Latest / Momtalk Maryland / Grounding Your Space: Home Design Tips with Kerry Whippee

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Grounding Your Space: Home Design Tips with Kerry Whippee · Momtalk Maryland

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey friends and welcome to MomTalk, Maryland.
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Claire Duarte, founder of the Columbia Mom, and this is your spot for real conversations, local love and a whole lot of community, Whether you're folding laundry, running errands or hiding in your car for some peace and quiet, let's dive in.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Alright, good morning, let's get into it.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Good morning, we've already had ourselves a morning.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Oh, my goodness, I have way too many beverages.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: We're gonna move them a little bit.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Uh, you know I can't decide between coffee and protein, so we're just we need both, yes, both, but um, well, cheers, um, I know we have cheers I love your bows.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: You would have both yes I know, um, so today we have carrie whippy.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Am I saying that correctly?
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: I thought so, um, and I'm really excited to have you here.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: We've been talking for all actually.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: I met you kind of early on in my business really, and mine too, yeah, and you didn't you participate with our gift aways the first year?
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: yes, I think so.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, that was a lot of fun and I love your little like pop-up sales that you guys have done.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Um, but anyways, um, I want to introduce carrie whippy and you know I love a good origin story.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: So please tell us a little bit more about you, and how you got your start and, of course, about your business thank you so much for having me here, claire.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so hello everyone.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: I'm Hello everyone.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: I'm Keri Whippy with Shamrock Hill Design.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: I'm a mom, I'm a wife and I am the founder and creator of Shamrock Hill Design.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: I had some girlfriends over and I just kept getting these tug from them.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Like did you know that?
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: you know there's home staging, and did you know that?
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: Like, have you ever thought about interior design?
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm like, oh, you're sweet.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Right, right, right.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Oh my God, that's always how it gets.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm like okay, that's really sweet of you and cute, but like no way could I ever make this a business.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and a friend of mine gave me a shot.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: She was like I really need my exterior.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: She had just built.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: This gorgeous deck was going to throw a huge fall party and it was empty.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: I mean, it was naked.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: And so she was like I will pay you to go to all the stores and do whatever you need to do to make it come to life before this party.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: And I again was like, yeah right, you're kidding, right, right, right, right, and that's how it started.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: That's literally how it started.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: I just needed somebody to believe in me and give me a chance, and then I was able to use those photos and start talking about my passion yeah, and I feel like you know, talking about an origin story, people buy into why you do what you do.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, quality is crucial to us communication and all those things.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: We have all that foundation built, but if you don't have the, the passion and the love behind it, yeah, uh, it's not going to resonate.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I've been loving this since, um, I mean, I remember in middle you go to the counselor's office and they're like.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: So what do you want to do?
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: What do you want to be when you grow up?
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: And when I saw you know fashion and design and interiors and home, I just knew yeah.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: Like I remember having a swatch deck in my hand when I was 11.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: And I'm like.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: Mom, mom, let me paint my room.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: My god didn't you just love you.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: I mean, obviously you still do, but I remember as a kid like just all the whole wall of color.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, my mom would take.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: You and I are color girls not everybody are color people, but yes, yeah, my mom would take me to uh model homes like on Saturdays.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: Oh god, it was the best, and now that's your job.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: It is.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: I cannot believe I'm saying that right yes, I'm very, very grateful for where so cool this journey has taken me.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: That's amazing so okay.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: So I love that, and I love that you led with passion, because I mean you know me and my story too.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: I feel like that's so.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: That's why we've always clicked you know what I mean because that's exactly how I got started.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: That seemed not not exactly like the people telling me to do, because they saw like you have a knack for instagram.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: That's such a different world, but but united with the passion, right, and I believe that that's how the best stories are written.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: So, okay, but tell us more now about shamrock hill, what you guys do, what you offer sure, absolutely yeah.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: so we have 5800 square feet in Hale Thorpe, which is just in between Catonsville and Elkridge, right off Route 1, right, yes, right off Route 1.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: And so we have built.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: We can stage almost like 60, 70 houses.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: That's amazing.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: I know there will be a warehouse sale for you soon.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: I love, I love.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: Everyone asks well, you and I both love love.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: We were just talking about how we love links, but I digress yes, no.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: So 5800 square feet of warehouse space, um, and it's able to.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: It's allowed us to be able to stage of many houses so we can stage, you know, a little town home, we can stage a 8 000 square foot.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: You know, mansion in pikesville, like it has allowed us to build a variety of inventory so that we can service more homes, because what we're going to put in an Annapolis home is not what we're going to put in Westminster.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: Right, exactly we offer vacant staging.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: We offer occupied staging, and occupied staging is a fancy name for saying that the sellers are going to be living in the home and they sell it.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that makes sense yeah, and then interior styling so we'll come out to the house and work with what you know somebody has, yeah, or if they've just moved in a lot of times.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: What we're dealing with is I'm downsizing, or I came from a one bedroom apartment and now I have four bedrooms, three baths, right 3 000 square feet.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: Where do I start?
