — think fabric, cording, monogram, even an engraved plaque.
Adults adore them, too. “They make very good drinking-wine chairs,” says Muffin.
Even Romeo and Twiggy, the Lemak’s beloved French bulldogs, have their own Little Sits.
This brings us back to fun — and funny. Muffin and Susan are both (in spades).
Take, for instance, the pair’s Martha Stewart-inspired 2004 Kappa Kappa Gamma tablescape commemorating the incarcerated design diva. Or showing up in meat dresses at the Leukemia & Lymphoma St. Valentine’s Day luncheon — a salute to Lady Gaga’s controversial 2010 MTV Video Music Awards get-up.
“We love to incorporate humor into our decorating,” Muffin says. “Life just can’t be that serious.”
We asked. Muffin answered.
What are you most passionate about? The Dallas Contemporary. The DMA. The Family Place.
If you had one superpower, what would it be? I don’t want a superpower. I just want to sing.
Whose house would you like to decorate? Rihanna, or maybe Beyonce. I think that anyone with great fashion sense has to have great home-decorating sense, too.
Last thing you binged watched? The Staircase. And Anatomy of a Scandal. I get so sucked in I’ll stay up until four in the morning.
Describe the perfect day: Take a spin class or exercise with my trainer. Work with Susan during the day. Antique shopping. Then come home and having a lovely dinner with my husband.
Words to live by? Just laugh. Don’t take yourself too seriously. And don’t, don’t, don’t worry about what other people think all the time.”
