How Many Pictures of Me Do You See?

…None! Why, you ask?! Why not add a few snapshots of me swanning around in my garden or in my beautiful home?

…It’s because I am NOT selling you an image. I don’t sell aspirations! I don’t sell my ‘brand.’ Come to think of it, I don’t sell a damned thing at all; I provide a service. Since I don’t mark up anything I find for my clients, think of me as a sort of…furniture fairy — WAITIAMTHEOPPOSITEOFFAIRY - uhhhh, think Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother and maybe add a bit of Nicole Holofcener’s characters!?

And nothing, absolutely nothing, about seeing splashy photos of me prancing around in a caftan or with my hand perched on the threshold of my custom front door is going to articulate my value more than the experience of meeting me and vetting me yourself!

Lots of people come to me after working with other designers: warm but inexperienced dilettantes who decided to call themselves a designer (despite the term being legally and forcibly protected by my industry); very capable designers who leverage their husbands’ wealth and underlings’ talent to elevate their brand (I can’t argue with that! If you’ve got it, flaunt it) but have unreasonable fees or behavioral red flags; or well-meaning but undereducated designers who can’t deliver.

And guess what? Every single contract I send out gets signed.

Why? It’s not because of the way I look. It’s not because of my photos or my work. It’s not because I am such a dear person and “throw glitter on everything around” me, as someone described. It’s age and experience, pure and simple. And value. Value. Yes, you cannnn go to some of the most amazing designers in the city or US - Lynn from LKL is a dear friend from my grad school days in San Franny - but if you want local, if you want pricing that fits with your politics, a sensibility that isn’t canned or quick-studied, you can come find me. And on the chance I’m too busy, I’m pals with a few of the local designers - Alissa Miserandino and Bar Falcon are both pals - and I can vouch for their credibility and their skill.

I am here to tell you why that sofa is ugly. I am here to tell you how you can qualify your own creative decisions. I am here to help you buy things that no one else, not a one, can help you source.

And, of course, to remind you to stop looking at Instagram and the latest bullshit tour du jour and to bite the bullet - talk to designers. Ask questions. Ask hard questions - and to go with your gut!