Have you ever had one of those years that doesn’t start until you are halfway through? It feels as though 2022 rolled right into 2023. I once heard a quote from a business coach that summarized just because it is January [insert current year] doesn’t mean you have to have all your s*ht together. Kate Rosenow might have it right, sometimes you are just starting whenever you decide it is your new year.

The last 18 months have been incredible, with a crazy number of changes, incredible clients, new projects and exciting trips. Right now I am headed out to Scottsdale, AZ for a business trip. This is new for me, I haven’t travelled alone in about six years. Trips are typically centered around much needed family vacations, Market or design conferences, over-landing or camping with the hubby, and other incredible opportunities. This trip is different, this is about me, as a designer, a business woman and a leader.

My team has always said being their leader seems to come naturally and at first I wasn’t sure about this. We’ve grown so much the last year and I am so blessed my team is made of family. Literally. My husband, my sister, my best friend, my mom and most recently my brother. The crews we work so closely with feel like family too from our favorite contractor, to our trades. Being with the same people each week, creating spaces for families to live, gives us a sense of closeness and accomplishment. It is a big responsibility to lead all of these team members to the final product and give clients what they have been dreaming of. But naturally, for the last fifteen years, I keep on designing and I hope to keep on leading. I do it, because creating a complete vision for each and every family, developing that vision, communicating the vision and watching it be implemented, is hands down the most rewarding process. I am constantly humbled that my team trusts me to pave the way forward, looks to me for knowledge and is always willing to take the journey on to the next amazing design.

The homes we completed in 2022 have been some of my favorites to date. Pushing the design envelope, trying new techniques and ideas and having the team put their expertise into creating them makes each project special. There isn’t anything they aren’t willing to try and seeing their faces when I say .. “Well, I have an idea…” is always fun. Not only were we sought out to showcase one home in a magazine feature, we embarked on five additional photoshoots! These take months to plan, but the reward of these families being able to see their new space, showcased and styled to perfection is incredibly fulfilling. Not only will you be able to see these projects coming up on our portfolio, I am excited to do a deep dive of them here on the blog.

HERE’S A PEEK AT OUR LATEST PROJECT

~ Park Avenue Vintage ~

In addition to beautiful homes and adorable pictures of Zoey on our social media, you can expect a lot more behind the scenes from our travels. In addition to our family vacation, weekend getaways, and camping, Matt and I went on our first ever long overland adventure. With 3,000 miles of travel and sixteen nights (11 of which we camped!) Our travels took us all the way to Hilton Head, SC and Savannah Georgia and back up using the MABRD (Mid Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route). Well let’s just say we are hooked… This year we will be venturing the 4,000 miles to Utah and back to see all five national parks, Utah has to offer and more. This has been on our bucket list for a long time and I can’t wait to share. Designer? Camping? If you are one of my clients you know, I think less is more. If it isn’t serving a purpose, why have it? Camping for me is an unplug moment, re-center while being inspired by beauty and re-discovering only what is essential… Side note: Yes, five throw rugs for your tent and matching plate-ware is in fact essential while camping… Traveling is my essential refuel for inspiration. My happy place is going to new places, seeing the colors of the homes, the landscapes and the culture. Stopping at little shops, artists galleries or seeing amazing restaurants and hotels keeps me feeling energized. That energy is essential to continuing to create amazing homes for some pretty amazing people.

SOME OF MY FAVORITE CAMPING ESSENTIALS (IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING)

Kicking off my “new year” are some amazing projects under construction. Our “Serena Retreat” is a classic bright kitchen with traditional touches and tons of texture leading into an incredible sky blue laundry room (We could basically swoon over the morning room, home office, family room, living room and primary suite that we also designed for this home). The much anticipated “Star-Cross Cottage” is also debuting. If you haven’t seen it on our instagram, it is an amazingly cozy vintage style kitchen which grew to a family room, two full bathrooms, laundry room & pantry, mud hall closet, dining room and foyer! There isn’t a detail in this home that doesn’t make my heart sing.

The more I lead the team on these types of projects, the clearer our vision as a design company becomes. In the age of open concept homes, we find our designs don’t stop at the kitchen or the living room but flow from one room to the next to the next. The team loves that, we embrace it and that is where our talents are. Our focus is to work with a select number of families per a year, on larger scaled projects and give our attention to obsessing over each and every little detail on your behalf. This is where my heart is and I’m so excited to design these projects from OUR new home, perhaps one of the biggest changes of the year. It still feels surreal each day when I walk in, that we have these incredible place to host and design as we look to the future.

I look forward to kick-starting my year with you from sharing more about this trip, future travels, incredible homes and more along this design journey.

Always,

Danielle

P.S. Kick-starting my year has led me to kick-start this blog. You can expect to see behind the scenes in my personal life of my travels, my home and my garden, to design debut's of our most recent projects, insider knowledge on planning or executing a design, recipe’s from my own kitchen adventures and more. If there is something you always wanted to know or are interested in, don’t hesitate to send it my way :)