It was chance — and a pandemic — that led West Maui resident Melissa Dyckman to start her interior design business.
Dyckman, who moved to the Valley Isle nearly 20 years ago, says she was in the hair industry there for many years and had her own hair and makeup business.
“When Covid happened, it shut our whole island down and I sold that business,” she told Aloha State Daily.
During that time, an influx of people moved to the island and one asked Dyckman to help furnish her home, “just totally randomly,” she explained. “I was like, ‘sure I think I can try that.’ ... It snowballed from there. I’ve now done many, many projects for the same family and then they’ve referred me out. That’s how my business got going.”
Dyckman is the founder and principal designer at her namesake interior design firm, Melissa Dyckman Interiors.
She studied hospitality management at the University of Central Florida and moved to the island a few months after college in 2007, taking job in food and beverage at a Maui resort.
“That was very short-lived, so I went to beauty school and that is how my career got started here in hair, which actually translates quite a bit to what I do now — the creative side and the color theory,” Dyckman told ASD.
Today, she largely works on residential interiors, including new construction, remodels, home furnishing and styling. She also offers a concierge service for those who might need updates here and there.
“I just love working in interiors,” Dyckman says. “I love working in design and anything creative. Also, my husband is an electrical contractor, so I have pretty extensive knowledge of the construction side of things, which I think has helped me a lot in my business.”
Dyckman works with clients from start to finish, whether it’s a new design or if they’re remodeling.
“I love to go in from day one and work with them on the design concepts and then layouts, space planning, down to picking the materials, selecting tile, countertops, cabinetry, all of the finishes, paint … and then logistics of shipping things to Hawai‘i — it can be really challenging, so I spend a lot of time working on logistics.”
She also does whole-home furnishing and styling.
"It's a lot of customer service at the same time."
Dyckman prefers to source locally when she’s able for two reasons.
“I want to support then local economy and then also logistics of getting things here, it can be a challenge,” she explains. “Sourcing locally is shopping with a few local furniture stores that I have great relationships with that bring in really good quality, good-for-our-climate type of furniture. And then I also love to source from local vintage and antique stores. You can find some treasures here.”
When asked about other challenges she faces as an interior designer on Maui, Dyckman says that shipping will always land at the top of the list, but accessibility in general is another hurdle.
“We don’t have the options that you have really anywhere on the Mainland,” she says. “So educating people on what we can get here on island, and then things are more expensive here, so educating people on the cost of what it takes to design here.”
Dyckman says her husband was born and raised in Lahaina and the pair — and her business — are based in West Maui. Their family was "heavily impacted' during the deadly wildfires that ravaged parts of Maui in August 2023 and destroyed much of Lahaina.
“A lot of what we do, both my husband and I, is working with Lahaina families that are starting their rebuild process, and I am formulating a way to be a resource for families that are rebuilding,” she says. “Most people that lost their homes in Lahaina aren’t exactly able to justify having a designer come and do their space for them, but they’re also starting from the beginning and have never done this before. I want to really be able to bridge that gap and help them move forward and be really happy with the home they get or they build.”
Dyckman says part of that includes a comprehensive handbook she’s working on and calling a “Lahaina Rebuild Roadmap” that would include “everything you need to know, from starting with your architect through moving into your space and furnishing your home.” She’s also blocking time out of her schedule to work with families on an individual basis at a “very heavily discounted rate.”
When asked what families that are rebuilding should keep in mind, Dyckman emphasizes quality over quantity when it comes to the size of your home.
“I am seeing so many people go really, really big but then have to sacrifice on the quality of what they’re putting in their home, from their cabinetry to their flooring to all of the finishes. [It’s about] really nailing down the budget early on and being very realistic about that budget and if you can’t do a quality home for that size, then think about scaling back.”
She also encourages people to go with “timeless” rather than trendy, “because you don’t want to have to do this again,” she explains. “You don’t want to have to remodel in 10 years. You don’t want to feel like your kitchen is dated and you just spent everything on that. So, really going with timeless design and quality materials.”
You can find more information here or on Instagram.
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Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
