Interior designer returns to Astoria, opens upscale furniture store

Published 4:00 pm Sunday, February 28, 2010

After spending more than two decades in Seattle, interior designer Cynthia Merriman decided the rat-race had gotten to be too much, so she decided to return to Astoria, where she has opened Interior Style, an upscale home furniture and accessory décor store.

Interior Style is located in The Messenger Building at 9th and Astor in downtown Astoria. The space formerly was leased by H&R Block.

A Portland native, Merriman earned her degree in interior design from Bassist College in Portland (now The Art Institute of Portland) and is a professional member of the American Society of Interior Design.

After settling in Seattle, Merriman operated her own interior design business, sold French antiques and worked for furniture retailers.

“I love furniture and fabrics,” she said.

But she said the population growth and the ever-clogged freeways no longer made Seattle appealing to her.

“I wanted a change of balance in my life,” she said.

That’s when she decided to return to the North Coast, where she and her husband have maintained a second home for the past nine years. The couple routinely returns here, where her husband operates a weekend charter fishing boat out of Ilwaco. “I’m the bait girl,” she said with a laugh.

In deciding to open her own retail store, Merriman said she saw a niche in the local market she felt she could fill with the types of furniture and accessories she carries, as well as offer customers her expertise with their selections.

“People don’t have to go to Portland anymore to (outfit) their homes,” she said. “I can get the same merchandise, and they get the extra benefit of having an interior designer.”

She expects many of her customers will be owners of second homes on the coast. She said she has selected furniture and fabrics that balance “the comfort of the beach” while retaining their quality appearance.

Although her showroom is compact (about 1,500 sq. ft.), Merriman travels to Seattle weekly and said she can fill special orders for clients. “It’s like having in-city resources right here in Astoria,” she said.

She is always on the lookout for new items, so she expects to regularly change her displays. “If something attracts my eye, I’ll purchase it.”

Merriman said she would like Interior Style to become a “decorating boutique”.

Before opening her shop, Merriman spent about six months renovating the space and preparing the store with just the modern, but comfortable, look she wanted. “It was a lot bigger project than I expected,” she said.

But she is happy with the completed work and so too, it seems are customers.

“People come in and look around and will spend time sitting on the sofas. They say they don’t want to leave, they’re so comfortable.”