Bask in the Psychedelic Glory of Restaurant Designer Elise McMahon
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Trendy interior designers seem to have the same checklist: Mid-century modern furniture? Check. Tropical wallpaper? Check. Rose gold accents everywhere? Check.
Not Elise McMahon, the brains behind LikeMindedObjects, a furniture and design studio based in Hudson, New York. She’s got decidedly different priorities A pink-highlighted, hexagon-ish-shaped table that bends the rules of geometry? Check. It anchors Relationships, a breezy cafe in New York City. Hanging fixtures that project kaleidoscopic light from floor to ceiling? Check. You bask in that psychedelic glory at the newly redesigned Lil’ Deb’s Oasis in Hudson, New York, which she just recently finished up. “It feels more like an installation than a basic eating space,” McMahon explains to me over the phone. “The chefs were up for a wild design, so of course I love to be as wild as a client will allow.”
Untethered creativity has been a constant in McMahon’s life. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, she lived in a house filled with hexagonal rooms designed by architect Edward Humrich. Her artist parents worked from home—sculpting, metalworking—so she had a front-row seat for the life ahead of her. “It was a very experimental household,” McMahon says. “Their work put the small-business mentality in me, and now I’m following that same lifestyle.”
Eventually, she went on to study furniture at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island, where she met Hannah Black, one of the chefs at Lil’ Deb’s Oasis and at that time a painting student. At school, Black threw elaborate, epic dinner parties and commissioned McMahon to set the scene, with floral arrangements, lighting, and furniture.
“Food is such a equalizer of enjoyment,” McMahon reminisces. “I love making beautiful, fun furniture because it enhances the experience.”
After graduating from school—and brief stints teaching furniture classes, carving pumpkins, and designing small-scale farming equipment—she reconnected with Black when she moved to Hudson. Soon they were back to throwing experimental dinner parties—but this time at Lil’ Deb’s Oasis, Black’s kitschy, vibrant restaurant with co-chef Carla Perez-Gallardo. Since opening in 2016, it’s garnered a cult following—not just as a gathering place for Hudson’s queer community or the bright, tropical-y comfort food but for the funky, fun atmosphere McMahon has helped conjure in the space. Now, with the recent renovation of Lil’ Deb’s Oasis, she’s channeled more of an '80s ski lodge for the brand-new upstairs lounge filled with furniture she’s designed as well as local artisans she wants to support.
“I know that furniture isn’t exactly solving world issues, but being a small business that can create spaces I support in a social way is a noble pursuit for me,” McMahon says. “By making these interiors, I feel like I can actually directly affect my community.”
