Meet the Designer
Welcome to Harding Avenue.
My name is Melanie Brady, and I bring a refined, globally-inspired eye — shaped by my time spent in cities like Seoul, Paris, Barcelona, Lisbon, and Cape Town — a taste influenced by the architecture, art, landscape, and culture I've encountered along the way.
My entire life, I've had a deep appreciation for the arts and all things beautiful. The amount of thought and time it takes to curate something is a true labor of love — and the reward of invoking a feeling in whoever experiences it is what makes that work truly rewarding.
I hope to connect with people who understand that their environment shapes how they experience everyday life. My goal is to design beautiful spaces that make clients feel like the best version of themselves — and to help small business owners feel proud of the space they get to invite their patrons into.
Our StoryMy educational background includes a B.A. in Public Relations and a Certificate in Interior Design.
I grew up in the commercial world through the lens of my father's electrical construction company. Working alongside him in the office and visiting job sites gave me a real, ground-level understanding of construction.
My interior career began working alongside a designer in Santa Clarita, where I learned the fundamentals of the trade. The knowledge I gained there led me to join the studio of a Los Angeles designer serving high-profile clientele. There, I helped source and install furniture for projects — including one later photographed for a feature in Architectural Digest and ELLE DECOR.
That experience shaped what came next: two years building my own event design company under the name Emerald & May, where it was my distinct design style that drew clients across the country. The work taught me as much about people as it did about design: how to listen, lead a team with confidence, and never lose the details.
Eventually, I made the move from LA County to Bakersfield to start a family — and what I found here was a city full of businesses and homeowners ready for the same caliber of design I'd spent my career building elsewhere.
Today, I bring all of it — the training, the travel, the years on job sites, the understanding of brand to customer relationship, and the years of listening to clients — into Harding Avenue, a studio bringing a fresh, big-city design sensibility to Bakersfield: brand-conscious businesses and to residential homes that feel as considered as they are personal. I'd love the opportunity to bring that same eye to your space next.