I can’t thank you all enough for visiting my website and blog. This is a venture I have been thinking about doing for a little over a year now. I have finally decided that now is the time! Here’s a little bit about me, my story and this journey.
I have been in the design world in a few different capacities over the past 28 years. I’ve taken a few long breaks from working while raising children and running our home. This is a big year for me because I will be turning 50 in March! But age is just a number, right?! I have also found myself with a fairly ’empty nest’ as well. All of the changes in our home life over the past 4-5 years have been preparing me to re-launch this beloved design and lifestyle journey and I am so excited to be taking it to new levels and to reach farther out than ever before with the help of this blog and social media.
I have been married to my husband Jeff since September of 1990. We had two children, Makenzie, 23, a newlywed to our son-in-law, Dylan and Alec, our 20-year-old son. One cat, Charm, AKA: “Little Old Man” (he’s 12 going on 6!) and our dog Sophie has been with us for 5 years now. She’s a Papillion mix. Both are rescue’s. I have ‘not-so-secretly’ been hoping to add a baby Frenchie to the mix sooner rather than later!!
My design experience goes back about 28 years. My journey began in Kansas City, MO at a wonderful design firm and retail shop where I began as an apprentice with the owner. That went on for about 2 years and soon I left there and went on my own and also worked through another design firm. My passion was apparent immediately! We soon had our daughter and a year later we moved back to our hometown in Kansas. This is still where we reside. We own a business here that my husband operates. Our lives have been full of sports, all levels of cheerleading and lots of competitions. Travel, entertaining, and friends and family are what we love.
When my son started school, I started my independent design business, called Iron Gate Design. I worked independently for several years. Took a break to survive the crazy, fun years of my children’s high school and college. But now it’s my turn and I can’t tell you all how excited I am to start this journey again-but with a twist! I will be bringing you tips on so much more than design. My goal is to share a lifestyle with you. I want to inspire you to get excited about making your home a sanctuary, a nest, if you will. I hope to bring you ideas to get you entertaining, trying new food and wine, repurpose the cherished pieces you already own, guide you through new design options and decorate your home with meaningful things that create warmth, beauty and overall stunning décor. Remodel projects, holiday tablescapes and decorations to dazzle you are just some of what I hope to share with you!!
Let’s do this!
-Michelle
