Designing ‘A Sense of Place’

LIHUE — Mary Philpotts McGrath is considered one of Hawaii’s premier interior decorators. She’ll be on Kauai to share some of her guidelines for creating that perfect sense of peace and place.

She said it’s not as difficult as you might think.

“I hope to make it easy for them because I have no rules,” Philpotts McGrath said. “It’s called anything goes.”

The author of “Hawaii: A Sense of Place,” along with Kaui Philpotts, will be featured in a book club special event and workshop on Saturday to benefit the Kauai Museum. She’ll be joined by her daughter, Connie Sutherland.

One of her most simple and effective tips is, believe it or not, recycling.

“I look at the beauty in things before I throw it away,” she said.

Philpotts McGrath grew up and lives on Oahu. She has roots on Kauai through her great-grandparents who were connected with Grove Farm.

“I always loved the island,” she said.

She attended the University of Hawaii. She was an art major who got sidetracked into working with people’s personal spaces, she said.

“I was very lucky to have a really significant group of professors,” she said. “One was an interior designer on the side. It got me very much into art and lifestyle.”

She talks of bringing nature inside and looking at things in a different perspective.

On Kauai, she’ll talk about her book and present an interactive workshop. Those planning to attend should bring live or dried things like flowers, leaves, pods or branches.

They should also bring a favorite container or basket, something new or unusual from their garden or yard they would like to work with.

Philpotts McGrath will explain the best ways to put them on display through interior design.

Those attending the workshop, she hopes, will be inspired “to look at things differently and to find beauty where they didn’t expect to.”

Tickets are $5 and available at the museum, 4428 Rice St. The event is presented by Daughters of Hawaii and Kauai Museum.

Info: 245-67931 or www.kauaimuseum.org