Linda's interest in interior design became serious after she moved into her first apartment and felt compelled to transform stale, lifeless rooms to create beauty around her. She realized that she loved not only the result, but the process as well. Soon she was asked to do the same for others. In 1988, she opened L.A. Miller, two small retail stores in the San Francisco Bay Area, selling art, furniture and accessories. Finding retail confining, she branched out, redecorating homes using only what her clients already had and staging homes for sale. Clients loved the amazing results she achieved, and many returned to ask her to design their new homes.
Along the way, Linda became intrigued with architecture and the impact it has on interior design. During the 1994 remodel of her 1950's tract home, adding only 300 square feet to the original footprint, she transformed it into an open, light-filled European country cottage that made use of every inch of both interior and exterior space. In 1995, Linda decorated the rooms and public spaces of the Mill Valley Inn in Mill Valley, California, followed by a remodel and redecoration of both the Hotel Sausalito in 1997 and the Cottages of Napa Valley in 2005. Her business, Linda Applewhite and Associates, has flourished and expanded to include residential construction, remodeling and design projects, and consultations with clients in Northern California and across the United States.
Three years ago Linda began directing her energies to teaching the principles of design she uses so successfully. Her goal is to reach beyond her clients to help people across the country find inspiration and gain confidence to express their individuality in decorating their own homes. Her design seminars, Design by the Bay, Design Among the Vines and Design in the Desert, which take place in Northern California and Northern New Mexico, began in 2005 and quickly drew attendance from across the United States and Canada. Next will be a series of books, the first of which, Architectural Interiors, was published in the Spring of 2007 by Gibbs Smith. The second printing of Linda's book is scheduled for February, 2008. Linda was recently featured on XM satellite radio nationwide discussing her first book, which addresses transforming space through embellishing architecture.
Linda's design projects have been featured in numerous U.S. publications including House Beautiful, Elle, Bon Appétit, Travel & Leisure, Traditional Home, Women's Day, Sunset Magazine, Sunset Books, California Home & Design, Marin At Home, Marin Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Los Angeles Times, and the Marin Independent Journal. Her work has been published internationally in the Italian design magazines Gioia Casa, La Mia Casa, BRAVACASA, Bagno e Accessori and House & Garden Thailand. On television, viewers have discovered her design projects featured on Home and Garden Television's (HGTV) Sensible Chic and Curb Appeal, and on Food TV's Ultimate Kitchens.
Linda has been painting since the mid-1980s, and through this creative avenue has studied extensively the relationship between color and light. She believes that color has a vibrational quality that is both nurturing and life enhancing.
Originally from Texas, Linda currently divides her time between her 1920’s Spanish Revival home on Belvedere Island in the San Francisco Bay; and her 1930’s adobe, Casita Alegria, located in Santa Fe’s historic eastside. She lives with her husband Marshall Miller, their peek-a-poo, Biff and cat, Tina.
Linda Applewhite is an artist, writer, spokesperson and self-taught interior designer. With twenty years of experience, Linda's goal is more comprehensive than just style and the placement of objects; she includes the personal. Linda helps her clients express who they are within the context of their surroundings. With an emphasis on the connection between structure and site, she creates exceptional architectural detailing, uses color for power in unexpected ways and strives to connect indoor and outdoor whenever possible.