Introducing Shelfology’s 2023 Ambassadors of Awesome

We invite you to meet our favorite maverick muses of modern home style. Whether exploring bold color palettes, displaying amazing carpentry skills, or bringing a vision to life from the studs up, you can count on this group of skilled creators to stand out from the crowd and lead the way. Explore everything new and revisit modern classics as our mission to organize your space and reclaim America’s walls takes off this month.

Meet the 2023 Shelfology Ambassadors of Awesome. 

Amy Hadley- Principal Designer and Founder of Hey Now Interiors

Amy Hadley is the founder and principal designer at Hey Now Interiors, an Austin-based interior design firm known for its joyful use of color and clever space-solving. Amy spent two years as an expat in Prague, Czech Republic, where she learned the power of home—of setting it up with purpose so it serves you. Amy founded Hey Now out of this environmental-behavioral approach, creating spaces that inspire more joy, creativity, and connectedness. 

Barry Bordelon and Jordan Slocum, aka The Brownstone Boys  

Jordan and Barry, aka the Brownstone Boys, are interior designers, DIY-ers, and Project Managers in Brooklyn, NY. They share a passion for old homes and everything that comes along with them: the details, the quirks, the character, and especially the parts that need lots of love. As project managers, they work alongside clients from the purchase of property, through the design and build, until the job is complete and move-in ready. Barry & Jordan's work has been featured in HGTV, Architecture Digest, Domino Magazine, Lonny Magazine, New York Magazine, Rue, Good Morning America, and recently featured on Magnolia Network. 

Ethan Abramson - Furniture Company Owner and Woodshop Adventurer.

Ethan has been producing award-winning furniture since founding his company - ethanabramson.com - in 2008. With pieces that can be found in homes, as well as various stores and museums across the country, his work has been showcased in numerous industry-leading magazines, newspapers, and TV shows. He is also the host of the critically acclaimed show - Building A Furniture Brand with Ethan Abramson, a content creator - @THEBUILDwithETHAN - where he showcases the lighter side of woodworking, and a teacher helping to share the craft of furniture making worldwide.

Chad and Jenn Mellon, Interior Photographer and Designers at Mellon Studio

Jenn and Chad Mellon are the dynamic husband and wife team behind MELLON STUDIO. Chad is an award-winning interior photographer with over a decade of experience in storytelling through beautiful imagery. His innovative approach to both photography and product design is informed by his highly creative and detail-oriented background in Industrial Design. Jenn is the unstoppable force behind the studio's creative vision and business direction. Drawing on her background in fashion, she combines design skills with business acumen to seamlessly bridge the worlds of photography and product design. With their unique blend of creativity and expertise, MELLON STUDIO brings artfully curated spaces to life through stunning visual photography, while also designing exceptional and sustainable products along the way through their collaborative product line: MELLON. They have been featured in Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, Vogue Living, Domino, and other prestigious publications.

Anne Gillyard and Jodi Arellano, Co-Founders of grOH! Playrooms

Anne Gillyard and Jodi Arellano are the Co-Founders behind the in-demand, DC-based playroom design firm, grOH! Playrooms. Anne and Jodi are the “grOH-to” experts to design cutting-edge play spaces supporting critical thinking, independence, and confidence. Throughout her time as an educator, Anne identified a disconnect between how children play at home and the critical thinking skills needed for success in school and as members of society. She saw the answer was in transforming the home play environment. Jodi has always emphasized crafting learning opportunities that foster creativity, critical thinking, communication skills, and reasoning. grOH is the natural progression of her expertise in play, organization, and educational design. Finding a match for her passion for play and learning, Anne co-founded grOH! Playrooms with Jodi in 2018. 

Their collective time as former educators spans decades and brings unique expertise to creating intentional environments to support kiddos, families, and communities worldwide.

Mercedes Austin, Founder & CEO of Mercury Mosaics

“Working with my hands saved my life,” says Mercedes Austin, CEO of Mercury Mosaics. “There’s something therapeutic about working with your hands, and it’s what centers me. It’s the only way I’ve learned to navigate life and do something that adds value to the world. Returning to the trade is the constant thread.”

Mercury Mosaics is female-founded, artisan-run & Midwest-made. We’re built from an artist’s vision to uplift the world, one handmade tile at a time. Over the past 20+ years, this has translated to countless collaborations with a community of brands, entrepreneurs, design lovers, visionaries, and your neighbor next door. At this stage of the game, it’s more than tile, it’s a movement!

Jamie and Morgan Molitor, Co-Founders of construction2style 

Morgan is the other half and co-founder of construction2style, alongside her husband Jamie. Wife, mom of 3, content creator, marketing strategist, stylist, and designer. 

For over 10  years, they've been tearing houses apart and creating new dream spaces not only for their clients but for themselves. They started c2s from the ground up as a DIY blog and have since evolved into a full-service design + build interior residential and small media company. They document it all from the construction side: how to build a website, and developing multiple streams of revenue, to how to build your brand while ensuring profitability, marketing courses, in-person workshops, and more.

Morgan graduated from college in Long Beach, CA with a fashion merchandising and marketing degree, she has now taken that creativity and knowledge to use as she oversees all content creation, manages the brand partnerships, is the writing guru, and overall creative director. She also heads up their online education courses and in-person marketing conferences. You can always find an infectious smile on Morgan’s face and hear her contagious laugh. She’s a forward thinker, and risk taker and nothing makes her happier than when she gets to play a small part in making people's dreams and lives thrive. 

Shannon Maldonado, Founder and Creative Director of YOWIE

Opened in 2016, YOWIE is a curated lifestyle shop and design studio, with a focus on work by independent labels, artists, and designers. After working in Fashion Design for over twelve years (Ralph Lauren, American Eagle Outfitters, and Urban Outfitters), its founder Shannon launched her inspiring storefront via a series of experimental pop-ups and a small but charming web shop of just twelve objects. She constantly looks to create an intersection between design and community in her work and to create spaces that invite discovery and have unexpected references and details.

Named \"The Coolest Shop in Philadelphia\" by Bon Appétit in 2019, the YOWIE brand has extended its outreach to include interactive design workshops, creative/art direction, and interior design consulting for hospitality clients that include Nordstrom, CB2, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Fred Segal, and hospitality spaces Ethel's Club in Brooklyn, NY and The Deacon in Philadelphia and Dye House in Providence, RI. Later this year, YOWIE will increase its footprint to include a thirteen-room boutique hotel, a day cafe, and an expanded retail shop.

A huge thank you to this talented bunch with whom we are absolutely honored to collaborate! Welcome, welcome!

Readers: we invite you to dig deep, click the links and explore all that these creative minds are already offering!  Watch this space as the Ambassadors of Awesome and the Shelfology team explore new projects, and provide expert advice while giving you access to the projects and products on their way from this most radical and gifted bunch!