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: yeah um, and people just don't know where to start and the size too yeah when you're coming from a smaller space or the opposite, like right you know, uh, our parents generation, they're downsizing and they have no idea where to start.
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: I know going from the big to the smaller, so it's a lot of fun it is um and it's an emotional part of their life and we feel grateful to be a part of it.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: Right, whether they're selling or whether it is a design project, it's emotional, it can be stressful and we hold their hand through it and we love that.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: I love that um.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: So, and actually that's kind of one of the reasons why I wanted to have you on today um, because I want to talk more about the specific mean.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: I always think the staging part is so cool and that's probably why I'm sure that's a great part of your business and allows you to kind of really stabilize and do what you do, because it's such a need.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: I mean, I say a need, but it is a need especially in, like the, the realty world, the housing world, because we know, you know, without getting too into the weeds, it's like you know, visualizations are everything.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: So when you can properly stage a home, yes, I mean realtors know this.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: Obviously it's a sales thing, it's a marketing thing, but it transforms the space.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: It's us right and that's, you know, just from the sales marketing side, but like when we're talking, but that's what we also.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: That's why what I also want to talk about is just interior design.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: You know more for, like, let's talk about let's.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: Let's talk to the moms right and we've done some fun collapse kind of already on this element but since it's a little bit different format and obviously we can't visually show you everything like a how-to with with certain pieces, but, um, what I was most interested in and um that I feel like so many moms can relate, that you know, yeah, we're both moms.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: Like I know your kids a little bit older than mine.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: Like I say, they're young, but they're younger kids.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: We're holding on to it.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: Elementary age kids, yes, but a lot of us feel like, you know, we're in our homes, right Mid-sized homes or whatever and we have a lot of stuff right.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Because, as moms, we have a lot of stuff we have got, got kids we've, we've racked up years of of crap at this point right, and I always am like, um and it's, you know, whether you have a certain style or not, you've probably, even if you're like I have no style, no, whatever, you can probably walk into space and you can kind of pick up clues because you can sense some colors, you can sense a little patterns or lack thereof, right, um, so, um, I do feel.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: I know for me, interior design feels really overwhelming.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: I feel like my mom has a really good knack for it, so I always like to have her come over and style things but like my husband and I both come from households where they had a lot of stuff.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: So our style is that like we feel like we put out a lot of stuff and I have a hard time being simple.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: So I think the answer is not that, like you know, the answer isn't like not, you're not trying to drive everybody to be right, simple, because that's a type of look, exactly.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: So the goal isn't doesn't have to be like you know.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: Yes, decluttering can help.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: Any element of styling, I think um in any home, um, but the goal isn't always like the minimalistic look, you can still have a lot of stuff, it's just.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: I think it's all about balancing and making it work, and so I'm curious to know from you, pick your brain, what kind of principles and things that you and your team know and do that we can kind of share today.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: Because I feel like.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: The one thing that comes to mind is I heard, I feel like it was from an architect or something like that, and they said, like you know, it's like the power of three, yeah, and like look, this is perfect.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: I mean, this is not styled well, but there's three pieces.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: That's a little example, right?
