If I had to describe Nashville’s Marcelle Guilbeau, I’d probably start with how she’s eclectic. I’d go on and on about her sense of awareness with her interior design work, and about her incredible ability to speak in a tone of voice that feels like putting on warm earmuffs in the winter. However, I’d be doing you an egregious disservice by stopping there.
Yes; She is an accomplished designer, and StudioGUILBEAU is one of Nashville’s highest rated in the industry, but the award-winning “Dame la Décor” also manages to be an accomplished devout practitioner of meditation, yoga, art, and Shiatsu. All while remaining true to what brought her to the big dance in the first place: a love for being alive.
“I love planet earth and the environment,” Marcelle says. Diving deeper into her love for life in StyleBlueprint, she extends further, “I have two loves in life: spirituality and place. Spirituality is about connecting to the heart—all the good things in life that we cherish. Place is the embodiment of everything we love—the earth, our hometown, our home.”
This line of existentially-excited thinking combined with her creativeness is what inspired Marcelle to write about what she calls Sacred Spaces.
“Well, to me, it’s all sacred space,” she says laughingly towards my uncultured request for elaboration. “Sacred space can be found or created anywhere. Where we live—where we are right now—is all energy. We need that. In creating space, we develop and arrange our energy to fit our pathway of desired peace.”
In her work, Marcelle brings this same thoughtfulness and humanistic compassion to her clients. In describing her inspiration for her work, she continues, “Creating harmony and beauty; Helping people connect and recount with Mother Earth, their families, and themselves. Helping people coexist with their belongings and loved ones...I think that’s the part that is just a total high for me.”
Marcelle credits her upbringing, youthful experiences, and being here in the south as breadcrumbs to her success. Born in LaFayette, LA, she recounts her journey around the world and back; never halting the idea of laying anchor back here in the south.
“I grew up during the oil boom. My dad was a progressive guy, and we lived in what was becoming the ‘New South.’ I traveled everywhere growing up. Colorado for college; studied history in Italy and England; When it came time for grad school, I’d looked at Chicago and Berkley, but Vanderbilt called me home. Nashville in the 90’s was going through that same kind of ‘New South Boom’ that had happened in previous decades, and I was just drawn to it. I could just feel it. I could grow up with it.”
The world of interior design is one of constant change, exploration, and being aware of what’s around—all things in which Marcelle seems to excel greatly. As a designer, she holds awards and distinctions from Houzz, The National Council for Interior Designers, the International Interior Design Association, and the American Society of Interior Designers. With, so signs of slowing down soon, Marcelle looks to take her brand of intentional interior-integration to the stars and beyond.
“It’s what I say about my work: I’m creating world peace; One pillow at a time.”