What Is Intentional Interior Design?

Becoming an interior designer almost didn’t happen for me. You see, I knew I wanted to make an impact and change lives but little did I know it would be in the field of interior design. My mom was a CNA/caregiver so naturally, being a helpful and caring person runs deep in my veins. But I have a fear of needles and get weak at the sight of blood, so I knew that following in my mom’s footsteps wasn’t for me.

My parents are very supportive of the path I choose to take in life and they always taught me that if something didn’t bring me joy, then maybe it wasn’t meant to be and that I should pursue other opportunities.

With my many career experiences, something about sales always lured me in. I think its the thrill of the everyday challenge. No two days are ever alike and I enjoy the flexibility.

Eventually my resume grew with a strong emphasis in sales. I was a retail sales associate, a retail supervisor, and I had my fair share of MLMs. I thought that being in an MLM would be my forever path. The team embeds this idea in your mind that you could help a ton of people, become successful and make 6 figures as long as you recruit enough people. But there was something missing. Something that I wanted more of. And it wasn’t about making 6 figures.

I realized that I wasn’t passionate about it because I was chasing dollars. It became more of a chore and I wanted something else for myself… I wanted to have fun with home decor, immerse myself in design trends, play with color, get creative…(we have HGTV to thank for this) I accomplished this career goal after graduating from design school, but over time I began questioning if I was in the right field. Yet again, there was something else missing that I kept trying to search for.

In 2020, the world shut down and we were isolated at home. I lost my corporate design job and was surviving off of government money and furlough checks. My mental and physical health began to decline. Worst part of all is I made a painful decision to end a best friendship of 20+ years…

My immune compromised son kept getting sick (yet we weren’t going anywhere) and I too was dealing with health issues of my own. It occurred to me that not only was isolation causing us stress but also that our living conditions could have been contributing to our health issues. So I began making shifts in my home and doing a process of elimination. I mean, what else was I to do, we were stuck at home.

For my son, I kept our house as clean and dust free as possible, removed fragrances and anything that could be causing skin reactions, allergy and asthma triggers. For me, I changed my diet, organized my home, practiced more mindfulness, and stopped caring about being trendy or other people’s opinions. I took purposeful and intentional steps to improve my life, and I started with my home. I didn’t do anything too crazy or over the top. I really just did the bare minimum and was more thoughtful about what was coming in and out of my home.

One thing I remember is that when I worked my corporate job I was always spending money, buying things in hopes of keeping up with the Joneses. But after I became more mindful, I noticed a huge positive shift in my mood, just by making small interior changes and that’s when I had my ah-ha moment. This is the transformative work that I did for myself so I set sail on a journey to do the same for other people. And that’s how my intentional interior design business model was born.

Interior design is inherently transformative. We are not in the business just to make spaces beautiful. But there is something about intentional interior design that dives in a little bit deeper. It’s getting to know the clients so well like you would your closest friends, it’s understanding not only their wants and needs but understanding why certain things are important to them. It’s about knowing what they would gain versus what would they lose if they didn’t make positive shifts in their home. It’s understanding their pains, their frustrations, what hasn’t worked in the past, and gathering more than enough info to then create a design that caters to the mind, body and soul. When this area of life has been fulfilled, then goals in other areas of life can be achieved.

That is what intentional interior design is. It’s not about being trendy or trying to keep up with the Joneses. It’s about the purposeful, well thought out and meaningful planning to not only create a beautiful space, but a concept that supports the well-being of those who inhabit the space.

Once thorough research has been done, the next step is to account ALL the factors that have been identified, along with the standard design process - furniture sourcing, mood board creation, space planning, vendor coordination, color therapy, ALL of it gets incorporated to create the best plan and path for the clients. The most important idea to keep at the forefront is that the design must be functional and practical.

So, you might stop and ask yourself, why does any of this matter? Well, our surroundings and current situation has the ability to affect the way we feel, think, and act. It can affect our productivity, it can affect our sleep patterns, it can negatively impact our mood, the list goes on.

Everyone’s unique situation is handled with care, results will vary greatly and what works for one family may not work for another. But one thing is for certain: If you have control over your living conditions, your health and happiness, you can make small changes to make a huge impact. Just as you would do if you tried to live a healthier lifestyle, drop a few pounds and feel more energized - You can’t achieve a healthy lifestyle if you’re out eating fast food all the time. It’s the same concept. You have to do the work in order to get the thing that you desire, and doing the complete opposite almost always never works out.

If you’re not sure where to start, this is where I can help. I may not know everything and I’m no miracle worker, but I do know that it brings me peace, comfort and joy to help people solve their interior design dilemmas on a deeper level, and not just on the surface. They seek out my help because we resonate with one another, and the people who approach me genuinely want to explore new ways to achieve a better life for themselves. I love that I can make a contribution to their happiness and life fulfillment. This is the aspect of interior design that fills my cup.