I had a sweet visit with one of my clients last night, and after she left I realized that for me interior design is in some ways like falling in love with my clients: walking in their shoes, embodying their aesthetic and emotional attachment to things, and feeling these experiences as if they were my own; loving them. More and more I see myself taking this path as my clientele test my ability to simultaneously walk in so many different pairs of shoes. One minute I’m looking to personify the clean yet edgy look of the Suburban Urbanite, and the next I’m surrounded by the rich colors and textural overlays of a contemporary Renaissance Woman. But what struck me last night was how much I grow to care about my clients as I watch them develop and change.

As interior design becomes more pervasive and egalitarian, interior designers must dig deeper into themselves to make what they have to offer more special and unique. In my mind, design is not simply putting a room together for someone; it is an empowerment process that leaves not only a beautiful end result in the design space, but also a beautiful space inside the people themselves.