I have been asked many times how I started my Interior Design career, so here it goes:
When still in design school I did my internship at a Kitchen and Bath design firm which I continued working at while in school and after graduating from college. Later I took on another position at a high end residential design firm, where I was involved with whole house designs from space planning, drafting to specifying fabrics, furniture, fixtures, paint, meeting with clients following up on orders, installation and everything that a design project consists of. I worked for increadebly talented and creative interior design experts. I learned a ton from each place I worked at, and loved utilizing my skills that I learned in school while learning the business.
I love interior design and what you could bring to the table with your skills is amazing. It was also very important to me to follow my passions and experiancing different areas of design was a must in order to find which area was suitable for me and the one i loved. This was important so that I can be truely happy with what I do and through it, I could provide an amazing design service for my clients with joy and passion. You know those people that you meet and they are not only experts at what they do but they exhude passion, knowledge and breathe their craft- yeah that is what I was striving for and now I am.
While in school, I loved residential design, yet I thought that I would end up in commercial design area since I enjoyed large projects and how you could create a concept and inspirations and run with it on a large scale. In addition I was very good with AutoCAD and other programs as well as codes and specs. Maybe the fact that I started my studies in Interior Architecture had a lot to do with that. :)
After previously listed positions, my design career later went through various stages where I worked in the retail design/ store planning area and later at a Luxury Residential design firm where I managed and designed and oversaw luxury residential designs in Chicago gold coast area. I also ended up teaching at a design college and worked for some amazing corporate commercial and interior architectural firms on international and award winning projects.
I have definitely learned so much from each and every experiance and every one of them not only helped me grow as a designer, manager but as a person. Most importantly every experiance helped me with learning what I love the most and where I wanted to focus my my life and career.
So here I am now at my own design studio- EDYTA&CO. Interior Design focusing on high end residential projects. I am always growing and learning just like every other person on the planet (I don't see how you could ever stop wanting to seek the wealth of knowledge) and loving every minute of it. I seek inspirations, read and ask as many questions as I can. I also love to share my knowledge since there were times when I wish someone would share that with me when I was at a point when it was new to me. I have worked on many amazing projects thoroughout the years, where I designed fantastic commercial and residential spaces, I added to someones piece of comfort, health, happiness and joy and still do that- now that is rewarding ! :)
Currently I am working on few projects residential and large commercial.
My residential projects lately have been mostly redesigns not involving kitchens and bathrooms which I miss. Although I love color , furniture, fixtures and textiles, patterns and all the intricacies and coordination that that come with it, I really do. Yet I also love creating such distinct and important parts of the house where there are so many possibilities to not only create the heart of the home (kitchen) and an oasis (master bath) but you can add value to the home, create a timeless fabulous area that so many can enjoy while entertaining or relaxing.
Because of that, I am suddenly remembering my previous jobs where I honed my skills on state of the art stone and tile, plumbing fixtures , beautiful cabinetry and all the technical parts that come with it,, yet the end result is priceless.
So here it is in a nutshell. Tomorrow I am giving an interview for an article about interior design business and this definitely helped me recap some of my before steps. :)
How about you, how did you start your career or are you still searching for your perfect niche?
One of my past kitchen designs, white inset cabinetry, butcher block and yummy subway tile in a beautiful pre war Chicago high rise apartment
