Patience is one of the best tools you can have when designing your space. The same can be said for life in general.
It does not come easily to me. I’ve been this way since I was a child, and those habits are hard to break! When I want something, I become so enchanted (ahem, obsessed) by the idea of it that I want it right then and there. It’s been a journey for me to practice the thing that does not come naturally. To go after something and build it up slowly, whether that’s related to home, your dream life, or a new skill you’ve been wanting to learn, is no small thing.
Case in point: Seeing my cabin featured in print last week (something I had always dreamed of) was a true pinch-me moment.
I’m trying to be better about celebrating my wins, and this is me holding myself accountable. Yay!
Six years ago, my husband and I changed the trajectory of our lives forever. We bought a rundown yet charming cabin in the Catskills to call our own. We were living in Brooklyn at the time, and it was during the boom of seemingly everyone moving upstate. But there was a reason why we (and probably so many others) were moving up in this direction. It was a step towards the next iteration of life we wanted to live. An adventure! We were excited and nervous and naive and giddy. Did I say nervous already? The nerves were very real, and we had tons of “Oh shit, what did we do?” moments.
The cabin is our getaway spot. The plan was to renovate it ourselves while we were still living in Brooklyn, and maybe one day we’d spend more time there once we weren’t tied to the city. Little did we know that just a couple of years later, we’d leave the city to move upstate. And little did I know that this crazy idea of treating the cabin as my first full-fledged home design project would lead me to launch my own color consultancy and interior design business.
I actually don’t know how long I thought we’d be working on this project, but we’re nearly six years in and it’s still a work in progress. Safe to say this is a forever project!
This is a love story to upstate New York, but also the story of slowly building a space and a life from the inside out. If you’re local to the Hudson Valley, you can find where to pick up a copy here. For those reading from afar, the online feature is below.
A friend recently asked me how you actually build slowly. How you resist the urge to just get it done and instead let a space become what it wants to be. I’m going to use the cabin to answer that. If we’re being real, the renovation is almost beside the point. What I really want to talk about is what happens when you stop designing for instant gratification and start designing for real life. That’s the thing that changed how I work with clients.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing lessons, before-and-afters, and all of the WTF moments along the way. Come with me down memory lane.
Thank you so much for reading!
— Daniela
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