When I first became really interested in building furniture, I went to Toys-R-Us, and spent $200 on Transformers toys. By taking the toys apart and studying how they moved, I was able to figure out how to hide a table leaf, what type of contraption I'd need to slide it under the table. I'm a really visual learner.

It's important to pull tons of pieces! If you have lots of options to choose from, you can play around and see that things that you wouldn't originally have expected to work together actually do! That applies to both clothing and decorating.

I'm not a big fan of the tchotchkes. It always reminds me of a grandma's stuffy home with a million Santa dolls.

I don't have formal training at all, but I did grow up around design. My parents both flipped homes. A typical weekend for us was walking through model home units. I loved walking through interesting floor plans and seeing different design aesthetics.

I have no life! People always ask me, "What time do you check in and out?" But, the truth is, you never really check out. I have an office at my house, so when I go home I am always pulling inspiration and putting ideas together.

I have a philosophy that you've always got to honor the past, acknowledge the present and leave room in your space for the future... Talk to the person you are in love with that you're sharing with, understand what's important to them.

My design has always been a derivative of people I meet. I want to translate who they are and their personality into a room.