Shelley Scales is known for her clean and classic design style. She can get to the heart of the client and pull out the best of them and communicate with them, their own one of a kind interiors. These interiors turn out to not only appeal to a wide range of clients, they have high resale value, are functional and stand the test of time.
Shelley attributes her style to an early rooting in great design, and serious life-long study of her craft in the areas of philosophy, science, and history.
When Shelley’s parents were young and creative, her father was a sign painter and her mother designed clothes. “I would play for hours in my dad’s sign studio making doll furniture and working on my school projects, it was the ideal world for an artistic child to grow up in”.
Shelley’s skills were already well developed upon finishing high school when she was immediately accepted on her portfolio to Kwantlen’s Interior Design Program, at the age of 17.
Graduation in 1982 forced students into an economy of turmoil. Rocketing interest rates and a housing crash in BC forced Shelley to head south to California, determined to flourish in her craft, she started doing commercial renovations in Los Angeles. “I actually ran crews, did electrical wiring, carpet laying and used a ram set to erect steel studs-I was very hands-on”.
She was promoted to the 5 star hotel restoration division in Florida to learn the discipline of historical building restoration in the style of Neoclassic and Robert Adam. “It was fascinating to study the use of classical design and incorporate it into interiors. We were required to be very disciplined, and to follow the exact proportions.”
In 1986 she moved back to Canada and worked in a Benjamin Moore Decorating Center as one of their first Design Consultants. She worked with a number of Mennonite builders and clients in the Valley, good, solid quality coupled with top quality paints and installations of woodwork and decor were her specialty. “We sold Benjamin Moore at $28 dollars a gallon when the average consumer was just learning about the quality of Benjamin Moore – only a handful of people understood that cost then, where now it’s a household name.
Shelley started her own design company, Shelley Scales Design Associates in 1989 to design and decorate homes and small businesses in the lower mainland BC. By 1993 she moved to Vancouver and studied at the Vancouver Film School to expand her skill set to Production Design for Film and Television.
In the year 2000, Shelley started designing kitchens and baths and joined the National Kitchen and Bath Association as the housing market was booming. Shelley designed many large dream kitchens while working for two large cabinet manufacturers in the supply of custom kitchen cabinets. “ I was able to do the design work with veterans in cabinet design, go into the plant, see them being made and work directly with the millworkers.” Shelley became an industry leader in the National Kitchen and Bath Association of BC, serving as its President in 2007.
Shelley started a high-end interior design and renovation company to complement her kitchen design work, Accurate Designers, and Builders, with a partner. They created many good works and Shelley earned the Pinnacle Award for best Kitchen in 2011 from the National Kitchen and Bath Association in BC and was in a number of publications. She became an authorized independent dealer for Hertco Kitchens LLC that year as well.
Shelley started actively branding herself as an independent Interior Designer, Kitchen and Bath Specialist and Supplier of Custom Cabinetry in 2011 and by 2013 relaunched her business Shelley Scales Design Associates. Her business is built on 30 years of association with hundreds of design suppliers, builders, and professionals. With Shelley at the helm, she pulls together the best team for the job. She continues working with a number of top builders, designing kitchens, bathrooms, entire houses (new builds), corporate design and contracting.
Shelley is the mother of two children, 27 yr old daughter, and 22 yr old son. She lives with her husband Software Developer and Consultant, Bill Wagner in their live/work studio in Kitsilano, Vancouver BC.
Contact Shelley by email at shelleyscales@gmail.com
Find out why Shelley Scales is the best Design solution for your needs.
Check out our award-winning designs. This is a selection of the best recent work done by Shelley Scales Design Associates.
