My Design Story

Home means so much to me.  I was always thinking of ways I could decorate my own home.  I loved picking out wallpaper and sewing (Yes, sewing window treatments and even reupholstering some furniture) and I was good at it! My friends would always remark how great everything looked, so I started sewing and helping them pick things out for their own homes.  I desperately realized I wanted to do this professionally, but with 2 young kids and no formal design training….I wasn’t sure how.  

I took an 18 month Interior Design course at Wilsey Institute of Art and Interior Design.  I excelled and loved every minute of it.  I would have loved to have taken the train to NYC and gotten a degree from Parsons or the New York School of Interior Design, but couldn’t with 2 little ones at home.  So I sought out the local designer in Briarcliff Manor, where I was living at the time.  He had a well-known reputation as an incredible designer….and even though I had never met him or even knew what  the interior design process was like…..I thought maybe, just maybe I could get a job working with him….in any capacity.  I just wanted to learn everything I could about the business.

Long story short….I did eventually start working for JR Cattington Interiors in Briarcliff Manor in February of 2001 and stayed until 2008 when I started my own business.  During that time, I learned everything I could from Joe who really became my mentor as well as my friend.  It was tough saying goodbye in 2008, but I needed to give it a try on my own. 

We are still friends today and he has allowed me to keep an office within JR Cattington Interiors.  We love talking shop and also sometimes collaborate on projects.

With a friend fellow deisgner at the High Point Market Fall 2019 Designer Showhouse

Why I Design

Design gives me joy.  I mean it really does!  I am happiest when I’m in the creative process, carefully curating all the many puzzle pieces that need to work together perfectly to complete a room that will take my client’s breath away.  When I am working on a job, it’s all I can think about.  I even dream about it.  

This is my second career.  My first career was in TV Journalism.  Right after college, I worked at Eyewitness News, WABC-TV.  I was there about 5 years, and although I enjoyed the excitement of getting a news show on every night….it wasn’t long before the stress level was too much for me.  Then I went into public relations at Burson-Marsteller and did that for 5 years. Although I enjoyed many new experiences, I felt like what I was doing was all fluff and not very important.  It was just about selling a product for a client. As a designer, I am still selling a product, but the difference is this is a product I truly believe in. 

A home is the most sacred place.  It should be a haven from the rest of the world.  If I can go in and take a room that has no personality and breathe life and function into it in a way that reflects the client’s personal tastes and needs, then I feel fulfilled.

I Looove Flowers

Flowers make my heart sing.  I mean who doesn’t feel joyful when looking at a colorful, luscious bloom, or slowly melt when breathing in its delicate scent?

 Botanist Luther Burbank once said, “Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are the sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.”  I couldn’t agree more!

When I was a little girl of about 8 or 9, we had 3 huge lilac bushes which bore the most beguiling lilacs.  If I close my eyes, I can almost conjure up their intoxicating scent. My older brother Dave and I would cut large bouquets and wrap them up in sheets of newspaper and rubber bands.  We would carry as many as we could on our bikes and sell them to our neighbors for 25 cents each.  Wow, what a bargain!  

And as an adult, with each and every abode where I had a yard, I have planted and nursed a bed of roses as well as other flowers.  With each move to a new location, I hated leaving my little gardens, but I always felt like I had left it just a little more beautiful.  I’d  like to think that if I were to travel back to these homes today, I would see my roses and perennials still delighting the current residents.

My daughter and I regularly visit botanical gardens both close to home and far away.  A day out with my favorite daughter (Okay, I only have one daughter)  is a pretty much a perfect day in my world.

The beauty of a flower is fleeting, and when I’m able to capture its perfection on my camera and then look at it weeks, months and years later….the images of the flowers still have the power to evoke the same awe and inspiration I felt when they were right there in front of me.  :-)

My Favorite Projects

I love completing whole rooms.  I’ve worked on just about every room in a house including:  living, dining and family rooms, kitchens, master bedroom suites, home offices, powder rooms, family bathrooms, foyers, laundry rooms, guest and kid’s bedrooms as well as outdoor patios.

Some rooms I haven’t had the opportunity to do yet but would love to design would be a nursery, a home gym, a wine cellar and a pool house.  I would also love to do a bachelor pad.