Do Good Design

One might be curious why I chose to include in my tagline ‘for purposeful people.’ There are a lot of good reasons for this decision but it first came to me as a complete intuition and I trust it. First and foremost, I pursued interior design as an extension of my own desire to be purposeful in what I do. I believe we all desire to be purposeful so I expect to find common ground with anyone who wishes to work with me!

It’s been a long journey for me to embrace interior design as my purpose. For many years I was guilty of failing to associate interior design with purpose. That seems so unfair even as I write this. Few factors have been as influential as my surroundings in staying balanced, focused and refreshed in all of my other pursuits in life. How could something so fundamental to my existence remain so illusive to me as a cause to pursue? I hesitated to get my interior design degree in spite of my lifelong love of design and the intense value I consistently placed on my environment.

I think the ‘why’ in my hesitation is probably something that sounds familiar to a lot of us do-good, save-the-world types. To put it bluntly, we stereotype interior design as the folly of privileged people. The idea of embracing privilege as the construct that makes our work possible doesn’t sit well with us. Our rural Midwestern egalitarian values generate a natural resistance to anything we associate with being too ‘vain’ or ‘showy.’ As a feminist, I was worried that my obsession with interiors would too quickly align me with a certain set of beliefs about assigning women their ‘place’ and that didn’t sit well with me either.

I have spent a lot of years unpacking that last paragraph in order to get my degree and become an interior designer. It’s my first love, and like all first love it is innocent and pure. It’s what makes me happy and what lifts me up so I can spread happy. We can’t spread happy if we’re not happy. If it weren’t for the special places I happily created that gave me peace and joy in a turbulent world, I would have lost my drive to be of service at all. EVERYONE needs these places that keep their batteries charged for doing all manner of good things. I am privileged to get on my soapbox and advocate for all of us. Good design can help you on your journey!