Marriage of Design and Art

Courtesy Lounge Interiors/RDB Photography

(l to r) May Benton, Stephannie Welsh and Haley Bianchini.

by Kristen Phillips
May 28, 2008

Sometimes dreams just seem to fall into place. For Haley Bianchini, Stephannie Welsh and May Benton, their dreams all landed right around the same spot.

Bianchini and Welsh, both from Jackson, have backgrounds in interior design and always hoped to have their own business someday. Benton, also from Jackson, had the same kind of passion for art. Throw in good timing, meeting the right people and a friendship between the three, and you’ve got the newest addition to Canton Mart Square: Lounge Interiors and Lounge Arts.

With their recent May 8 grand opening, this creative undertaking is a marriage of interior design services and an art gallery. And the collaboration is cohesive, which is how the ladies’ newly renovated space feels as you enter. The trendy patterns and colors are light, airy and insanely pleasing to the eye.

“We just want to try and bring things to Jackson that haven’t been here before,” Welsh says.

Welsh and Bianchini have a fondness and flair for reviving anything vintage, and they bring that love and talent to their designs. “Doing this for such a long time now, we notice things that are missing and now we have the opportunity to fill that void by doing this,” Bianchini says.

Another way the partners plan to bring new ideas and cultures to Jackson is by introducing new artists in the gallery.

“The main artist I feature is Meredith Purdue, and this is her first representation in Mississippi,” says Benton, who runs the gallery side of the business. Purdue is a Louisiana artist who has been featured in just about every major design magazine you can name.

With a whole world of opportunity in front of them, it looks as if these three Jackson women are well on their way to establishing Lounge Interiors and Lounge Arts as a perfect fit for the creative class in the Jackson Metro.