Building Homes. Building Trust.
She’s sitting across from me like she is bracing for impact. Her shoulders are stiff and she’s perched on the edge of the seat in willful compliance.
The conference table between us is covered in samples - cabinet profiles, paint swatches, a stray elevation sketch smudged with pencil.. Her perfectly manicured hand hovers over a stack of cabinet finishes, frozen midair like a bird not quite sure if it should land. She’s overwhelmed.
This beautiful soul of a woman is not indecisive. No - this woman is decisive for a living. She’s got big executive energy and a sharp mind to go with it.. The kind of person who probably has color-coded calendars and drinks her coffee black. But here? In this space? She is out of her depth.
"I just... I don't want to screw this up," she says, softly. The words tumble from an exhale, words that seem so foreign to her that I suspect she borrowed them from someone else.
Evident in all the design meetings I have hosted, strong decision makers and not, there’s an unmistakable bond that develops between the client and the designer. It’s a bond woven with the threads of designer intuition, client collaboration and a glimmer of faith; An invisible architecture of trust. It doesn’t show up on the blueprints, and you can’t measure it in square feet. But we build it all the same - one quiet decision at a time.
Her fingers fiddle with the stem of the wine glass in front of her, and then a single finger lands on a cabinet sample - matte black oak, warm to the touch, with a grain that looks like quiet confidence. She looks up at me and says quietly, “That one feels… strong.”.
And there it is. Not a grand revelation. Not a Pinterest-board moment. Just a quiet decision made from the gut. The first domino.
From there, we move slowly. Door style, lighting, layout. We circle back. We change our minds. We laugh at ourselves. She starts to relax. Her voice grows more confident and her smile more broad. By the end of the session, she is holding the paint deck like a menu of opportunities. Still cautious. Still new, but no longer afraid.
“I didn’t think I’d enjoy this part. I thought I’d be terrible at it.”
“You’re not terrible at it. You just haven’t done it before,” I can see she needs a little extra time to feel reassured, I smile. “We’ve got a few more things to cover. Can I get you a cup of coffee?”
She looks at her watch, a little stunned by the time, then smiles, “Sure, thanks. I take it black.”
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Harmony is the in-house architectural designer and founder of Creative Concierge, the design department within Creative Building Concepts where she specializes in creating custom residential spaces with timeless character and thoughtful detail. When she’s not sketching floor plans or walking job sites, you’ll find her mentoring and teaching young, aspiring designers through class and application. She lives just outside of Carlisle within a private plot in the woods, among her beloved gardens with her husband, their three kids and two rambunctious border collies.