About
Like many designers, I came to this industry later in life and in a non-linear way. I have a BA in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and was a full-scholarship PhD candidate in Biological Anthropology at Arizona State University. While not design-related, these fields gave me objective methods for observing, analyzing, and understanding human behavior instead of having emotional, knee-jerk reactions. And when is that ever not handy, I ask you...
Before and after that, I worked in retail, sales, restaurants, and transportation. Those were pretty chaotic environments and I was often in public-facing roles, so I got good at asking enough questions, investigating before drawing conclusions, quickly adapting to unfamiliar situations, explaining next steps with patience and visuals, finding creative solutions, tracking down lost shipments, speaking as accurately as possible, and creating systems for everything, including following up exactly when I said I would.
Eventually I found a little fixer-upper in the desert and, while gutting and renovating the entire place myself, I discovered my ardent love of power tools. I took courses in architectural photography, earned an Interior Design Certification from the New York Institute of Art and Design, and Color Expert certifications by Maria Killam and Audra Slinkey. When I first began working with clients in semi-custom furniture sales and later as a kitchen designer, I found a lot of use for the soft skills and follow-up habits I'd developed years before. When clients wanted to radically change course on a design, things weren't going smoothly with their deliveries or contractors, or when major mechanical obstacles blew entire budgets out of the water, I was able to quickly reorganize, rework plans, research new materials, present alternative options, communicate updates to the team, advocate for clients, and press issues up the correct chain.
I now offer color consultations and design advice, and in additional to the skills and habits above, I've developed a few perspectives that guide my choices and recommendations:
1) You don't need a mansion or a swanky ZIP code to care about your home. You can live in the most ordinary town, in the most unremarkable neighborhood, in the most previously unloved space, and still create a nest where you feel safe, supported, and encouraged--without spending a fortune.
2) I believe in gracious details, classic proportions, human-sized spaces, walkable cities, and [gasp] enclosed kitchens.
3) Whether or not something is “dated” depends on its context, how it’s styled, and the goals of the person living there. Listicles like “5 Things Making Your Home Outdated!” or “10 Ugly Decor Items You Must Get Rid of NOW!” are not created to be helpful; they’re created to get people riled up. And I'm in the business of making people happy, not agitating them for amusement or clicks.
If you'd like to book a color consultation, click HERE.
To book an interior design service, click HERE.
To shop my mood boards, click HERE.
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