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.

Home and Life Makeovers

Designers Guild, my favorite purveyor of wallpapers and fabrics

They say...

You reap what you sow.

You get what you give.

And I say, pay the experts.  You'll save yourself some expensive DIY mistakes.

Take home decorating, for instance.  I used to think that only rich people hired interior designers, so, like most people of the non-rich ilk, I merely played the game of trial and error with home decor.  Buy a couch on sale here, hit a yard sale there... schlep fabric swatches, a dizzying amount of paint chips and tile samples to a big box home store and lug home a few gallons of pretty decent paint.   Two days and wads of used drop cloths later, things were... better.  Not great, but not too too bad.  At least the walls looked more interesting with some color added. 

On occasion, for a visually stimulating treat, I'd frolick fawn-like through home design stores.  And then I'd drool over shelter magazines for ideas.  But then it was back to Ye Olde Faithful Giant DIY Warehouse of Blah for more DIY blah projects.  Saved money on each project, but in the end had a houseful of not-so-cohesive and not-so-exciting rooms.  And most importantly, I kept wanting more solutions, so I'd keep scouring stores and estate sales for more "bargains."

Eventually, during one of my frolicking sessions in a local home design store called Decorium*, I saw a sign.  For a few hundred bucks one could get an in-home design.

Say what?

Hmmm...  The wheels got to turning.  But should I spend the money on just a design, I wondered?  Money that could go to a new armoire or sofa at a FANTASTIC PRICE?

Or, I pondered some more, would that initial investment actually save me money in the long run and prevent me from constantly needing to correct mistakes with new stuff?

I decided that the latter made more sense and... voila!  My home makeover was about to begin!

Having an expert interior designer take my design boards (I had a record number the designer told me with a chuckle) and create a cohesive, visually stunning plan just blew me away.  I felt as if this weight had been lifted off my shoulders, because although I am a very artistic, visual person, I don't have the skills required to put together an entire home design that flows from room to room.  And I certainly don't have the time to piece together resources that a designer has at his or her fingertips.

Now of course, we couldn't afford to do everything he suggested, especially all at once, but I finally had a plan!  A vision!  A direction!

A plan, a vision, and a direction.  Hmmm... sounds kind of like career design doesn't it?

See, an even more profound relief happened when I later decided to bite the bullet and spend a few hundred dollars on a career assessment.  And then another small investment to do a career coaching program which helped me implement my newly-discovered talents and aptitudes.  Talk about another weight being lifted off of my proverbially laden shoulders!

Now, I'll admit, before investing in the aforementioned career program I had the same kind of concerns I had with the home design expert. Should I spend the money on guidance instead of investing money in a new business?  Or another degree?  And the answer came much more easily the second time around.  Just as the design expertise had proved exponentially beneficial, I knew deep down that getting a direction for what to do with my life would pay me back tenfold, and not just in terms of a future salary.  (Which typically pays for itself within one or two months of employment, by the way.) The payoff also meant a tremendous boost in confidence, a much-needed break from worrying about what I was going to do with my life, and an emotionally uplifting vision to create a professional life I could enjoy.

So how is my house now, you might ask?  It looks beautiful, has energy and vitality, and has proven a welcome retreat for me, my family, and friends.  We eventually did do most of the recommendations of the initial design plan, save for a few very creative tweaks implemented to help us stay within budget.  And being the visually sensitive person I am, my home aesthetic improvements have made a big difference in how I feel at home.  A visually pleasing environment really can make a difference in how you feel.

But the improvements to my career life?  Well, I think you know that I've found a fabulous home in career design.


*I highly recommend designer David Chenault at Decorium Gift and Home, located at 116 King Street in Old Town Alexandria or go to http://www.decoriumhome.com