![Michelle Adams](https://cdn.hourdetroit.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/09/Michelle-Adams.jpg)
After a night of babysitting at age 14, Michelle Adams knew what she wanted to do with her life. Her momβs friend, who was an interior designer, had hired Adams to watch her daughters. While there, Adams sifted through her womanβs magazine collection, intrigued by designers like Rachel Ashwell (whoβs credited with a shabby-chic aesthetic). βI started a binder full of magazine tear-outs of the women I admired,β recalls Adams, now 37. βI still have it.β
Her next life-changing moment happened while flipping through yet another magazine during class at Michigan State University: βI saw this ad for a magazine called Domino, and it looked so cool and different,β says Adams of the then Conde Nast home design publication. I said, βThis is where Iβm going to work.β β
Adams not only ended up working at Domino β she eventually became editor-in-chief. The gig was part of a thriving career in New York City, where Adams β who also co-founded a successful online shelter magazine, Lonny β made a reputation as an unpretentious tastemaker.
Playful with a giddy sense of humor and a tendency for borderline-inappropriate jokes, Adams doesnβt shy away from risky moves. Thatβs why, in 2014, she decided to leave her dream job at Domino and New York and move back to the Midwest (she grew up moving around the region). βI was really burned out from eight years of constant photo shoots and traveling,β says Adams, who has visited everywhere from Morocco and India to Mexico and California. βI knew I needed to take a break and figure out what else there was for me in life.β
Five years since settling in Ann Arbor β βI moved here because my family is close, and because I wanted a house and a yard and a dogβ β Adams has several projects under her belt: The Maryn, her online editorial destination and home shop, turns three this year. She has also launched Adams Creative Studio, a design-consulting company whose clients include Zingermanβs Cornman Farms (she also completed an interior redo of their dreamy farmhouse recently, which was part of an ongoing collaboration with Cornman Farms chef and owner Kieron Hales). Then there was the complete renovation and redesign of her 1920s home in Ann Arborβs leafy Burns Park neighborhood, which inspired much attention when it was featured in publications like Midwest Living and House Beautiful.
Adams may have left New York to slow down, but her life isnβt short on excitement. As editor-in-chief of The Maryn (whose name means woman of the sea), Adams has zigzagged across the United States, and as far as Provence, France, to art direct and produce elaborate home tours, gorgeous style stories, and lush artist profiles. The website, which has more than 11,000 Instagram followers, has spawned a series of collaborations with publishers and lifestyle sites. βThe Maryn has been a great excuse to meet people,β Adams says. βIβve met a lot of people who have brought me into new projects.β
![Michelle Adams](https://cdn.hourdetroit.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/09/Michelle-Adams-The-Maryn-kitchen.jpg)
Adamsβ taste for adventure has served her well since her undergrad days, when she chased the Domino job by cold-calling editors. βAnyone who answered, I asked for a job,β she says. The plan worked: In 2006, within one week of graduating college, she landed a job as an editorial assistant.
She spent the next two years working 70-hour weeks and βlearning from some of the most talented designers on the planetβ before the economy β and the publishing industry β collapsed. Multiple design magazines folded, Domino included. βAt the time, I was dating a photographer, Patrick Cline, and we were at Chiliβs, drowning our sorrows,β recalls Adams. She was lamenting the lack of magazines to read; he, the lack of magazines to shoot for. βWe looked up at each other, and said, βLetβs effing make one!β β
Lonny debuted in May 2009. βWe had no idea what it was going to become,β says Adams of the magazine, which featured informal-yet-beautiful home tours. It was sold to a digital media company in 2012. Thatβs when Domino, revived under the ownership of Domino Media Group, offered Adams the top spot on the masthead. βGoing from editorial assistant to editor-in-chief felt hilarious,β she says. βAnd unreal.β
![Michelle Adams](https://cdn.hourdetroit.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/09/Michelle-Adams-Cornman-Farms.jpg)
Years later, Adamsβ time at Domino looms large. βThat job made me,β she says. Still, she doesnβt regret letting it go. Moving to Ann Arbor βwas the healthiest and best decision Iβve ever made,β says Adams, who, on the heels of her Cornman Farms redo, is now eyeing a jump into hospitality design for hotels and restaurants. βThat would be amazing.β
In the meantime, sheβs embarking on yet another project with her new best friend, a miniature golden doodle named Rufus. They moved into a mid-century fixer-upper because she was hungry for something new. βIβm having a ball shifting toward a Scandinavian style.β Adams, whoβs been putting in hours of work into the new place she bought in 2018, is the designer. Rufus is the muse. βWe are both very happy,β she says.
Michelle Adamsβ Five Fall Design Tips
![Michelle Adams](https://cdn.hourdetroit.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/09/Michelle-Adams-The-Maryn-Gallery-Wall.jpg)
Warm Up
βSwap out summer stripes and florals for fiery jewel tones and warm, earthy harvest hues. Pillows, throw blankets, and dinnerware are an easy place to start.β
Opt for Odd
βSkip the standard jack-o-lantern and instead go with a grouping of white pumpkins and spotted gourds in rich fall colors and fun shapes. Itβs festive, natural, and a bit unexpected.β
Strike a Match
βAdd candlelight and burn incense to fill your home with a warm woodsy scent. Iβm a big fan of the PiΓ±on Natural Wood Incense by Incienso de Santa Fe. It makes my home smell like a mountain house with a roaring fire, and even comes with a cute little teepee burner!β
Get Nostalgic
βItβs hard to deny the sense of nostalgia every year when itβs time to head back to school. For a crash-course on Ivy League style, study up on classic films like Love Story and The Graduate, then ring in the season with tartan plaids, heavy tweeds, leopard prints, rich leathers, and stadium throws.β
Add Layers
βDrape cozy blankets on sofas, pile on wool bedding, and toss extra slippers in a basket for house guests.β
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