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70 ART + DECORATION A fter 11 years on the 1-10 Memorial-area corridor, M A I M e m o r i a l Antiques & Interiors has relocated to a 19,000 square feet of showroom space at The Houston Design Center on Old Katy Road. MAI's emphasis on creating a lively dialogue across centuries, continents, and decorative art forms encompasses 50 independent dealers and designers, including mainstays Linda Gale White's LGW Antiques, Reimagining MAI L ondon-based The Rug Company is known for its glorious patterns and iconography in collaboration with designers Vivienne Westwood, Paul Smith, and Kelly Wearstler among others. So when creative director Milly Wright decided the time was right to launch a collection of rugs in solid hues, she reached out to color expert and fellow Brit Farrow & Ball for guidance. A unique collaboration bloomed. A dozen sumptuous and idiosyncratic colorways — very Farrow & Ball, in other words — make up the hand-loomed collection, all designed to pair with Farrow & Ball paints and papers. In F&B's hues of Holland Stone, Clarendon, Keepers Red, Wizlet, Wooster and more, the collection is woven in Nepal from Tibetan wool and silk and comes in plain wool, cut and loop stripe, and wool with a silk border. From $1,110 for a 4 by 6 foot rug, to order at therugcompany.com. Rebecca Sherman Kathe Baker Design, Golden Monkey Antiques and Interiors, Gracy Hall's Design by Grace, The Lagniappe Shoppe, The Cottage Garden Antiques, Olde Good Things, and Gracie's Custom Interiors owned by Gracie Wilkins. Three women make MAI run: store manager Kathy Swartzfager, Marilyn Maddox, and Chelsea Baird. "We're locally owned and locally grown," says Maddox. On the day of our visit, less than a week after the opening, the showrooms hummed with activity. Vignettes, flowing into one another (rather than restrictive booths), showcased polished arrangements, from 18th-century French painted chairs ringing a gaming table of the same era to mid- century white-lacquered ottomans with Greek key designs, and Chinoiserie ceramic foo dogs in a bracing shade of blue. Other standouts: golden Louis XV-style mirrors, well-honed leather club chairs, a figural Neoclassical terra-cotta bust, architectural fragments spanning epochs, caches of Murano glass, lamps of diverse periods and attitudes, and paintings encompassing the 19th through the 21st centuries. Open to the public. MAI Memorial Antiques & Interiors, The Houston Design Center, 7026 Old Katy Road, Suite 166; 713.827.8087, maihouston.com. Catherine D. Anspon Farrell & Ball hues for The Rug Company Why Don't You Pair ELEPHANT'S BREATH with DEAD SALMON JENNY ANTILL CLIFTON Scenes from the new MAI Memorial Antiques & Interiors