Hello. It's Me.

Lordy, lordy, lordy, where have I been? Why has there been so much silence on this blog and the year has just begun?
I've missed chatting with you all more frequently in this space but most of you know you can follow me over on Instagram where I'm a bit of a busy bee. 
So here's the tea - for the uninitiated, tea means dish, scoop, the gossip. 
We are busier than we've ever been. Ironic right? Especially when I agonized so much last year about taking a leap of faith and leaving my full-time job as a writer for a medical school. The lesson in all this? Sometimes you have to be available to embrace your blessing. I've become 100% available to be present and accountable for my business and in turn, have been blessed to be available to reconnect with old clients, and embrace the the new clients who have found me via Houzz, Pinterest, Instagram and more. 
So what projects are we working on? The design above is for the model unit of an apartment complex. We've been hired to design the 2/2 bathroom unit and to say I was excited is a bit of an understatement. Designing a model has been a dream of mine so definitely happy to check this one off the bucket list. 
It's come with challenges though. For starters, we had three weeks to get it all done. Lord, the stress. These are also rental units which means we were not able to paint the walls or change any light fixtures. Since y'all know how much I love color, not being able to paint beige walls made my head explode but we'll have bold splashes of color throughout the unit. Stay tuned. 

We're also working on this project, the winter home for an amazing couple who also found me online.

Things have definitely evolved since our presentation so stay tuned for that reveal. We are on a tight deadline with this one as well as they are having lots of friends and family in town for the very fabulous Jazz in the Gardens event.

This nursery is underway for a young couple whose living room we designed last year (that reveal is coming up). In the midst of that project they announced they were pregnant and asked me to add a nursery to my design checklist. Asked and done. We also planned the baby shower, which we revealed a bit over on Instagram. P.S. our talented Shaggy painted those stripes without using any painters tape. He's kinda talented like that. 
Today is the final installation day of this project for my client Renee and her adorable family. Her kids came home from school yesterday and squealed, "Is this our house?" Melted my design heart. 
We are in the home stretch of completing this kitchen. Yes, that was my client Natasha, who was a tad too excited to smash those cabinets on demolition day. The new cabinets were installed this week. 

Noticed a theme or two? I'm definitely smitten with blues and purple this year. With the exception of Natasha, all of these clients found me online. I've said it before, but I'll say it again, show your best work and hints of your personality on your various social media platforms. Potential clients are paying close attention so reconsider the abundance of selfies. Showcase your work and sprinkle in some personal moments here and there so they get to know you a little but don't over share i.e. woeful tales of why you broke up with your significant other, the hate you feel for him and his new chick should be kept to a minimum. My two cents.
Any who, looking forward to checking in more often and sharing all these project updates. What have y'all been up to?

A Design Award! Stop Da Presses.......

I finally get to share this bit of news that I've been holding in for a few weeks. I've been selected as the recipient of the Z Gallerie 2013 Fall/Winter Design Award.
Humbled, honored, blessed are just a few of the words I can find to describe how this feels. 
As many of you know, I'm not a classically trained designer. I'm just a girl who followed her passion/obsession for design, studied quietly, worked my way up from the bottom, by learning the gritty work of the trade and now here we are. 
Thankful for all the clients who have handed over their keys, and cash, and trusted me to work my magic.
Thankful even more for having the best design team a girl could ask for - hats off to Debbie, Shaggy, Roy, Dennis and Tamisha for making me look good. The bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne that came with that award will be shared!
Here are a few of the the projects, featuring Z Gallerie pieces, that I submitted.

Sophie Mirrored Dining Table and mirrored buffet.

Brooke Hexagon Coffee Table

Venezia Chandelier

Z Gallerie accessories including the Alligator Bookend

Astair Nesting Tables

 Thanks even more to all of you for following along this little journey. And huge thanks to the hubby and Xavier for tolerating my insane work schedule and loving and supporting me through it all. Hugs and Besos. Now back to work!