Sometimes life takes you to places you never would have predicted for yourself.? I came across a picture today that took me back to where my business really started…it’s so unbelievable how a minute detail of the everyday can impact your life for years to come. Many people ask me how I even came to choose this path as a career and I always think back to a time when I needed to move out of a house I had rented in Hackensack, NJ.

Now, various members of my family have been involved in the fields of design and construction, but I never really paid any attention to that. I was young and carefree — I had moved to NJ to try to break into the NY music scene. A good friend of mine suggested moving to a town in NJ that was closer to the big city than Hackensack was. Through a classified ad, I found a woman looking for a roomate in Edgewater, NJ, which is a town located by the George Washington Bridge and directly across the Hudson River and New York City. My friend and I pulled up to the house and a completely unique woman opens the door. We went in and I stopped in my tracks. I had never seen a house decorated in such a manner — it had color, personality, unique artifacts…I was floored. Turns out that she was a Charge Scenic for the film industry — she worked on the teams that break down a script, research the locations and feel for the story and do set design and construction for the filmmakers. Her home reflected the span of her film career and every area was beautifully decorated. That is, except for the rooms I was to rent out: a comfortable bedroom and a study that led to a large outdoor balcony with a beautiful view of New York. She let me know that she put those rooms back to neutral prior to anyone renting them since she wanted that person to come in and put their own stamp on the rooms.

She offered to help me paint my rooms and really, how could I say no? I told her that I wanted bright waves of color undulating on all the walls. She came up with a color scheme and we went to town. When we were done, I was amazed at what a difference the paint and color made and how deliriously happy I was for those hours, just painting away. It was the most amazing room I had ever seen in my life! My amazement continued when I started unpacking in the kitchen. I took out the glass set that had been a gift. She took a look at one and said “it’s a sexy glass”. She explained that everything exerted a feeling outside of their design style - i.e., comforting, cold, vivacious, free-spirited, guarded — and that she designed a character’s personal space and belongings based on their personality. It was a whole new concept to me…and to this day, I still use that insight when putting together a custom finish for a client’s home. (It also adds a whole new level to watching a movie, believe me! Sometimes I can’t even enjoy a film since I’m looking at what a wonderful job the art/design team did on the different sets and forget to listen to the dialogue.)

During the time I lived there, I would happily listen to her tell me what was happening in different film sites and how they came up with the paint finishes and decor for each set. I started buying decorative painting books depicting gorgeous colors, patterns or architecture.  I was still pursuing a career in the music industry, completely unaware of my growing love for art. It wasn’t until many years and homes later, when I was disillusioned by the music industry and looking for a new direction, that I turned around and saw my bookshelf full of these books and quietly and permanently thought “Of course.? Right in front of me all along.”

I took a picture of that room just so I could show it to my family back in Florida. I sent one off to them and kept the copy for myself. That’s the picture I came across today. I’m sad that I’ve lost touch with her but I do know she is still working in the film industry. I know that even though she had other people interested in moving into that glorious home, she settled on me. I often wonder what my life would be like had she made another choice. You could say it’s in my genes to love this industry but I do believe it was her who planted the seed that led to the discovery of my true passion in life — I was born to create art for a living.