Search

Friday Five with Rebecca Lonergan of modwalls

Rebecca Lonergan spent many years in high tech staffing in the Silicon Valley, including stints as the head of the staffing departments for both eBay and Google. She had always worked creatively making jewelry and mosaic tile art as hobbies. In 2003, she and her husband David decided to live more creatively on a full-time basis. They started modwalls® as a result of their own difficulty in finding modern and colorful tile for their home projects.

Both had backgrounds in high tech, so they knew that they could bring a traditionally brick and mortar retail experience online. Their goal was to design and stock the modern tile products that they and others like them craved, and to have them available for immediate delivery via online purchase. So away they went!

Several years and hundreds of products later, they are doing very well, and continuing to grow their business by adding more and more sustainable products. They also work with non profits such as HOPE services, whose workshop of developmentally disabled adult clients produces their custom Brio® glass mosaic blends locally.

Rebecca explains, “We like to say that we’re building a brand piece by shiny little piece.”

For my Friday Five I’m going for color. I’m usually all about the color green, but this spring I’ve found myself drawn to all things blue. Here are some of the items I’m craving now:

1. Loll Designs Picket Double Low Back Bench in Sky
Our deck has been home to several green Adirondack chairs by Loll designs for a few years now. This cool company creates outdoor furniture and other items using recycled materials. I’m dreaming of this blue bench in our vegetable garden.

2. IKEA LYKTA table lamp in turquoise
I just redid our twin boys’ bedroom with a splendid aqua colored paint on the walls from Pittsburgh Paints’ new no VOC line. This groovy and affordable turquoise glass table lamp from IKEA was the perfect find for their dresser.

3. Blue Framed Butterfly
On the walls of the boys’ nature themed room I’ve included a beautiful blue butterfly which was a gift from a friend in Costa Rica. Similar lovelies can be found on Etsy.

4. Teal Toy Watch
My personal accessory obsession is with oversized wristwatches. I have a growing collection and have set my sites on this teal “jelly” version from Toy Watch USA.

5. Henry Road® for modwalls®
And I’m really excited about a new glass tile collection we’ve just introduced in collaboration with Paula Smail of Henry Road. Henry Road for modwalls® combines Paula’s textile designs with our modwalls® Lush® glass tile in fresh color combinations. Here is my favorite: Circles on Sky blue Lush® glass tile.

Jaime Derringer, Founder + Executive Editor of Design Milk, is a Jersey girl living in SoCal. She dreams about funky, artistic jewelry + having enough free time to enjoy some of her favorite things—running, reading, making music, and drawing.