Creating Extreme Makeovers: At Home or at Work?

House Beautiful

Many years ago, when I went to see a career coach myself to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, I grappled with two different worlds to pursue professionally. I deliberated between beautifying homes or helping people navigate the career world. Two totally different pursuits, no? 

Option One: The Home Makeover Route

I'll admit there's nothing that gets me more jazzed than good, innovative design, especially in the intimate setting of one's home. I considered going into interior design to be a part of that amazing process of helping others create an environment that energizes and nurtures them. 

I've always loved combing through shelter magazines and interior design books for ideas. I get giddy over colors, patterns and textures, and lose track of time when I start rearranging things in my home. And from the time I was a little kid, I've always loved to draw and create beautiful things, including my future home. In fact, when my sister and I were little, riding in the back seat of our old station wagon to see Grandma and Grandpa, we used to while away the hours by thumbing through the Sears Catalog, picking out items for our future home and putting them in notebooks.

Ah, the days before Pinterest...

Option Two: The Work Makeover Route 

On the other hand, helping people solve problems has always energized me. Enabling people to discover and reach their potential has always felt meaningful and satisfying. Most importantly, I've always had a knack for that kind of thing; people sought out my advice way before I called myself a career coach. 



And talk about a fascinating subject area! I could read and write about people's career journeys, life choices, behavior and psychology 'til the cows came home. 

So which was I supposed to choose? Designing or coaching?

Option Three: Both!

Thankfully my career coach- who eventually became my wonderful mentor- put an end to my dilemma and suggested that I didn't have to really choose. I could, in fact, bring the function of design into career coaching. He suggested that even if I took the coaching route, I would actually still be designing, just not in the artistic medium of velvet-upholstered chairs or sparkly light fixtures. 

(You can tell where my tastes fall on the decorating spectrum, can't you?)

He explained the many ways design is an integral part of career coaching. Coaches help people design their ideal careers, their goals and their visions. Coaches shine light on various bits and pieces of someone's life- pieces such as talents, passions and interests- and help the client create ways to integrate those disparate entities into something streamlined and, well, beautiful.


As soon as I chose to go the career coaching path I realized he was right. I discovered that even though I wasn't going to be an interior designer, I could still ensure that innovation, creativity and beauty were infused into my working life. Every day I'm increasingly convinced that pieces of the career puzzle are exquisite in their richness and complexity, even though they are more conceptual than physical.

Picture, for instance, the vibrancy of a talent that has been uncovered, engaged and honed. Consider the splendor of pursuing fascinations and passions, layering depths into our lives in a way few other things can. Remember how challenging work makes you feel alive and invigorated, especially in a physical environment that makes you feel at home with your talents. 

So what happens when all of these pieces- the talents, the interests, passions and environments- are designed to come together in unison? They infuse a brilliant spectrum of colors and textures into life. And you possess a living, breathing (and ever-evolving) work of art.

Naturally, I will always maintain a pure, aesthetic love of interior design, and I try to give it due time on a regular basis. I fully embrace my role as an interior design enthusiast vs. professional, and yes, you might call me an amateur. While this label might strike some as a bit pejorative and diminutive, I prefer to think of the word amateur as the French originally designed it to mean: "for the love of something." According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Amateur originates from the Latin, "amator" ("lover") and is derived from amare ("to love.") 

And, as a great woman once said,

"Even if one dost not make home design one's livelihood, 

one always has Pinterest."*

Designer's Guild

Indulge In Your Own "What If" Life Makeover



Ask yourself:

What if you were to take the time to create something innovative in your professional life? 

What if you were to add value to your work that might surprise (and delight) those that witnessed it? 

What if you were to incorporate some of your long-held interests into your personal life? 

What do you miss doing that could come back to you, that could enrich your life, filling it with new layers and meaning?


*Okay, that woman was me. I said that statement in a flash of insight.