She’s Got Nashville’s Windows Covered. Literally.
From her grandmother's sewing lessons to a brand-new Franklin showroom, the woman behind Brave Maggie Designs has quite a story to tell! Just don't ask her to hem your bridesmaid dress. Image: Girls at Flourish
Some people have an eye for design. Others have a knack for making it happen. Jen Holaday has both. What began with sewing projects inspired by her grandmother has grown into Brave Maggie Designs, a thriving custom window treatment business in Franklin, complete with a brand-new showroom.
And while she can transform just about any window, don’t ask her to hem your bridesmaid dress! We caught up with Jen to talk about family inspiration, her love of color and pattern, and why her own son once lived with paper shades for nearly three years.
First things first. How did sewing projects in your spare time turn into Brave Maggie Designs?
While I stayed home with my children, I would sew window treatments for my own home, friends, and other workrooms. Once my youngest went to kindergarten, I worked part-time in a professional workroom that sewed for Nashville designers.
After moving across town in 2018, I decided to build a workroom in my bonus room and began taking on projects from other workrooms to relieve their backlog. I would say that was the beginning of Brave Maggie Designs. Designers soon found out about me, and through word of mouth, I was sewing for several people in town. Each year, I continued to grow, adding consultations, measuring, hardware, hard treatments, and full-service installation.
Brave Maggie is named after your grandmother, Margaret. How did she inspire your love of sewing?
I grew up watching my grandmother and mother sew everything for our house, from drapery and bedskirts to recovering sofas and chairs. My grandmother retired from a sewing factory, and she wasn’t just a great seamstress; her mind could see exactly how to fold, cut, sew, and manipulate fabric to perfection.
After college, she came to visit me, and we spent the whole time making a slipcover for a second-hand chair I bought. She loved to spend time with my mom and me working on these projects, and she was always so generous with her time and expertise. Most of our company values are built on the foundations my grandmother shared with me: excellent craftsmanship, expertise shared generously, and that by partnering together, you can always come up with a creative solution.
She was always up for a good joke, too. So we try not to take ourselves too seriously around here.
You saw a need for more hands-on expertise in custom window treatments. How did that shape your business?
Sewing for designers, I realized window treatments just aren’t taught in design school, and there’s a lot of wrong information out there on the internet. Window treatments are a big investment, and mistakes are too costly for designers to learn through trial and error.
Designers would bring me fabrics for projects I knew wouldn’t work. Not because something was wrong with the fabric, but because I knew how they wanted the final treatment to look and hang. This was the catalyst for me to start carrying my own fabric lines.
You recently opened Brave Maggie’s Franklin showroom. What can we expect?
Nashville and Franklin just don’t offer much in the way of home decor fabrics, leaving homeowners who aren’t working with a designer to either drive to Atlanta or order online. Neither of those options is ideal. Whether or not you have an active project with us, we offer appointments to homeowners who want to purchase designer fabrics and boutique wallpapers for their own projects.
I am also very excited, as we have just become Tennessee’s first retailer for Little Greene Paint & Paper. So you can also purchase paint samples from our showroom.
You spend your days surrounded by beautiful fabrics, finishes, and interiors. How would you describe your style at home?
Ever-changing. When you constantly see new and beautiful fabrics, you can get so overwhelmed by the options that you either regularly change your own home or do nothing. Unfortunately, for me, it’s nothing. I have so little time to focus on my own home. It’s the classic cobbler’s kids have no shoes.
When we moved into our home, my son had paper shades on his windows for almost three years, as I was sewing for everyone else. But I do love an eclectic style. The showroom was fun to design. I was able to do a lot there that I wouldn’t have done in my own home.
But whether it’s the showroom or my own home, one thing is for sure — I love color and pattern, and I do change out my decorative pillows often as new fabrics pop up.
What’s one design choice in your own home you’ll never regret?
No joke, custom window treatments. Once you invest in real custom window treatments, you will understand that not only do they elevate the whole space, but they are also some of the most functional and practical pieces in your home.
When you’re not working, what does an ideal day look like for you?
As a small business owner, so much of my time and thoughts are on the business. My husband and I recently became empty nesters, so I’m also in this odd time where I’m learning what I like and who I am at this stage of life.
I will say, though, a fall day, a Jeep drive on Tennessee’s back roads, and a few stops at some antique shops make for an amazing day.
What are a few things you’re loving right now?
Lunch next door at the new Franklin Butchery — it’s an amazing lunch spot, and you can grab dinner while you’re there. I’m also really into listening to this one station. My husband knows how much I love it and will set it to stream throughout the house on the weekends. It’s 1940sukradio.co.uk.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Don’t put so much pressure on yourself to make the right decision or wait until all your ducks are perfectly in a row to make a move. If you realize you were wrong or don’t like the direction, you can always change your mind. Just giving myself permission to change my mind was very freeing.
LIGHTNING ROUND
One self-care item you can’t live without? Perfume. I’m pretty simple when it comes to self-care routines. I’m not fussy about much, but my favorite perfume (Bulgari, The Blanc) is something I have to have to feel complete before I leave the house.
Most memorable recent meal you’ve enjoyed? Several months back, my husband and I dropped off my daughter and friends downtown for a concert, and we decided to find a place to eat in Germantown. We found Pelato and shared several items. I was blown away by how good it was. I was excited to recently discover they opened a location in Franklin earlier this year.
One thing most people would be surprised to find out about you? I’ll walk up 20 flights of stairs to your condo for a consult before I get on an old elevator (true story). And please don’t ask me to hem your bridesmaid’s dress. Clothing alterations and sewing for the home are definitely two different worlds, and I’m really only good at the latter.
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Jenna von Oy Bratcher
Jenna von Oy Bratcher is StyleBlueprint's Editorial Operations Manager and Lead Content Editor. The East Coast native moved to Nashville almost two decades ago, by way of Los Angeles. She is a lover of dogs, strong coffee, traveling, and exploring the local restaurant scene bite by bite.
