Talk Shop: Keith Meacham // reed Smythe & Co.
ABOUT KEITH
Keith Smythe Meacham is the owner of Reed Smythe & Company, a home goods shop she founded in 2018 with her dear friend and fellow Mississippian, writer, and tastemaker, the late (and legendary) Julia Reed. Reed Smythe & Company partners with artisans and artists from across the South and beyond to craft uncommon goods for house and garden that reflect the elegant but eclectic design aesthetic of the founders’ native Mississippi Delta. Meacham co-founded Reed Smythe & Company after a long career in public education and, most recently, after a several-year stint on the founding team of an education-technology start-up. She was named a 2021 Southern Living Tastemaker, a 2021 Garden & Gun Made in the South Awards Judge, and her house and table have been featured in Veranda, Elle Decor, Flower, and Southern Living among other publications. Enjoy this lovely interview with Reed!
Describe your style in three words or less:
Balance of high and low
What have been the three biggest influences on your aesthetic in your life:
18th century design, the houses I grew up around in the Mississippi Delta, and travel.
How did you start your company, and/or what is your favorite thing about what you do:
Julia Reed and I started Reed Smythe & Company as a way to fill gaps we had in our own homes and at our own tables. When we couldn’t find something we wanted, we would ask an artisan to make it for us. Soon our friends liked what we were doing and we decided to take our business online.
Do you have a mentor in your career, and if so, how have they helped to shape your trajectory:
My friend Julia Reed, with whom I founded Reed Smythe & Co, was my great mentor in all things related to design, food, fashion, and living the good life. I never met anyone with more innate style, better taste, or more love for life than my friend. It was an education to grow up with her for twenty-five years of friendship.
What does your home say about you:
I hope my home exudes warmth and welcome because that’s what I want everyone who walks in the front door to feel. While we live in a fairly formal Georgian Revival house, the decoration and design are a mix of furniture and art, fabrics and furnishings that are pretty but not precious. There’s never a problem if someone spills red wine on the rug or if the dogs are lying around on the couch. It’s home.
Where do you find inspiration:
In my garden, in my family, and in travel.
Who are your style icons:
You’d never know it from the decor of my own house, but I adore the clean lines of Syrie Maugham and the saturated color of Dorothy Draper.
What are your key ingredients for entertaining:
A guest list of people who don’t know each other too well, a long cocktail hour, a menu that tastes good, and someone to help in the kitchen so I can have fun.
Do you collect anything:
Antique snuff boxes.
Favorite Instagram accounts to follow for inspiration:
Ben Pentreath Studio, Sean Anthony Prichard , Tulipina Design
What design “rule” do you always follow, and which is made to be broken:
Not sure I know any design rules that exist, but if I were creating one it would be that no room is complete without books - including the kitchen. A rule I break often is moving even the most formal dinners from the dining room to the kitchen for maximum coziness.
What are you working on right now:
I recently collaborated with an artist friend on a great looking hand-cast resin tulipiere that has a slightly brutalist aspect to it which I love.
Wardrobe staples:
Clogs and Nili Lotan cargo pants.
Favorite fabric/wallpaper:
Anything by Adelphi Paper Hangings.
Best interior advice you ever received:
Make sure rooms are set up for multiple conversation areas when possible.
Best career advice you ever received:
If you don’t love it, stop doing it.
Types of home purchases you invest in, and save on:
Invest in antiques & fabric; save on technology. We still use a tiny speaker for all musical entertainment and we have one smart tv in the house.
Your greatest extravagance:
An antique walnut Klismos chair from Niall Smith’s late beloved shop in New York.
Favorite places to shop for home:
1stDibs, Any auction house, KRB.
Most prized possession and why:
This changes all the time but lately, I’m loving the painting I just bought from rock photographer Lynn Goldsmith.
Your interiors motto:
Comfort and warmth should guide all interior decisions.
Your life motto:
Seek balance.
Advice for someone looking to define their own interior style:
Never let anyone else tell you what you like.
Take Ten: My Favorite…
Food: Cheeseburger
Drink: Champagne
Film: Room with a View
Hotel: Crosby Street in New York
City: Paris
Bedding: D Porthault
Tea or Coffee (and how do you take it): Starbucks
Playlist: Van Morrison
Weekend Activity: Reading
Design Book: So many, but recently Nicky Haslam’s book about his country house in an old hunting lodge