I treat each project, no matter the scope, as a solvable, intriguing puzzle with many pieces that all eventually fit together into a beautiful harmony. While assessing my clients' goals, their personal style, and their budget, I consider their existing furnishings and help them decide what they need to do in order to get the look and feel they desire. For seventeen years I was CEO of the specialty baking company I founded, Little Miss Muffin, enhancing the morning coffee at Starbucks and Caribou, the shopping baskets at Trader Joe's, and the First Class United Airlines breakfast flights. While I loved the food and beverage industry, design, color and visuals were passions and talents I possessed that made Little Miss Muffin's products interesting and unique. After I sold my company, I was encouraged to pursue a career in interior design by my friends whose homes I helped style and by guests who visited my many homes throughout my life. The final step to doing this professionally came from a prospective buyer of my treasured cottage in Highland Park, IL. She bought another home, which she asked me to design. Three years later, she is still my client, and we are working on her home within her family's budget, within their time frame, and within their personal aesthetic. I know that decorating--changing or designing the place you will live or raise a family, can be overwhelming.....so many decisions, so many steps, so many ways for costs to get out of control. I help my clients make decisions when the selections can seem overwhelming and daunting while working at a fairly quick pace, never padding hours, always sensitive to my clients' dollar, recommending reliable professional trades and manufacturers. That's where my seventeen years building a company come into play. In addition to visual design, I also design and execute a plan, collaborating with my clients, asking the important questions and responding appropriately. What are your time and planning needs? How do you like to work and make decisions? Do you like a lot of choices or a few curated options? Together we will not only create the environment that will make you happy, we will do it in a way that leaves you smiling throughout and at the end of the process.
