I didn’t go to school for this.
I spent ten years working as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and stopped after having our first daughter (now 4). During that time, we quickly realized that our 1920's home seemed to be shrinking. I’d often drive around the historic neighborhoods looking and dreaming of our future home and one day, I found it. It was old (built in 1902) and needed lots of updating. We bought it and what I didn't realize at the time was the sheer amount of detail and time devotion needed to renovate a 115-year-old home.
It hadn't been updated since the 70's so we had some unique decisions to make, like how would we remove the *glittered popcorn* ceiling? Also some larger decisions with floor plan changes so we decided to call professionals. We consulted an architect but he wasn't available for at least SIX months so then called an interior designer who was too busy for the project as well. Plan C kicked in... I bought some graph paper and got out my measuring tape. I measured spaces inch for inch, drew out plans. I purchased a program and learned how to render 3-D images. This was life-changing-magic for me. Being a visual person, I was amazed at how spot-on these images could be to help envision how my home would actually look in the end.
After a full year of renovation decisions, we moved in and spent the next year filling our home. I always loved thrift shopping and estate sales. I grew up going to antique stores with my mother who (I recently learned) bribed me to behave by allowing me to choose something inexpensive $10 or less for my own room. During college, I practically spent all my earnings from my on-campus job at the LSU Dean of Students (basically the principal's office), in local thrift shops where there was a constant stream of original art and handmade ceramic pieces from art students.
Fast forward to our (new) old home. We had our second daughter in 2018 and I've moved on my passion for design, décor and combining old with new. I want to do for others what I've done for my own home: now functional for modern living but still has the soul + bones of an old home: modern yet vintage, old yet new at the same time.