photography by J. Sinclair

“Gather up the fragments. Let nothing be lost.” There’s no doubt this well-known biblical verse is at the creative core of one-of-a-kind interior designer Lori Gray. Celebrated for her skills in giving new life to salvaged materials, Gray has a decorating style most often described as visionary. Like any other truly talented artist, Gray sees things that escape the eye and imagination of most people. So it’s not surprising to find that when working with clients who are sometimes willing to wait more than a year for her services, Gray suggests, “they just need to trust me.” And trust her they do.

For Janet Capps and her husband, Al, that trust yielded unexpected rewards when the couple commissioned the designer to spice up their home’s living spaces. “Lori is amazing,” Capps says, “just incredible.” Standing in the family room, Capps points out architectural elements the designer created by hand, faux finishes applied to pieces for patina and personality, and objects she excavated from the family attic — like an end table crafted from an old personal effects trunk Janet’s dad used at Western Electric in the ‘60s.

Making the boldest statement and serving as the room’s decorative inspiration is the vintage Rexall Drug sign hanging high above the fireplace. The former pharmacy fixture influenced the design choices that followed, like the colorful collection of apothecary jars Gray assembled and the “C & M” sign she fabricated to celebrate the Cappses’ daughters, Chelsea and MacKenzie. On the opposite wall, the designer mounted a series of oversized, glossy photographs of objects you might expect to find in an old drug store —images she had in a personal collection of salvaged material that fills a 12-room farmhouse, its outbuildings, and an enormous 100-year-old barn.

“I have enough stuff that I could make stuff forever,” Gray says. That seemingly endless collection of “stuff” is one of Gray’s creative energy sources that feeds her interior designs.

“Innovative design,” according to New York designer Paul Loebach, “is less about inventing and more about picking up on something that already exists and applying it in a new way.” And so Gray imagines hanging French doors, tea-stained wallpaper, and decoupage photographs of France in a powder room. In the kitchen, she styles discarded burlap coffee sacks recycled into cabinet curtains and graphic pillows. There’s also a decoupage writing desk of newspaper clippings — rife with headlines from the Guilford-Gazette and the Greensboro Daily News celebrating local history and rich Southern culture.

Still, as talented and resourceful as Gray is, she also finds creative energy in collaborations with local craftsman like Steve Lynam of Past Tinz. A talented artisan in his own right, Lynam refashions vintage ceiling tins into all sorts of architectural accessories for which Gray has a special affinity. Together, they create one-of-a-kind pieces for Gray’s clients, which in the case of the Cappses resulted in a ceiling medallion in the master bedroom that beautifully accented an otherwise dull fan.

Gray was featured in the premiere issue of Signature magazine, and her reputation as a gifted designer continues to grow. In fact, Lynam has said, “Lori is one of the most brilliant designers in America, not just our region.” The Home & Garden Network seems to agree. HGTV’s popular reality show Design Star recently chose Gray as one of the country’s top 25 designers. And while she didn’t make the final cut, this Triad native is perfectly content to stay put in the Piedmont and practice her magic here.