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: I didn't do that for you, that just happened to be.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: I can't take credit for that.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: But I've heard that.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: So I didn't know if there's any other nuggets?
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: Is like your starting point so I feel like it's.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: It's the basic recipe.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, for a vignette or a bookshelf or whatever it is because you can take that principle apply to whether it's a couch, a wall, a bookshelf, um floating shelf, patios like tables.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: You can say yeah, it can.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: It can incorporate a lot of different things.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: I feel like it's a base recipe and it's a good starting point.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: The main reason that people use the power of three and they talk about that is the balance and the weight.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so, and what we do a lot of times when we style is we start with either if it's a dining table, it's a tablecloth, If it's a coffee table, it's a tray.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: So tablecloth um.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: If it's a coffee table, it's a tray, so something to ground the pieces.
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: So you want to start first to ground?
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, otherwise when you have pieces that are just laying, um, you know, like this cup, it can look like it's floating.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: So having something, either a tablecloth or a tray or a cutting board, yeah, something that gets you started, because then that weighs it down and grounds it and then you can start playing with the pieces that go on it.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: Three is definitely popular and I think it's a great starting point.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: You can do five.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: It's almost like the odd numbers help you visually, your eye visually balance and know where to go.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: It's also important to have height, different heights too.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: I was just gonna say cause it's.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: I mean, obviously I know that these rules aren't hard and fast and like they can always be broken and shifted, but I do remember the height having varying heights varying textures varying colors.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: Exactly, you know your stuff, girl Well.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: I've been around the block a little bit, or seen enough to be like okay, even if it's not good in my home.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: Yes, you can see, you're like.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: This is why this works.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: Because then it takes your eye somewhere and you're taking your eye, you're starting upwards and you're going down and then, like you said, having varying textures too.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: So when we style pieces, if it's a round vase, I'll put a rectangular picture frame, or if it's, little things like that so it's not all.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: If it's a round coffee table, I'll most likely put a rectangular tray Right, and then vice versa, if it's a rectangle, rectangular coffee table, I'll put a round tray, just to help your eye be visually interested, because that's what we want.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: We want to be visually interested and stimulated in a way that's like Ooh, this is pretty, I want to linger Right, I want to stay, I want to stay, I want to hang out, I want to see what this is all about and move in a way through the home.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: That's what we want the buyers to do.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: We want the buyers to move in a way through the home that they're not looking like oh goodness, look at the crack in the ceiling.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: Oh, my goodness, I can't stay on this flooring.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: no, we want them to linger through and think about little johnny in his bedroom and mom and dad coming over for thanksgiving dinner and thinking about moments and the power of styling and staging and the powers of three and the power of composition and depth yeah are what helps set your eye and relax your body so that you can go through the space in a way, that's calming, that's huge.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: I mean, when I was looking for airbnbs to go on, we just got back from ocean city, uh-huh, and my husband was sending me all these places I was like, honey, no, I could not.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: I mean, god, love a little tchotchke right right when it's overwhelming, you don't feel calm there's something, and that's why the power of color there's a psychology of color.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: Yep, um, you see a lot of yellows and kitchens.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: You see a lot of blues and bass.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: Yep, so there's reasons behind you know yeah and boy, do we love it I know there's also a reason behind it, right, exactly, and I'm not sure how much you know in this specifically, but you're kind of already hinting at like um, when you're talking about the brain and processing and things like that, and I feel like I'm doing so many things like with my kids on this and reading all these things, so I feel like it's so relevant.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: But but I think that's a really important element that you mentioned, because we're visually taking in our environment right.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: And one thing in an old job of mine I learned the phrase that visual clutter equals mental clutter, even if we don't feel it, think about it.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: You're visually taking it's data that your brain is taking in right, right and that's why we, as moms, we hit that break.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: You know, we we hit that breaking point before maybe our husbands, and I'm like I'm throwing everything away?
