.png)
.png)
iSTORY
Like so many interior designers, I am often asked how and why I decided to enter the Interior Design field. Why this path after working in the Criminal Justice field for over 21 years? As much as I would like to credit my family and friends encouraging me to consider designing professionally after years of me offering consultation and assisting them with their projects, I would have to soundly answer that my mother, Rita, was my sole influence.
She was bold, fierce even, in her thought process and approach when it came to home design. Imagine having Strawberry colored wood paneling in your bedroom and teal blue wood paneling in a TV room when others had brown paneling throughout their homes. Yes, this was the 60’s. My mother would eventually complete a correspondence Interior Design Course in the 90’s in order to renovate our home with an Asian theme. She was determined.
She was bold, fierce even, in her thought process and approach when it came to home design. Imagine having Strawberry colored wood paneling in your bedroom and teal blue wood paneling in a TV room when others had brown paneling throughout their homes. Yes, this was the 60’s. My mother would eventually complete a correspondence Interior Design Course in the 90’s in order to renovate our home with an Asian theme. She was determined.
I also think of how the public image of the American family was paramount. The expectation to look a certain way and behave a certain way inside and outside one’s home was often expected to mimic one set or rules and one image. I reflect on that time. The expectation of neatness of the home at all times. Your home’s formality was often valued more than your comfort and functionality. The front room or living room for adults only or to look at, doilies under a lamp or any item on a surface, and a dining room that usually was not used or appeared very ornate. Have we changed in how we experience our interior spaces?
.png)
I laugh when I think of the show stopper in our home in the 70’s. My mother’s red, black and white themed family room with the couch she had upholstered in faux zebra skin.
For me, my dream house was the Brady Bunch’s house. I later learned that I was not the only one. I also remember watching the Cosby Show. For me, it was not only the anticipation of how Claire dressed and the comedy of the show, but I wanted to know who were the artists of the amazing black artwork that hung on their walls, and the beautiful copper baking molds that hung on the kitchen wall in the Cosby’s house.
The true nexus of the launch of Sankofa Creative Interiors and Professional Redesign was my experience growing up in our family’s catering business. My mother’s culinary talents would lead to she and my father Willie, creating a successful catering business. The planning of every detail, from the setting of the table, which I resented doing as youngster, to matching tableware and linen of the bridal party’s colors, to how guests moved throughout a space, enjoyed each other’s company, and of course the food. This gave me a birds eye view often of human behavior and interaction. What is your favorite bake shop, or eatery? Why is it that you like certain hotel lobbies or entrances? Why is it that the restaurant that has not changed it’s décor in over 50 years remains your favorite spot to frequent? How can a space have amazing food, but you feel as if you are eating in a laboratory or it is too sterile? Synthesizing and completing the story of a space is what I hope to provide as an Interior Designer.
.svg)