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Wendy Glaister is an interior designer working in California from Sacramento, Merced, and Pleasanton to the High Sierras. Her clients love her way of creating clean modern rooms with cozy touches that make their spaces feel both functional and personal.
Shannon Kaye: So, Wendy, how has shelter-in-place effected your clients and business?
Wendy Glaister: Many had already torn down sections of their homes for major remodels, others have gone through other serious issues from total plumbing failures to fire!
We're working through the COVID-19 challenge the same way we navigate all of the ways life challenges affect the designs we create for these families. We adapt. Zoom meetings and Facetime help a great deal, and meeting with contractors in masks and gloves for those crucial decisions keep us on track. I'm also sending samples to my clients so they can stay connected to everything and feel confident about our process together even when we aren't physically in the same room. We're making it work and I think we all appreciate each other even more because of it.
SK: Any silver linings?
WG: Yes! My son is at home so we have been playing around with video. He started a YouTube channel for me to share projects and designer tips. Our next goals are to master Pinterest and start an online shop for curated pieces which find themselves in much of my work. ...things like the perfect lamp for your kitchen counter, the perfect fern for your book case, etc.
KM: Oh my gosh, I love your YouTube channel! I just subscribed :-) What do you do to keep your creative energy going?
WG: I do a lot better if I make time to exercise. I live in my head a lot (I have heard creatives do that) so it's a good release. It cleans out the cobwebs so-to-speak.
SK: In your design work, what can't you live without?
WG: I have developed some very close working relationships with local retailers and they have become my "tribe."
SK: These are fantastic resources! This may be to general of a question, but what does every house need to be a home?
WG: This might sound elementary, but I like for homes to tell the story of the people who live there. Maybe that means you collect art from every place you visit. Or you display a collection that's meaningful to you. Maybe reading is a favorite pastime...so you have a generous stack of books and a great reading light in the family room. Something that says, "I like to see the things that make me happy and I am brave enough to incorporate those things into my home." It's YOUR home, after all...
SK: Tell us what you're working on now.
WG: This week we'll start a remodel for a physician who has been out of the country in Kuwait with the Army Reserves since January 1. She likes high contrast and high contemporary so the materials will be a lot of fun. And I have been able to secure some really special things for her as a thank you for her service. The most exciting will be a linear fireplace...that will save her thousands of dollars and I can't wait.
SK: That sounds amazing, Wendy! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughtful design ideas with us. Please show us this latest project when it's done. I know we'd all love to see it!
