We do redo is company credo

"Klaatu borada nikto" was the magic phrase used to stop the rampaging robot in the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. For Franklin entrepreneur Mitzi Maynard and her staff, "Redo - your place - our help" is the mantra that can put an end to the rampaging house or office decorating doldrums.

Maynard owns Redo Home & Rug, with a store on Public Square and another, newly opened, near The Factory at Franklin. The business specializes in furniture, rugs, accessories - and taking a personal interest in its clients.

"We're committed to finding great things for our customers," she says. "We become friends with them.

"Decorating a house is a personal thing."

Redo offers an array of custom lines -- an eclectic mix of creative furnishings -- and a staff of interior decorators to help with selections, either in-store or in the home or office.

It can redo a room or a whole house from top to bottom, with contemporary, casual styles of custom upholstery, leather, rugs, sofas, window treatments, lighting, tables, faux painting and an entire gallery of accessories. It has a splendid selection of office furnishings. It has a Design Center and an on-site craftsman, Brad Cole (Cole Woodworks), who hand-makes furniture there in the warehouse. It carries items from Bassett (and is a Bassett Design Center), Noe's, Park Manor, Four Seasons and other distinguished manufacturers. And it features works of local, original art, handmade jewelry and pottery, and benches and Adirondack chairs by local craftsmen.

Maynard has been near the home-decorating business since she was knee-high to a dining-room table. Her family started a furniture store in Middle Tennessee when she was 5. A lesson she obviously learned early on is that shopping for furnishings should be fun.

"We want the customer to have a great experience, not a stressful one," she says. That experience begins with a free one-hour consultation, during which goals are outlined and recommendations made.

"It's my job to help you unpack your vision for your space with designs that match your own personal style and functional living," says Elisha Cypert, who specializes in "redos" for the home. "It's okay to pick and choose from different styles of design. Most people think you have to fit into one style, but the greater importance is designing your place to reflect how you live your life...As I help you understand your vision for your own place, we work together to add color, texture and furnishings. Your home should reflect how you live and your values while being beautiful as well."

Gina Pense, Redo's office decorating guru, echoes those sentiments:

"A business is all about functionality...I think it's important to feel good about your surroundings not only at home but at the office. When you feel good about your space you tend to be more productive. Your space is an extension of your personality and the type of business you have, and clients can feel this when they walk in."

Redo's responsibility to the customer extends to the community at large. Each member of the staff has been personally involved with one or more social-service organizations, including Blood:Water Mission (www.bloodwatermission.org), Tennessee Drug Court, Community Outreach (www.communityoutreachministries.org), Graceworks (www.graceworksministries.net), and Against the Grain (Maynard is on the board of this group for single mothers - www.againstthegrainministries.com.)

Redo opened just a year and a half ago downtown, and it's been such a success that Maynard decided to redo the enterprise at another store, the Redo retail warehouse. That opened just two weeks ago. In the unlikely event you didn't find what you were looking for at the first store or on the website, then redo your visit - inventory is always getting redone.

Redo Home & Rug is at 300 Public Square in Franklin. Call 615-790-3989. The Redo retail warehouse store is at 300 Eddy Ct. in Franklin (near The Factory). Call 615-790-3439. Hours at both locations are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Visit www.redoyourhouse.com, where you can browse their furnishings.

Redo will have a decorated home on display at the Westhaven Christmas Tour of Homes in Franklin.