Three's Company: M3LD Interiors

Modern and sexy may not be terms often associated with Salt Lake City, but Brian Garrett and Jason Frederick are doing their bit to change that image.

With third partner Andrea Beecher they're the creative and business minds behind M3LD, an interior and product design studio with an aesthetic that's turning heads locally while their products gain traction nationwide.

Garrett and Beecher have collaborated for over a decade, but their creative partnership went to the next level about four years ago, when Frederick brought his business savvy and faith in his friends' vision to the mix.

Since then they've become the go-to design firm for anyone in SLC looking for distinctive 'brutalist' approach to design. Simultaneously, they've been creating a series of distinctive products, including sculptures, lamps, coffee tables, storage pieces and other household products - often with a humorous twist on clean, modern lines. Pieces incorporate steel, concrete and recyclable materials.

M3LD has a private studio and fulfillment house, with a retail location planned for the future.

PRODUCT DESIGN
After years of creating interiors (including a stint staging houses for realtors), four years ago Garrett and Beecher began designing and prototyping products. "We wanted to design products we felt were missing. It's a specific style we thought was absent from the market."

While 90 percent of their interior design projects are in Utah, M3LD products sell worldwide, with a big market in New York City. A Lucite floor lamp, a concrete table and table lamp, and a 'great new mirror' are among the new M3LD pieces being introduced over the next few months.

"From a product standpoint, we would say masculine and sexy are key words. Right now, our most popular pieces are wall tile and pet dishes," says Garrett. M3LD won an IFDA Selects award for its architecturally driven recyclable PVC wall tiles.

INSIDE JOBS
M3LD's interior design has included many homes as well as restaurants and commercial spaces. Their approach incorporates "a penchant for modernism yet deftly fuse styles and trends to define the evolving world of design."

One of their most significant projects was Laziz Kitchen, a Lebanese caf� owned by Moudi Sbeity and Derek Kitchen, a celebrated couple in Salt Lake City's gay community. Kitchen was the plaintiff in "Kitchen v. Herbert," the federal case that successfully challenged Utah's constitutional ban on same-sex. (Herbert was Utah Governor. Gary R. Herbert.)

"We tried to bring Lebanese heritage into the design but also offer a clean, unique mid-century flair. So it is many elements mixed, including vintage tile marble slabs and some of our own wall tiles, even a few of our pet dishes," says Garrett.

M3LD is in the process of converting an older building - part of which was a warehouse - to an uber-modern office space with 20-foot walls of glass and an illuminated conference table.

GIVING BACK
Fundraising for LGBTQ Youth
All M3LD team members are active in their community. For several years, Brian, life partner Scott Foley and Agnes (their Great Dane) have hosted an annual fundraising brunch the Saturday before Utah's Annual Pride Festival, with more than 130 guests enjoying French toast, eggs and bottomless mimosas at this year's brunch.

Previous events donated money to Derek Kitchen's campaign for city council, while this year's event raised more than $3,000 for the Youth Resource Center for Homeless & At-Risk Teens - a particular concern in Utah, which has an extremely high rate of LGBTQ teen homelessness and suicide.

Animal Rescue in a Throwback Camper
Frederick and husband Rich Cheney have turned a twin passion for dogs and vintage design into a mission, devoting many weekends to rescuing homeless greyhounds in their 1977 Airstream camper.

"I've always wanted something like an Airstream. We started looking, and this one popped up in Salt Lake City. It's a 1977 model with a 70s glam look with orange Formica countertops," Frederick says.

"We have a soft spot for animals. When we got a dog it made sense for us to rescue animals. We had friends who had greyhounds, and now we're on our second one," he says. "I think we're doing something good for society.

For more information on M3LD Interiors, visit m3ld.com.