Here at Inside Out Living we have always looked outside of our own creative confines for inspiration. Drawing ideas, trends and significant styles from the wider worlds of design, art and fashion, from both emergent talents and renowned authorities. Of course, at the root of our obsessions will always be home decor and the many wonderful ways we can boost our homes through the choices we make, season on season. One of the most inspiring stories we’ve closely followed, from the beginning, is of the USA based Studio McGee and the resulting webstore McGee & Co. Chances are that, if like us you’re home decor geeks, you’re probably aware of the story behind the American home decor inspirers, but if you’d appreciate a recap be sure to see our round up of their engaging journey at the foot of this article.
Today we take an eager delve into their gorgeous Autumn/Winter , or we should say ‘Fall/Winter’, ranges and pick out our favourite parts. As it’s simply a no-go to ship their selections to the UK/Ireland, we’ve also kindly put together Inside Out Living alternatives that we think meet the quality and style of the McGee pieces that we love.
Soft Furnishings to Swoon Over
When it comes to soft furnishings Studio McGee proves such a great source of inspiration, especially visiting the Studio McGee living room furnishings section. From buttery soft cushions, tactile rugs, to patterns and accent pieces, the inspiration found on SM can largely be purchased on McGee & Co.
The Duncan Linen tablecloth is a fine addition to any table, especially natural wood or rustic dining tables. The light texture, pleasing neutral tone and simple design lend itself to many decor styles. We think the Inside Out Living Stenga Large Tablerunner is a wonderful alternative to this. With its similar shade and thicker set twill, it’s of course a table runner rather than full tablecloth but for those seeking to add some tactile texture to your dining arrangements this will rise to the challenge, year on year. There’s also a neat matching napkin set, too.
The McGee collection of rugs have always impressed in these parts, with such a diverse range of options from hand woven, short tufted, patterned, non patterned and with a wide range of materials on offer. The Selena hand tufted rug is a classic feeling option with character. We love its layers of pattern and the nod to ancient cultures. Whilst the Arena hand knotted rug gives another option with a classic feeling design but with slightly bolder patterning. so, If these two rugs tick all your boxes we think the Balstone rug range from Inside Out Living will more than simply fill floor space. With its gorgeous short tufted detailing, tassels and pattern that borrows from several cultures it’s a fabulous opportunity to add stylish texture and intrigue to your space.
Elegant uniformity is truly a home decor-goal this year. We certainly see this reflected within the Studio McGee living room collections, with a prime example being the Jean Silk Pillow Cover. This simple, yet characterful, pillow cover benefits from beige tone silk with black check patterning that’s woven in, it plays on its texture and adds a nice detail to any soft furnishings arrangement. If the textures and playful raised detailing are something you’re looking to bring into your home, the Kitty Cushion Cover in Caramel is a worthy alternative. With its proud textured lines design, the deep mustard and white cotton detailing help this pillow fit with plenty of surroundings.
The McGee & Co soft furnishings obsession continues in the form of more pillow adoration. Their Ivonne Pillow in Moss brings all the plush comfort and broody hues you could ever want, with a velvety soft texture and pom pom tassels this pillow is easy on the eye and to touch. Of course if you wanted to lay hands on something entirely similar we suggest checking out our buttery soft Ivy Cushion Cover in Dark Olive, it’s a minimalist triumph of 50cm x 50cm cotton cosyness.
Blanket – throw, tomayto – tomato. They are of course one and the same. Snuggle into the season or drape stylishly over a select piece of furniture with the Hugh blanket in Charcoal by McGee & Co. This tufted edged piece is embroidered and stone washed for both softness and aesthetic. Whereas in the Inside Out Living ranges we present to you the soft sleekness of the Brecon Throw in Dark Ochre , this cotton throw is light to the touch, feathery and of course exceptionally chic. Throw it over a loved chair, sofa or bed. Or of course wrap around torsos when the time calls for it. The lovely multi texture of the cotton really brings this throw to life.
The McGee Kelvin Ottoman really speaks to those that love inserting natural and organic vibrancy into the home, with a hand-woven jute and tall profile it can double as a seat or for those feet up moments. We think the Inside Out Living Leeden Pouffe brings that same organic zen into the home with a braided leather and hemp construction, it’s effortlessly stylish not to mention super useful.
Consistently Inspiring - Blogging For Britain
The Studio McGee living room sits amongst our favourite areas on their site, in fact the whole site is rife with tips, home help, style guides and various inspiration. But, did you know Inside Out Living has three blog areas that aim to aid your home and garden improvements.
- Inspiration; for those moments where you’re simply pulling a blank, a place crammed full of ideas that keeps pace with recent trends and style.
- How To; for easy to follow ideas and step by step guides for getting the most from your home.
- Buying Guides; for everything IOL and ideas on how to style your purchases or prospective purchases, including pros vs cons and concise comparisons.
