Michael Steiner | ASID Lead Home Organization Designer
Michael Steiner spent his childhood in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, the “small city with a big heart” right outside of Pittsburgh. His family moved south to escape the harsh northern winters. After finishing high school in Wilmington, NC, Michael went on to graduate from ECU with a BFA in Interior Design and a minor in Commercial Art.
Michael then moved to Raleigh, working for several designers before opening his own design business for the next few decades. Now Michael has settled back in Wilmington because Strickland’s feels like home: “We work as a great team and care about each other like family,” he says. “We love making our customers’ lives easier and happier through organization.” Since childhood, Michael has been interested in ‘green’ design; his depression-era grandfather was a jack-of-all-trades and a master at repurposing parts and pieces to fix or create items. Michael carries on in that tradition, and his favorite find is anything that he can repurpose as a lighting fixture.
When Michael’s not hunting for treasures to upcycle, you can catch him biking, gardening and sailing on the weekends. He also enjoys taking trips to the mountains or the beach with friends, family, and his Portuguese Water Dog, Lola.
Michael’s take on:
- Blinds, Shades, and Shutters: For energy efficient, ‘green’ options you can’t beat roller shades, solar shades, and skylight shades.
- Home: For Michael, a fold-out ironing board is a closet must-have, alongside a pull-out pants rack and a stack of drawers.
- Draperies and Fabrics: For a dream view, Michael says you can’t beat the view from the porch of a Wrightsville Beach oceanfront cottage.
- Custom Garages: Michael’s first car was a 1975 VW Super Beetle. With the trunk in front and the fold-down seats, it held a lot of art supplies and fun flea market finds!