I started my first business when I was twenty. That was the year that I bought and remodeled my first house, got a divorce from an abusive husband, and grew my business 1600% in about eight months. I felt like I had found my purpose in life at age twenty. I was a young mother, I was going back to school, remodeling a house, and was getting a thorough education in small business.
My first house- it was a part of my soul. It was a house that I passed every day as a child when I walked home from school. The arched windows on the porch, the mahogany front door, and the giant oak tree in the front yard just cried “home” to me. I danced a million dances under that tree on my way home in elementary school. When I was twenty, that house was for sale and I found a way to get it.
I painted it, sewed curtains for it, hung discounted wallpaper in it, tore out walls, scrubbed floors, pulled nails out of jute carpet padding from the forties, and filled, sanded, and buffed those floors. I cut chair rail and crown moulding with a plastic mitre box and a cheap saw. I loved that house. That house is why I do what I do today.
When I was preparing to go back to Auburn to study interior design, a real estate agent wanted to see what I had done. She looked around and gave me a price that was double what I had paid for the house and said “You should be an interior designer.” Mrs. Sylvia Peach gave me hope that day that I would make it in this business. She made me believe that I had a talent that no one could take away from me. I took that confidence that she gave me that day and invested it into my work.
That old house I remodeled is still in my family and is dire need of some love and a makeover. Hopefully over the next few years, you will get to see it come to life again. Twenty-five years later, brick by brick and board by board, I will find its inner beauty.
That is one of many projects you will see unfold on our page. This year alone, we are off to a rocking start! With projects in North Shelby County, Mountain Brook, Remlap, Hoover, and Birmingham, we are hitting the ground running on all cylinders as we approach spring. For the third time, we will be participating in the Alabama Symphony Orchestra’s Decorators Show House. This year, I will be designing a Writer’s Retreat upstairs and Susanne will update the upstairs hall bath. We look forward to meeting you and discussing future projects you might have in mind. If you are serious about scheduling a remodeling project this year, now is the time to begin plans and discussions to get on our schedule as we are booking quickly into summer already.
Thanks for stopping by our site and giving it a look-see. We hope that you are inspired and that we may be a part of turning your dreams into reality.
Happy Remodeling and Decorating!
Holly