Today we’d like to introduce you to Ann Edgerton
Hi Ann, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
MUHLY is the practice of Megan Carney and Ann Edgerton, lifelong friends who met at summer camp in the Texas Hill Country, and whose evolving conversations around design forged a subconsciously shared lexicon, library of shared references, and appreciation for the spirit of place.
Both approach design from interdisciplinary & art-centered backgrounds: Megan studied fine art photography and architecture before applying the same concept-driven approach to furniture design and build. Ann studied studio art while working in hospitality and food, eventually merging both through interior decoration, cultivating environments attuned to the ways individuals live and gather.
MUHLY is a distillation of Meg & Ann’s wide-reaching experience and shared references—a refined synthesis of shared creative pursuits and individual strengths through curiosity-driven exploration and ad hoc collaboration.
MUHLY began when Ann and her family bought a 1930s home in the Texas Hill Country during the pandemic. Ann knew she wanted to design a series of furniture for the home. She reached out to Megan to see if she would be interested in helping her build the pieces. After getting together to work out the designs the two realized they wanted to partner on the project and make it something more than just a few pieces of furniture. Megan built the 7 piece collection in her rural woodshop outside of Austin and they photographed the pieces in Ann’s 1930s home. Since then Ann and Megan have designed by asking themselves what is missing, what do I want and what do I love. They have filled out the collection to include metals, lighting, and accessories and have partnered with an artist in LA to release a series of planters.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As any small business owner would know, no road is smooth! But it has been so fun and extremely rewarding. We originally thought Megan would produce all the pieces in her woodshop, but after her wife was recruited to work in Philadelphia we had to rework our entire manufacturing system. We had our pieces made in Austin for a time, but eventually realized we needed Megan to be close to where everything was being made. We moved all production except our lighting up to Philadelphia. She was able to handpick our craftsman and oversee all production.
We are just a team of two, so sometimes we are stretched thin. We enjoy keeping our team and overhead low so we can maintain the freedoms that we need to feel creatively in control.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Each piece is developed collaboratively and designed in conversation with an evolving library of iconographic motifs—referencing regional design details and classical forms through furnishings and objects that purposefully balance the playfully loose with the precisely restrained. Blending anchoring substantiality and casual simplicity, MUHLY explores how a conceptual praxis can lend itself to uncomplicated forms, undone ease, and lasting relevance.
After getting a degree in Studio Art Ann became an Interior decorator and has been practicing Interiors for about 12 years. Megan studied Art Photography and then pursued architectural design and furniture design. We both come at our work through the lens of an artist. We are proud of the way our different skill sets come together. Ann has spent many years shopping, placing furniture in people’s homes, and understanding how people live. Through this, she has formulated opinions about how she wants things to function and feel. Through Megan’s art practice she gained a wealth of knowledge in materials and innovative forms. She then used that to produce furniture for many years. She can hone in on Ann’s big-picture ideas and craft them to a place where they work and we can get them made and sold.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
It is always good to recognize there is a dose of luck in all success. When we first launched Muhly, all we did was start posting our images on our Instagram feed, with 0 followers! But through whatever network Megan and I had built over the years a few big design firms responded to our work and placed some pieces in their projects. A few of the right people saw what we were doing at the very beginning which very much helped move us forward.
I do believe though, that if you are putting out work that is authentic and you are treating it with care and attention, it will find its way to people who will respond to it. We took our time to make something we believed in, photographed it carefully, hired other creatives we loved to help us along the way and we have ended up with something we are proud of and can see fulfilling us for a long time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.muhly.studio/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/muhly.studio/?hl=en
Image Credits
Portrait and Firepit: Kate LeSueur
Table and lamp: Bill Salans
Planters and phone box: Maddy Pease
