Introduction

Hello.  I'm Dawn, an interior designer, business owner, mother to two college students and wife for 22 years.  

I suffer from an illness called Constant Creativity Syndrome.  The symptoms include not being able to stop my brain from thinking, lying awake at night puzzling over design and dreaming up ideas that are certainly not ordinary and often warrant some eye-rolling from my husband, workrooms, and craftsmen when they hear what's involved.  I'm convinced that in order to accomplish everything I'd like, I need 'peeps'- a group of people who will jump at my every word and complete all the tasks I don't have enough hours in the day for.  Martha Stewart's got her peeps, why can't I??

I am obsessed with good design.  I think things need to look good and feel good- the weight of a faucet, the feel of a fabric, the profile of a moulding.  I'm not much into rules- in truth, I think they're meant to be broken.  Surprising elements can come together and feel energetic and full of personality.  In order to make a space a home, it has to be a balance between function and you, with a dash of the unexpected.  Think Antonio from HGTV's Design Star a couple of seasons ago- hot pink birds.

So, I guess my motto is 'Always leave them talking.'

After design school, I worked from home for a while until about 4 years ago when I took it to the next level- a retail space just over the Jersey border in New York.  In the front half of the store I sell home and women's accessories.  This gives me the opportunity to create 'the new craze'.  Following my philosophy we have some different and unique things that you can't find everywhere.  Within the space I have my design studio where I'm surrounded by inspiration through my wall of fabric books and paint samples.  Our job as designers is to give people different design options to help create the space they're envisioning.  The only cookie cutters I like are the ones I bake with! 

This 'lifestyle' blog is something I've wanted to do for a while to share some of what goes on in this crazy head of mine, some of what I'm about.  And, if I get to become a younger Martha Stewart in the process, so be it!  I'll be posting some projects I've completed, creative ideas you can implement in your everyday life and rants and raves.  One of the next things I'll be posting in the coming weeks will be a bathroom renovation complete with an HGTV-style reveal so stay tuned for that! 

Inspire yourself.

Dawn