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: right, because we're, we get sick of taking in that data, that visual, um, sensory, right, um which, in one hand, like it, helps motivate us to, you know, clean and declutter, or whatever but I'm using that example and talking about clutter.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: The same thing is said about this just spaces that we create in general.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: Because, you're right, because in clutter right, let's use that example that's, it's creating a negative emotion.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Right, we're getting frustrated because?
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: Because, when you think about it, we're.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: Why are we getting frustrated?
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: Because there's too many things.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: It's out of balance, it's out of whack right, yeah, like in my office right now, I know it's about.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: We've talked about this.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: A thousand, it's just an ever um.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Oh, my god.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: Actually we should do like I always love to before the school season to um, yes, we can do the mudroom, too, like the mudroom, because in the summer I mean I don't know about you I have like a couple different pool bags and then I have oh, the bag from the ocean.
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, and it's like wait, where's the?
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: Where are the goggles?
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: Where does everything go?
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: I know so it's about to be where the.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: Where's the backpacks?
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: Where's the?
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: you know right so here's a perfect example so while we're still talking about clutter, I still want to keep talking about you know the other things but perfect example of how spaces make you feel.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: I mean, you can obviously argue that places like know that I want to feel more at peace in there, and right now I've let it go and again, that's okay because reality, with styling it, you're going to live in your home and that's part of it.
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: Yes, um, but like um and I and you've seen like where my podcast area is at home, I have my walking, so I do primarily work up there now, but every now and then I'll still like to sit at my sitting desk downstairs but it's a mess because it's like all the kids' school stuff is still piled up there's piles of paper from.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: I have all these.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you saw that balloon arc from my event this weekend.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: My daughter God bless her but like if she, she cut them up.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: She didn't cut the balloons, but cut the string up.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: So now, instead of one long arch in my room, I it's a fucking confetti of balloons everywhere.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: So my goodness.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: So anyway, here's the example of like I feel so sensory, overwhelmed, to be in this room and it's not enjoyable for me, I feel, because, because you know, I already have my running.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: We all have it, doesn't?
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: You don't need to be a mom and have a running to do it.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: I already have my running to-do list.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: I'm sitting here doing a call and again, I'm talking about the visual input.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: Like I can't enjoy being in this space.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: Even though the walls behind me are mostly decorated and fine, all the stuff sit in front of me, the freaking balloons that are everywhere, piles over here, and then I have some piles on the desk that I know that I need to need take care of.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: Yes, there are systems in there but it's just the overwhelm right and and we all have hot spots, yes, in our home and you know, there are methods to the madness of managing some of the hot spots, but, on contrast, of course, like we all want our bedrooms to be a more place of serene because that way we can have more calm, and like, um, I remember I showed you like we introduced more blues in our bedroom and that transformative power, the calm and the beauty that I feel it does make me really happy to be in there.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: And um, you know so anyway.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: So we talked about power.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: Three, is there any other cool principles or things like that that that we can use?
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: so layering is also really helpful.
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: A cozy blanket, a favorite pillow, and just layering, like we were talking about having a tray or having the tablecloth.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: Layering pieces that you love but are also usable.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: Decorate with a salt pepper.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: You know a salt shaker in the kitchen.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: You're also going to use it, and the texture of the wood is pretty and grounding and has substantial weight to it.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: So using what you're going to decorate with with purpose?
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I have really beautiful boxes on my foyer table and they get used every single day.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: They've got the kids' sunglasses in them.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: But goodness, if we didn't have those.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: And when we did it a few months ago, right, exactly every single day, like they've got the kids sunglasses in them, they but goodness if that, if we didn't have those and when we did it a few months ago, right exactly.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: You couldn't even see the foyer table it was you know the keys and the glasses and the goggles and um.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: So storage is.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: Storage can be pretty right.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: You know really pretty baskets.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: Um goodness, I feel like I could keep going, no well, actually on, I'll send you a picture if I haven't already.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: But like, here's a perfect example.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: Like again, when I set up the podcast studio at home and originally I had the, I had my walking desk set up there first, but then I moved that over the corner.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: But what um?
