With over 30 years of experience, McNair is carrying on a family tradition. “I was kind of born into it,” she said. Everyone in her family has a creative instinct and talent. Her father was a saddle designer and manufacturer, and she always admired her mom’s taste and style in home decoration. Her three sisters are also in the design industry and driven to create. McNair attended design school and has worked with renown art crews and architects. 

“The work of an interior designer is a combination of art, design, materials and architecture,” said McNair. In her view, for example, a chair’s comfort is much more important than just its physical look. “A room should not look unused or be too stuffy – in other words, too formal or perfect,” she said, “because this tends to make people feel uncomfortable.” That aesthetic and practical consideration is balanced by her social awareness. She thinks ecologically, reusing products as much as possible or utilizing low impact resources like cotton, wool, bamboo and pine into her designs. 

She respects the people with whom she works, placing an emphasis on teamwork. Of course, in addition to her skills as a professional interior designer, McNair is a businesswoman. “It’s very important to be aware of the business end, to understand business practice and take it seriously,” explained McNair. To keep up to date, she is constantly taking CEU (Continuing Education Units) courses and talking with experts in various fields.

Above all, McNair takes her clients’ needs fully into account. She told us, “Everything has to be visually pleasant and comfortable for them.” She listens carefully to her clients’ needs and asks them detailed questions about what they want to do with the given space. Armed with strong instincts for design, she chuckled when she told us, “I’m famous for going into offices and rearranging the waiting area, because it is so poorly set up,” and, she reasoned, it’s because many businesses and families look to save money whenever possible. “Budget is King,” she admitted, “but everybody can bring a warm feeling into a space by being selective and using the principles and elements of design. It is important to know when to spend more money on something and when to find something less expensive and still achieve the desired finished product.”

McNair also feels a responsibility to future generations of interior designers, lecturing at several design schools. She mentors many who are first entering the professional world of interior design. Her personal recommendation to interior designers is to get a degree, work hard and take the National Council for Interior Design Qualification exam. As an interior design professional, she combines knowledge, creativity, and responsibility to her craft. Her clients benefit as a result, with affordable, comfortable and pleasing designs, and her colleagues benefit as well.