Red Margot Bow Heels
January 22, 2025
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Hiring a designer is a funny thing. You’re essentially handing someone your home your budget, years of saved inspiration, and a pretty intimate look at how your family actually lives-and trusting them to get it right.
That’s not a small thing.
And a good designer’s job is so much more than making your home beautiful. It’s listening closely enough to know when to push you toward something you wouldn’t have chosen on Your ow? when to wark with what you already love, and when to say, Nope, that doesn’t feel You should still recognize yourself in your home when we’re done. Just maybe a version you couldn’t quite figure out how to get to on your own.
That trust takes time, which is why we start every project with a conversation.
If you’ve been thinking about getting some help with your home but aren’t quite sure what that looks like yet, that’s okay. Tell us what you’re working on. We’ll start there.
Discovery calls are always the first step — link in bio or shoot us a DM.
Maybe someone in your life needs to hear this right now. Someone whose life looks completely different than they thought it would. Who’s feeling stuck in their career.
Starting over. Watching their kids grow up and wondering what’s next for them. Or just feeling that little nudge that maybe it’s time for something different.
I’ve been there. And if I’m being truthful, I still have moments where I’m there.
There were seasons of my life I never would have chosen, but they pushed me toward things I’m not sure I ever would have been brave enough to choose on my own. This business. Moving. Starting over. Taking risks when I definitely didn’t have all the answers.
I think we put so much pressure on ourselves to have life figured out when really, we’re supposed to evolve. You’re allowed to change your mind. You’re allowed to want something different. You’re allowed to start the thing you’ve been quietly thinking about for years—even if the timing feels weird or the path there looks nothing like you imagined.
Sometimes you just have to trust the nudge and see where it takes you. 🤎
And while I’m feeling sentimental, thank you for being here and following along through all the different chapters. I’ve loved the support, conversations, and little community that’s grown here more than you know.
Send this to a friend who might need that reminder today.
You can have the plans. The Pinterest board. The contractor. Half the materials picked out. And still find yourself staring at two options thinking... I genuinely have no idea anymore.😂
That’s exactly where this client was. Her full-home Bay Area renovation was already underway and she had a strong vision—she didn’t need us to take over.
She just needed another set of experienced eyes on the decisions she couldn’t quite land.
So we spent our first session working through her actual list: millwork, lighting, paint + stain, cabinetry, tile, trim, fireplace and ceiling beam details... all those decisions that suddenly feel very permanent when your contractor needs an answer.
That’s really what our 6-Hour Consultation is for. You might already be 60% there. Bring us the 40% that’s making you second-guess everything.
If you’re in the middle of a project thinking “wait, this is exactly the kind of help I need”... start with a 15-minute discovery call. Tell us where you’re stuck and we’ll see if it’s the right fit.
Comment “EDIT” and I’ll send you the post when it goes live tonight at 5.
Or, subscribe to Between the Layers at the link in bio and it’ll land directly in your inbox— along with all my future sourcing lists, design deep dives + things I could never gatekeep.
Remember So Susie Headquarters?
Same client. Same house. Very different chapter. 🙂
She came back to us wanting to soften a few of the spaces and lean a bit more classic. And I think that’s such a normal part of living in a home-sometimes your taste changes, sometimes you realize you want a room to feel different, and sometimes you just get the itch to keep going.
So we are!
The dining room now has this really pretty pale blue linen banquette, new custom pillows, a mural wallpaper, and softer details throughout. In the living room we painted the walls and had new pillows made with a variety of blue and green fabrics.
We are commissioning an art piece by @mialauren_art and I’m telling you... obsessed with her work! It’s going to be the element that brings this design home! Stay tuned for more....I shared examples of my favorites from her work in Between The Layers.
It feels sweeter, more collected, and very her.
Full article on Between The Layers (link in bio) 🤎
Sharing the real cost of our High Desert Tumalo Ranch living room felt a little vulnerable, if I’m being honest.
We invested in some areas and saved in others, because good design has never been about choosing the most expensive option—it’s about knowing where to spend.
The biggest lesson? A beautiful room alone isn’t automatically going to make you happy. The best spaces are designed around the way you actually live, what brings you comfort, and what you believe is worth investing in.
This isn’t what every living room should cost. It’s simply the real budget behind one of our most-requested projects, shared in the hopes of bringing a little more honesty to the conversation.
I think you’ll walk away thinking a little differently about renovation budgets.
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