Not all houses are created equal. Some remain houses while others become the place that we love to call our home. Making a house a home has always been important to me.
My path to creating warm, beautiful and inviting interiors has been an adventure that led me from Washington State to a corporate communications career where I guided creative design. For years my corporate career followed my husband’s, which took us to Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, Florida (three times) and Venezuela. Along the way, my passion was to make our homes function, while looking stunning and feeling warm.
It was my experience in the corporate world that further inspired my love for interior decorating. Although my usual role was to oversee the words in my corporate projects, it was always the look, feel and overall graphic design that drove them. If a project didn’t visually inspire people, they wouldn’t bother reading the words. It’s same with your home. Your home should draw you in, inspire you and be the place where you enjoy living your life.
Someone once told me that I had a “knack” for combining patterns, colors and textures. That much-appreciated compliment led to a career in decorating homes. As much as I enjoy working with fabrics, wall coverings, tile and furnishings, it is just as much fun to work with accessories — those all-important finishing touches. Doing something a little different is what I strive for, as it just makes a room more interesting.
I once had the privilege of managing large domestic communications projects for United Parcel Service (UPS) Corporate. Each specific project had many individual pieces and each piece had it’s own identity. Yet, when you combined the individual pieces to create the overall initiative, the resulting project had a cohesive and consistent look that was visually appealing while being functional. Like these projects, your home should be both beautiful and purposeful. It should also be harmonious. What happens in one room should flow throughout.
When my husband and I returned from a corporate assignment in Caracas, Venezuela, it was time to fuse together my love of graphic design with decorating homes. I was fortunate to find a role at Richerson Interiors, a full-service interior design firm in Coconut Creek, Florida, where I got to work with a great team and with a wide-ranging array of fabrics, wall coverings, furniture manufacturers, accessory lines and vendors.
Home is now Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where we built a home. As people who were on-the-move for so many years, we love being settled in such a beautiful community. Our Fall Saturdays are spent at Washington State University Football games cheering on The Cougs! And we are about to embark on our first boating season. Our most cherished time, however, is spent hanging out with our furry, four-legged kids named Scooter, Shelby and Shaylee. All came to us via adoption from the same rescue group in South Florida. Scooter is a Bichon-Maltese mix and The Girls are Maltese sisters. Life is just better with dogs.
They say it’s good to have a hobby. Mine is creating jewelry — an activity that would be fun to turn into something bigger one day.
How did we end up in Coeur d’Alene? Some would say we took the “scenic” route but, really, it was partially about coming home. I am from Ritzville, Washington, where I grew up on a wheat farm with Hereford cattle. I am also a graduate of Washington State University. Although my life has taken me far from the farm, it was growing up as a farm kid that gave me the valuable life lessons and work ethic that I value and apply in life.
It is a wonderful thing to receive validation for what you enjoy doing. So, it was an honor and privilege to have two of our homes featured in these regional four-color magazines:
- Spokane-Coeur d’Alene Living (December 2016)
- Space Coast Living (September 2013)
As North Idaho is home, it is a pleasure to be able to work in Coeur d’Alene and the surrounding communities, including Dalton Gardens, English Point, Harrison, Hayden, Hayden Lake, Post Falls, Rathdrum, and Sandpoint.
Get in touch with Lisa today at (cell) 561-251-6725 or to discuss your
residential interior design project and schedule your initial consultation.