WHILE YOU’LL ALWAYS FIND A FRIENDLY FACE AT design store Bend the Trend, one of those may be the resident cat, Kiddy. The owners and employees rescued her three years ago when she wandered up as a stray and never left. It’s this overall sense of caring for those in the community that has made Bend the Trend a mainstay for almost a decade in the historic town of Greensboro, Georgia, just minutes from the shores of Lake Oconee.
Locals have long leaned on the impeccable taste of the Bend the Trend team to source the perfect home accessory or as a place to pick up a thoughtful hostess gift. But when customers repeatedly asked for interior design services, owners Susan and Bill Mason—along with creative director Keely Mullins, interior designer Amanda Higgins and project manager Addy Outlaw—answered the call by launching a dedicated design studio. The new service transformed the shop by adding a showroom complete with textile swatches, curated selections, bedding collections, statement lighting and custom-upholstered furniture product lines. The new design studio and consulting design services have further cemented the store’s relationship to its customers within the Lake Oconee area as the go-to resource for anything related to interior design and home gifting.
“We have always had a vision of creating a place for the Greensboro community as the premier destination for home accessories and design consultations, where we carry both products and services under one roof,” says Bill Mason.
“What we value most is connection,” adds Susan Mason. “Design is personal and so are the relationships we build with our clients and vendors.”
Developing deep relationships is a pivotal philosophy behind Bend the Trend’s services. When Higgins begins working with a client, whether designing from new construction blueprints or renovating an existing home, she first sits down with the homeowner in the store’s design studio to listen and find out what inspires them. There, surrounded by swatches of fabrics, wallcoverings, paint colors, upholstery options and online furniture catalogs of every imaginable style, she asks questions and guides the client to the furnishings that speak to them. “We may have several meetings—whatever it takes to design their home,” says Higgins. “I create design boards—as many iterations as needed—until we narrow down the design style that works for the client’s project.”
From there, Higgins has the full support of her team working on the project behind the scenes, sourcing and procuring products, ordering upholstery and finding the best pricing available to make the homeowner’s dream come true. That’s the beauty of a boutique design store—clients get the talents of the full team behind their project and access to the wide range of products sourced through vetted vendor relationships established over many years.
Install day is special for both the store’s team and the homeowner. “We ask the clients to go away for the day to do something special for themselves,” says Higgins. “Then we set up the new spaces and get ready for the homeowner walk-through. We make every bed, put away every dish and attend to every detail to make it a turnkey experience. When it’s time for the big reveal, it’s like an HGTV moment.”
While Higgins spends much of her time designing Lake Oconee residences, she also travels throughout the Southeast as clients ask her to design their vacation homes and word-of-mouth brings homeowners from other states into the Bend the Trend fold.
In addition to complete home designs, Bend the Trend offers design services in the store for those looking to update one room with new furniture and accessories or even a project as small as a bookshelf refresh. “We love to curate products for a small project and are good at pulling together a room from one inspiration piece,” says Mullins, who works with Higgins to provide a seamless, personalized experience for client projects of all sizes. “The store’s physical presence offers an advantage; it’s a place where we can quickly pull accessories directly from the showroom floor, allowing our clients to experience design in real time.”
“Being in a small town, we try to carry what can’t be found anywhere else nearby,” Bill Mason says. “It’s also important to us that we offer a variety of price points and provide a diverse inventory.” If a particular piece of furniture or accessory is not on the shop floor, the team will order anything from a well-established roster of vendors. “We’ll even allow customers to try it out in their homes before they buy it,” he adds.
Bend the Trend also serves as a hub for community involvement, hosting engaging events throughout the year, such as cooking classes, small dinner parties and open-play mah-jongg game nights. Committed to providing not only the best in home design, the company also carries upscale lifestyle products, such as Oh My Mahjong luxury game collections, that fuel creative play. “We offer discounts on mah-jongg products during these game nights,” explains Mullins. “We also host fun pop-ups to support local artists and their works.”
Beyond the showroom, the Masons continue their commitment to the local community by remaining actively engaged in Greensboro-area initiatives, including support for such organizations as Habitat for Humanity, St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital and the Boys & Girls Clubs of North Central Georgia.
Whether in the store or out in the field, Bend the Trend’s team is committed to bringing the highest level of personal design service and the best they can find in design products to the Greensboro and Lake Oconee communities. The storefront has become the impetus for sharing their love of luxury design and enabling easy access to others so they do not need to travel to Atlanta to find the best of the best.
“Having a storefront allows us to remain part of our clients’ lives long after a design project is complete,” Susan Mason says. “Our customers often return for a finishing touch, a thoughtful gift or simply to reconnect. That lasting relationship between our employees and clients is what makes design truly meaningful.” *
Dana W. Todd is a professional writer specializing in interior design, real estate, luxury homebuilding, landscape design, architecture and fine art.
“Design is personal and so are the relationships we build with our clients and vendors.”
