Our Casa

When I met my husband in 2003, I was working at the Gap Inc. corporate office in the Visual Merchandising department, and then later Marketing. It was almost comical to many friends on the outside that my job was to create placement for fixtures and clothing (a.k.a visual merchandising), but I really enjoyed the process as well as the success of working at the corporate level doing what I had been trained in. Our first year of marriage in 2004 we accumulated stuff; wedding gifts, kitchen ware and joint furniture. Then in 2005 we moved to Central America. I had my first baby, quit my career and had to leave all the stuff behind.

In Nicaragua, I quickly learned that living without all the comforts of what I would have called "home" in the states, could truly be freeing and Home took on a new meaning for me. After two years and many adventures in Nicaragua, circumstances led us back to California. We returned to the states in 2008 and settled into my in-laws 800 sq. ft. cottage, where we still currently live. We also had our second child. We didn’t know we’d be in the "cottage" three years and counting but the process of life changes prepared me to create a Home that would work for our family, even with the spacial restrictions. Finding a place for the important parts of our life, the things we need and love, became my mission. My stuff had changed from what it had been over the years: trading fashion magazines for countless precious children's scribbles and designer shoes for toys, broken toys and pieces of toys my son considers very valuable "treasures".

This is what brought me to realize that I really love the challenge of finding just the right place for something, and quite literally, merchandising the Home. I hope to lend this skill to be a support to others that find themselves with the same desire; making their living spaces work for them, creating environments that are meaningful, non-chaotic and really, just makes them smile when they look around. Organizing and finding solutions for my home has been a process, but it has paid off in the outcome of really enjoying our Home, our Casa.