A Life of Beauty: CM Interiors

By her 18th birthday, Cammie Malaga and her family had lived in about 40 different houses. After each move, Malaga made her space her own—doing household chores to save up for room decor. “Because of that, my home has always been really important for me,” Malaga says.

In the early 2020s, Malaga started to share her design aptitude with friends, renovating their homes. Her passion project quickly grew into a full-time endeavor. 

As Cammie’s career took off, her daughter Madison discovered her own love for design—and her mom’s work. So she joined Cammie at CM Interiors: A celebrated San Antonio-based residential and commercial design studio that builds a special place of serenity for every client.

Cammie, how did you get into interior design? How did you decide to join your mom, Madison?

Cammie: We moved 40 or 50 times when I was growing up. My mom was fantastic. She did the best she could getting us set up in our home and making us feel secure. Because of that, my home has always been really important for me. When I had kids, I stayed home with them. During their high school years, as they transitioned out of the home, I started to help friends design and decorate, and then I started to do it professionally.

Madison: When I was in college, I didn't know what I wanted to do. But I had always loved doing my own thing. When I saw my mom start to do these projects, I thought I might like to do that too. So, I switched my degree, went to a two-year program for design, and started working with her during my second year of that program.

What does home mean to you and your clients?

Madison: Life is busy and chaotic. One of my favorite parts about design is that we get to make something that is special and calm. We create spaces that allow our clients to come back, rest, and feel peace.

Cammie: It’s also where we live, so we don't like to create anything too precious. Our designs are rooted in layered curations and livable spaces. Interior design is a luxury, and we come in and give our clients the freedom of time. We really think about how they’re going to live in the home. Things like sofas, door handles, cabinets—how will they feel when people use them?

Every project you do is different. How would you describe your overall approach?

Madison: We don't have one defined style, because we really love to represent our clients well. We are organic, traditional, layered, textured. We want it to feel cozy and function well. We also want to create a feeling of luxury.

Cammie: We design within the framework of multiple different styles. We definitely love a modern, organic, livable, curated home.

What's it like working as a mother-daughter team? How do you handle creative differences?

Cammie: Ninety percent of the time, we read each other's minds. When it comes to anything that we differ on, we ask about priority. Sometimes we'll say it's not that deep, or one of us will feel strongly. But it’s a give and take. It’s also fabulous that everything we present is doubly backed. If we present something to them, we both agree on it. That’s a selling feature for our clients.

Madison: We work together very well because we think similarly. We can catch errors within each other, and we can also give clients confidence when we're going into something, because we know that it’s all vetted.

Where do you turn for inspiration?

Madison: It’s cliche, but travel. Growing up, my dad lived in the Middle East. Often, instead of him coming to the U.S., we would go elsewhere. I think we've been to 40 or 45 different countries. We have been everywhere, and that inspires us so much. It came out of necessity, but I ended up with a deep love for it. Travel makes our design better.

Cammie: It's work when we travel, because it's the most inspirational thing in the world. And we can't wait to get back and actually implement some of the things that we've learned.

What does it mean to you to make a statement with every detail?

Cammie: We define luxury as freedom from worry. When things get more beautiful with age, that’s a statement-making luxury to us. We want to choose metal finishes that patina over time, so our clients don’t have to worry about how it's going to look in 10 years. It's going to look worn because it's supposed to look like that. We choose every material with intention.

Madison: When I lost my home to a house fire and flooding, we had to start from scratch. Going in with nothing made me understand how I like my home to feel. I like to know that whoever lives there has experiences I want to hear about. 

Before, I had quilts that I brought home from France or art that I got for $6 at a vintage market in England. And it felt so me, because it told a story. I didn’t miss the stuff you could buy new for hundreds of thousands of dollars so much as I missed the stuff I curated. That’s what home is to me now: telling the story.

What does it feel like to help clients express themselves?

Madison: We want to honor our clients throughout the design. I think we do that well by listening to them, hearing about their stories and their travels and who they are. We know if they have a crazy art collection, or if they have certain trinkets they like to display. We know our clients’ likes and their wants, and we use our skill and our knowledge to refine everything. But we always pay attention to exactly who they are.

What are some considerations you think through to create a retreat for the bath?

Cammie: We think about diverse functions. We want to make sure that there are plenty of outlets and that they're hidden. We want to make sure that you can turn on your shower without getting in and getting wet, and make sure that your shower is queued up for warmth, just by putting the valve close to the entrance. That you can step outside the shower and there's room for a towel hook so you can grab that.

Madison: We choose finishes that they're not afraid to use. If your cabinetry is not the greatest quality and you're afraid of it getting beat up all the time, you can't enjoy that truly in peace. So we try to do things like that.

Cammie: We love Brizo, especially Brizo hand showers. When a client says they’ll just do a shower head, we say no. I can't tell you how many times clients have told us how great their hand shower is. They can bathe their dog in the shower or wash their two-year-old’s hair.

Describe your ideal client. What's their attitude? What makes you excited about a new brief?

Madison: We feel very aligned with people who like living finishes, like marble or unlacquered brass. If they’re okay with aging and stains, we feel like that will be a good fit. Because we are not perfectionists. We’re very thorough with the design process, but we always view progress over perfection.

Cammie: We also love a client who’s passionate and excited about the project. We love when they give us free rein and trust us with handling the details.

Madison: It’s a balance. We really value their input, but ultimately, our goal is to create something for them. We have that skill and knowledge. That's why they hired us.

Madison, you mentioned the difference between progress and perfection. Can you expand on that?

Madison:  I love to do things myself. And that didn't start because I think that type of work is fun. My love for DIY came out of necessity, which turned into a deeper love of the creative process. When my husband and I bought our first home, we were 23 and we couldn’t afford the remodel, so we did it ourselves. I did it because I love good design and I will make sacrifices for it. I made my own tile, and it had imperfections. It was actually full of them. But I didn't mind that. I love the art of making something more than I cared about a couple of the bubbles in the tile.

Cammie: We both value human touch so much. I think it just goes back to telling a story. Life is not perfect; spaces should be livable. We're perfect in the details, but we don't want perfect finishes. We value the maker and the touch. I would so much prefer to see something handmade than machine made.