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: I got a friend recommended.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: It's um, I mean, it's like super cheap and it's not real wicker, it's probably like wicker, like plastic wicker that's painted brown, but it looks like a wicker basket and um, because I have all these cords and again the visual, again we, I think we need to take um.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: Just remember how powerful that is in our brains, right, you know um, all seeing, even though they were like in one spot, all the cords would just it like stressed me out.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: Yes, yes, isn't that so interesting?
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: I'm like, well, they're in like one spot, it's not bad I know visually containing them.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: So this little wicker basket it's like it's kind of like a rectangle and I can it has a little cut out on the side so like the cords can kind of go in and I have power strip in there so they're like out of sight, out of mind.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: Even so now, and that looks much better, there's still a lot, but oh my God, that transformed so like when I walk into that space now I feel way less stressed because I'm not taking in that extra visual.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: I love that and it's amazing the power of one little thing.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: And that's just an example of like that's a cord hider.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: So that's a perfect example, like like, yes, I'm hiding something that feels stressful.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: But the same thing, I think can be said like when you add just a throw blanket at the end of a bed, yes or uh.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: You know, I think people sometimes get scared of too much color.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: Luckily, we are not those gals but, like a pop of color with those throw pillows on a couch.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: It's just crazy how little things like that or even like putting um a vase of um oh my gosh, pompous grass like little, because that's a whole different texture.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: Yes, and it's crazy how just some little things can really transform space.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and whatever makes you happy.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I mean, there's so many.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: I feel like there's so many rules these days and there's designers out there that are like do this, do this, do this the first thing when we're in a design consultation, I'm like tell me what you love right what colors do you love?
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: What colors do you not love?
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: Like, let's go hop over to Pinterest yeah, and they'll send me pictures.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: I'm like, okay, what about this picture do you love?
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: Because by no means am I trying to change somebody's style.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: I'm trying to bring out their style and help it be effective in their home right and it.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: And it's not that you're and again, like you and I both know, like we're very colorful gals.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: It's not that, like, this is your field and this is your profession, but it's not like you're coming in and all of a sudden you know they have to now throw up a rainbow?
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: No, it's all about taking their style, and I think that's what you and your team do so well.
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: It's kind of like almost like having like a style consult and helping that person discover that and know that about themselves, which I think is so important to the process?
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because they'll see a photo and they'll send me a photo on Pinterest.
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: That's the first part of the design process.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, walk me through that a little bit.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: So we start with a pretty detailed questionnaire just trying to get to know them and what their goals are.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: And then we'll jump over to Pinterest and I'm like, send me, we'll start a board and we're both collaborators on the board and I'll have them pin a ton of stuff and I'm like it doesn't matter what it is, just pin it, just go crazy.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: And then during the consultation, we sit down and we look through every single pin and I ask them you know, what did you love about this, what did you love about that?
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: that way I can get to know them very intimately and put on my clear hat and go to work for them, because it's not about me, it's not about my home, it's about their goals, right, and it's a lot of fun because everyone's in different stages of life, whether, oh, we just renovated our basement and it's empty and I have no idea where to start.
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: Yep, I'm like, oh my gosh, all right, let me have at it.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: Um, so, yeah, it's a lot of fun.
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: And the pinterest board helps too, because, oh, sure, and I can see, I'm like, okay, I'm seeing a pattern, I see a lot of oranges and I go, my gosh, that's my favorite color.
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: They don't even realize they're just pinning, right.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: That's why I'm like don't think about it, just have fun.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: Because then what I want to do is I want to make sure I incorporate those things, because that's, like you were saying, the calming effect.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: I also like, when they go into their home or when they go into their bathroom or whatever it is, I want them to smile.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I want them to feel like, oh my gosh, these are my favorite elements, these favorite pieces, and I don't even think I even knew that.
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: And so it's a discovery, right, it's absolutely a discovery process, and I said this earlier, but it's amazing to be a part of it and we're grateful.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: I feel like you can.
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: What's I think really helpful and informative about the assessment and consult process?
