GREEN ROOMS
From Furnishings To Feng Shui, Designer Anna Mcgary Creates Natural And Sustainable Spaces
by Molly Kordares
Where you live and where you call home are sometimes two very different places. That’s certainly true for interior designer Anna McGary. Right now, she lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and has for more than a decade. It’s where she founded MOTIV Interiors, her award-winning, full-service interior design firm.
But for McGary, home is and always will be Montana.
“I grew up in Montana’s mountains and valleys,” says McGary, who moved to Bozeman at age six, graduated from Bozeman High School, then moved to Missoula. “It’s such a special place. The energy is unlike anywhere I’ve ever been.”
“I grew up in Montana’s mountains and valleys. It’s such a special place. The energy is unlike anywhere I’ve ever been.”
–Anna McGary, MOTIV Interiors
In a homecoming of sorts, McGary is now expanding MOTIV Interiors into the Bozeman area. Her firm specializes in a holistic approach to interior design: she wants the spaces she creates for her clients to reflect who they are “physically, emotionally, mentally, and even spiritually.” In Bozeman, MOTIV will offer three main design services: new construction, home renovation, and home furnishing.
McGary is excited to be back in the West. She says the region helped shape who she is as an artist, designer, and creator.
“Because of my time in Montana, I learned how to strike a balance between honoring history and also being progressive and forward-looking,” says McGary. That balance eventually inspired her philosophy at MOTIV: meaningful designs that are natural, sustainable, and that incorporate local culture and talent.
NATURE FOR NURTURE
“Nature is really important to me,” says McGary. “I try to bring as many natural elements as I can to every room and every project. I think it’s a big part of the human experience. We want to feel connected to the places around us.”
One way McGary does this is through the ancient practice of Feng Shui, which she incorporates into all her designs. Her first step is balancing a home’s energy. For example, because main living areas (like dens and kitchens) are more active spaces, their designs need to be balanced by those of restorative places (like bedrooms and bathrooms). If that balance is off, McGary says a home might feel rigid and monotonous, or have too much chaos and clutter.
Her next focus is creating harmony in a home by using the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Ideally, every room’s design will incorporate all of them. “I really love the wood element,” says McGary. “It’s got a lot of growth energy. And that doesn’t just mean wood paneling or furniture. Textiles are also a wood element, and I’ve found that bringing in sumptuous textiles is always a wonderful experience for my clients. It engages their sense of touch, and engaging all the senses when designing a room is really important.”
The final Feng Shui step is creating flow between rooms and spaces. McGary says this can be accomplished in many ways—by incorporating exterior views, re-designing foot traffic paths, enhancing indoor air quality, or bringing in what she calls “life force energy” such as plants and animals.
“She made our home both liveable and likable, and I didn’t think that was possible,” says Beth Ramos, a client in Corpus Christi, Texas, who disliked her home and was ready to sell it before McGary stepped in. “We didn’t want to buy anything in case we moved, so Anna just worked with what was in the home. She made all these little adjustments to help open up the space. And the whole energy of the house just shifted. It was fascinating.” Because of the changes McGary made, Ramos didn’t end up selling after all, and now she says her home is an “enjoyable, bright, and happy place.”
“Nature is really important to me. I try to bring as many natural elements as I can to every room and every project. I think it’s a big part of the human experience. We want to feel connected to the places around us.”
–Anna McGary, MOTIV Interiors
GATEWAY TO SUSTAINABILITY
McGary also calls MOTIV a gateway to the world of sustainability. That’s not a term you often hear about interior design but, for her, the two go hand in hand.
“When I’m looking through materials for a project, one of the first questions I ask is, ‘Is this renewable? Is this recyclable? Can it go back into the earth?’ It’s very important that the answers are yes,” she shares. McGary also brings an army of sustainable vendors with her to every project, like local tile producers and woodworkers. “Not only are we bringing the local landscape into your home, but also we’re saving a ton on shipping by not sourcing materials from around the world,” she says. “When you customize a space using local materials, you get a really special result, and you also minimize your environmental footprint. It’s win-win.”
“I do a lot of sketching on site to make sure I get all the details right. Clients love them — and I love them because it leaves a little something to the imagination before the final reveal.”
–Anna McGary, MOTIV Interiors
McGary says that many of her clients are busy and don’t have time to do their own sustainable design, but they understand the importance of it. “They want to express themselves uniquely through their space,” she explains. “And they’re looking for someone who shares their values to help manage the project for them.”
Especially after the pandemic, McGary saw clients step back and reassess their homes and their living spaces. “People are thinking more long-term. They’re willing to invest more in high-quality and sustainable interiors,” she says. “People are more aware that their surroundings have such a big effect on them.”
And when they are ready for a big change, so is she. “One of my superpowers is getting to the heart of how people want to feel in their spaces, and finding solutions that support that,” she says. “Not just form and function, but on an emotional level as well. Your home is a sacred space and it’s really important that I get that right.”
Art and Craft
One thing that excites McGary about expanding into the Bozeman area is getting the opportunity to showcase local talent.
“I think the Gallatin Valley is very unique because there’s so much artistry here,” she says. “It is a cultural epicenter of the West. And with so many natural resources, you can source a lot of things for the inside of your home from right outside it.”
While nature is her first inspiration, art is a close second. McGary is a big fan of Western landscape photography, and loves working with clients who have art collections and want to design around them. “You can create an entire room around a single work of art,” she says.
Some of her favorite places to design are indoor/outdoor areas, and any rooms where people gather. “I’m a musician and an entertainer, so I love hosting dinners and breaking bread and listening to music,” she adds. McGary performs in Nashville under the name mustanganna and also plays in a band called The Brass Stables. She will often ask her clients about their favorite music, and listen to those songs as she is designing. “At the end of the day, they are the ones living there. I’m just a translator who is trying to take their energy and move it into their space,” she shares.
“The people who live and work here are so resilient, and I feel so uplifted by this community…Bozeman is such an amazing place where nature and culture come together. That’s what makes it so magical.”
–Anna McGary, MOTIV Interiors
Another thing that sets McGary apart from other designers is that, in addition to room-scanning apps like Canvas, she uses hand drawings to bring her ideas to life. As she puts it, “I’m an artist, not a shopper, and I do a lot of sketching on site to make sure I get all the details right.” She likes the personal touch of delivering hand renderings to her clients, sometimes right away during the brainstorming process. “Clients love them — and I love them because it leaves a little something to the imagination before the final reveal,” she says.
No matter what kind of space she’s designing, McGary says her mantra is to remain open to everything. “Some designers get really set on one solution,” she says, “and it’s important to have a solid plan but also to remain flexible and find that balance between structure and openness.”
McGary can’t wait to start finding that balance with clients in Bozeman. “The people who live and work here are so resilient, and I feel so uplifted by this community every time I’m back,” she says. “Bozeman is such an amazing place where nature and culture come together. That’s what makes it so magical.”
