Experience
sharpens & shapes the way we see the world
Take me, a country girl at heart now rooted in the midst of Manhattan. These bookend lives, and all sights, sounds, and scenes in between, make me the designer, mom, and partner I am today.

I grew up on a farm in rural Arkansas surrounded by amazing natural beauty and landscapes that fueled my thirst for more, and inspired my travels across the country and around the world. I had lived the country; now for cities, coasts—more of America. Soon after tossing my graduation cap into the air, I took to the road. I slept in my truck, camped in a graveyard on Martha’s Vineyard and worked random jobs always to see more, do more.  After my whirlwind tour cross-country, I packed my backpack and headed abroad. First stop, Asia!

Travel--especially with little money and even fewer foreign language skills—makes you vulnerable and open. True blessings! Confronting the unexpected gives new context and teaches us to experience the world without preconceptions. Changing views, an open mind, and a keen curiosity are pillars of my design philosophy and life design.

COMING HOME AND GETTING STARTED.
After my mini world tour, I began translating learning to life, attaining skills and tools to parlay my experience into inspired design. My time at the New York School of Interior Design was important, but my time spent working at Conover Restoration on Martha’s Vineyard was transformational. I am a hands-on learner and reveled in the  opportunity to witness, concept to conclusion, the full renovation process. From gutting the walls to placing the last picture frame, each step was crucial to making vision reality. 

I began climbing the ladder by, well, climbing a ladder. My first job as a house painter required me to climb many of them. Not glamorous by any stretch, but painting houses was my first foray into the design world.  Thankfully, my boss and mentor realized my brushes and I might be put to better use inside doing more decorative painting. I loved this! So I moved back to New York City and enrolled in a decorative painting course at The Finishing School in Floral Park, Long Island.

My first post-course gig was to design and paint all of the faux-finishing for a restaurant. As fate would have it, the Sunday New York Times reviewed the restaurant and made mention of my work's “thoughtful, easy elegance.”  Score! I was quite honored, and I’m pretty sure I faxed that article to everyone I had ever known.

The article boosted my confidence, and was enough of a calling card to secure a number of residential and commercial commissions that resulted in subsequent coverage in New York Magazine, Vogue, and Traditional Home.

One of the defining moments of my career was the day TLC’s Trading Spaces called to tell me I was their new designer. To say I was excited is an understatement. One of the things I loved most about being on the show (other than working with the other fabulous designers) was that the projects had a clear beginning and end—a nice change from the open-ended process typical of many interior design projects.

The defined process is also why I continue to enjoy work on temporary installations such as design for Home Depot's table for DIFFAS'S Dining By Design with Elle Décor, a bar for Skyy Vodka and a child’s room for a Cookie show house to name a few. 

This web venture—my newest adventure—is about channeling what I know and have learned in a fun way to inspire others to see their homes in a different light, take a risk or two, and find through new context a fresh life design.