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Obviously like you need to get to know your clients, but sometimes like, like again, I feel like when people are coming to you, I feel like most times, people have like okay, I know that I like these things and I have a visual I have like I like these things and this is sort of my vision, but don't know how to get there, don't know how to kind of parse it down, and I bet that your team is also like.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: You mentioned the power of color and we could probably do a whole podcast, just on the power which we should yes, um, because I'm sure that there's also times when you know, like you can say to the client hey, you mentioned these goals.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: You also mentioned that these are your favorite colors.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: I'm sure there's times where you're like, yes, I would love to play with these colors, but that these colors might not align exactly you know what mean.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: And then I can get into the psychology of color, I can get into why it won't work and explain it to him.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: I can get a little technical.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: I you know I try to because I know when.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: When somebody comes to me and it's not a profession that I'm even remotely knowledgeable on, I'm like wait a second, let's bring it down.
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: So I right, I'm like wait a second, let's bring it down.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: So I tried to get on their level and help explain why, or why not, it's going to work.
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: And then, like we were saying earlier, visuals are so crucial so we'll have them in.
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: I'll either go back out to their home, we'll have them into the office, bring them into the conference room, and we can do, you know, an entire mood board to show them yeah exactly, oh, that's.
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: That's where the magic starts.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: I feel like that's the best part.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: I know, um, okay.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: One final question to wrap is um, what is your?
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: You kind of already said this, like whether you're staging um an empty house or a client has a, I'm guessing they don't always have like a full empty.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: You know empty house.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: Maybe it's's a room that they're focusing on.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: If someone gives you the, you have at it.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Obviously they give you a little direction.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: Where do you start first?
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: What gets you most excited?
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: You know what I mean.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: What kind of goes through your brain?
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: Oh my God, I can't, because I feel like you probably just start going, but I'm just curious.
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: What excites you the most and where do you start?
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: So the most often times when people say my room feels unfinished and I really need help with my room, I go to the home.
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: They don't have a rug, they don't have window treatments and they don't have things on the wall and they don't have a variety of light.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: So those four components, having something, having a rug to ground the space, having window coverings to draw your eye up.
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: Um, again, it can.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: It can block light, it can let light through.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: It's just a really beautiful visual component to a window.
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: Um, I know, I was guilty of not having anything on my wall for several years.
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: Of course, yeah, and that's another thing too.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: I'm like don't rush.
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's another thing it's like same thing.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: Take your time always more.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: Yes, my cousin, uh, recently moved to florida and I saw her over the weekend.
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: She's like, carrie, my house is still empty.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: I'm like, let it stay that way, don't rush it.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: Find pieces that you love, um.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: And so the fourth thing was the window treatment, or the wall art.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: Um.
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: So putting things on your, your walls really helps, whether that's photos of the family or it's a beautiful, you know, piece you found at a flea market, like.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: Whatever it is, have it be something that you love and you didn't just okay, well, everyone has this piece, or like yeah.
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: I've seen this piece everywhere and I love it.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: Like, make sure it's something that means something to you, because those are the pieces that are going to last.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, I love that.
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: Oh Well, thank you so much, carrie, for being on here.
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: Yes, and this is why I know that, like again, we've always clicked from the beginning and like I get so excited like thinking about, like, oh my God, we could do this, we can do that seeing your vision come to life.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: And so please keep us posted on your upcoming warehouse sales or any other events.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: We'll definitely be sharing them on our website and socials and also be on the lookout when we.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: If you're hearing this, you check out our show notes and you can also link to a few of Shamrock's blogs where they also talk about some of these tips and styling elements.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: So those will also be all linked here for you.
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: But thanks so much for being on today.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: I love this.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: I love this so much.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Claire.
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to more projects.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: Me too, me too.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: Yay, girl.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Mom Talk, maryland.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: If you loved it, leave a review, share it with a friend or tag me at thecolumbiamom on Instagram.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: I'd love to hear what you think and don't forget to follow the show so you never miss an episode.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: Until next time, keep showing up, keep supporting local and keep being the incredible mom, woman, human that you are.