Indoor Furniture To Fawn Over
A substantial part of what the McGee brand offers is style and satisfaction for the indoor of your home. Their furniture collections have long been a place to find furnishings inspo. This recent season in particular we’ve noticed some standout furniture pieces that really spoke to us, here they are:
The simplicity and attention to detail that the McGee & Co Bodin Dresser displays is hard to ignore, a modern and nordic inspired style with oak finishes makes it a home staple. Place in a bedroom as easily as within a hallway, living room or even kitchen. If this style has caught your eye too you may appreciate the Inside Out Living Bergen 3 Door 3 Drawer Sideboard , displaying a similarly Nordic inspired simplicity of style. The Bergen boasts three cupboard compartments as well as three drawers. Enjoy the details such as the small circular handles and tapered legs that add a touch of quirkiness to this piece.
With its fine light oak looks and celebration of simplicity the Kayson Desk by McGee & Co is the epitome of less-is-more. With a low profile and smooth finishing it could easily slide into living rooms, dining rooms and even bedrooms. Looking into our own collections there’s one comparison that nicely stands alongside this; the beautiful Serenity Console Table . This pleasingly stylish console table could well be used as a tall desk, living room display surface or hallway detail. Either way, the pure solid oak construction and contemporary easy-on-the-eye design have always been a hit with customers.
Both the rustic and nostalgic take a prime seat at the table with McGee’s Luna Bench, a fabulous reclaimed teak wood bench boasting natural grain finishes and warmth. We’re all for this rustic meets contemporary style of furniture, in the Inside Out Living ranges we have a slew of furniture that fits this mold. Not least the beautiful Modern Farmhouse Bench, a chunky pine bench that displays a brown top contrasted with its painted putty tone taupe shade base. It fits with the whole range but also looks just as stylish alone.
Kitchen & Tableware Perfected
Studio McGee kitchens have consistently been a pool of inspiration for the Inside Out living team, with chic ideas and products that serve purpose but always look so distinctly the right fit. It’s with those same eyes and ideals that we have been steadily building out our tableware, glassware and serveware in recent seasons. Let’s take a look what McGee & Co have conjured for this season and the very relevant adjacent IOL picks.
Neutrality and quality are two elements that have been integral in crafting our ranges, it seems to be the same with Studio Mcgee kitchens and McGee & Co tableware, with pieces that are designed to sit on dinner tables with ease but retain a unique and memorable look with a quality that will last the test of time. With their recent White & Gray Porcelain Range we see speckled details and an appealing glaze that locks in the quality, elegant and personable. In fact, (if we’re not mistaken) there are three pieces that are like-for-like with Inside Out Living. Enter stage left – Delamere, this range of reactive glaze tableware is alluringly rustic, yet modern and offers scope to pair with any number of other tableware or table dressing styles. Below are the bonafide list of how to scoop your McGee spoils on these shores.
There’s also the wonderful McGee Whitmore Stoneware Crock that’s built from the same porcelain as the White & Gray tableware range, an altogether rustic piece to place in kitchens or as a central asset on dressed dining tables. If you’re feeling the rural charm of this piece you’ll be excited to find that Inside Out Living has a very similar option with plenty of charm and enjoyable speckle glaze to enjoy – the Delamere Jar White/Grey. These taller vessels are prime for placing dried flowers in, such as the McGee Phalaris Stems , a lovely way to introduce nature and texture to any table, but also another fully fledged like-for-like with IOL – shop Phalaris Stems on ioliving.co.uk.
The Studio McGee and McGee & Co Backstory
Shea and Syd McGee are the very present faces behind the name. A couple that started their venture into the world of home design in 2014 when Shea remodeled and designed their first home. A prodigious instagram following grew from her sharing the project, built around the carefully selected structural and decor choices made. In 2016, encouraged by all the growth and interest, they then went on to launch Studio McGee, a gorgeous curated blog come design-inspo website. Studio McGee further shared the canny knack for home re-designs, decor pieces and finding the best in current home-trends.
McGee & Co launched in 2018, which saw the couple branching out into online retail, hoping to share the products that enthralled them, whilst taking the drudgery out of the search. The website remains incredibly popular on USA shores, and helps to stylishly kit out homes across the States. 2020 saw their story evolve with the launch of their very own Netflix show ‘Dream Home Makeover’ , now in its third season, here you can find the couple advising and guiding clients to create their dream home, in a reality show format. As their style star burns so brightly, we can’t help but be impressed with the eight years of output and all they’ve achieved. We’ve certainly enjoyed joining along for the ride with them, admittedly with more than a few parallels of our own – being a husband and wife founded company with a family, for one!
The above picks are just a handful of what the McGee & Co current ranges have to offer, there’s a ton of inspiration and ideas to find from this American home company. We wish them every success. As we’ve summarised in this piece, we feel there’s plenty of crossover for our dedicated UK and Irish customers so there’s no need to dwell on what could have been, and instead get stuck into the Inside Out Living McGee picks all in one place, to see how you can level up your decor. If there were every any questions or uncertainties please always reach out to our super friendly customer care team.
