Since childhood, I've had a love affair with creating beautiful environments. I was the kid who moved furniture around and drew house plans for fun. I took my first college-level interior design course as a sophomore in high school, after getting special permission from my principal and talking my mom into driving me to class every week for a semester. I continued my training in college, earning a degree in the field. Then came marriage and full time-motherhood. For many years, I only used my training for personal projects - designing the three homes that we built and countless interiors for our family over the years. About the time I became an widow, I also became an empty-nester as my four kids got married, one right after the other. Planning all four of their weddings within the span of about two years, I realized I had an aptitude for it and really enjoyed designing events, so I founded Storybook Wedding Design & Management. I've loved designing beautiful, personal and well-executed weddings for my clients over the last seven years but have been feeling a little restless this year. Maybe the myth of "the seven year itch" isn't just a myth after all. During 2017, I had the opportunity to help some friends, family and a non-profit with interior design projects and the experiences rekindled my first love and fueled my desire to work on more interiors.
Interiors and events? You might be wondering what these two have in common. Turns out, just about everything. Both are about designing a space that tells your story - one will be lived in for years and the other for just one special day. Both involve developing a color palette and space plan. Both are about sourcing the right elements to bring the design to life. Both require selection and management of craftspeople and vendors who will make it all happen. Both need efficient budget and timeline oversight. And, above all, both thrive in a collaborative client-designer relationship. I'm very excited to add interiors to my already successful event design business and re-brand under a new name - A Curated Story. Here's to scratching what itches!