A Smidge of Creativity, Collaboration... and Where It Takes You!

Victoria @ Edin Interiors

I never imagined that I’d find myself building a home decorating and remodelling/renovation business. Who’da thunk?!

I grew up with two very talented, creative people and it never once occurred to me that I was creative too. Hey, I’m not knocking myself here… this was just my reality at the time and it never bothered me in the least. Rather, I was – and continue to be - enormously proud and in awe of Brad, our mom Laura and their extraordinary talents. Perhaps being embraced by their creativity meant that a little rubbed off on me? Or perhaps I had a smidge of my own all along…

Laura had a lot of interests, but she shared with me her love of interior decorating and houses. She was particularly fond of little “gramma grampa” houses and, as it happens, my partner and I currently live in a little house that we love (we better love it considering all the remodelling we’ve done)! I think she would love it too… once she made it up all of our stairs!! She also painted three little pictures of houses that I’ll have to take photos of and share with you all because they’re so special… one day :-) As a child I loved watching her decorate our homes and, where I could, I would help. Sometimes that just meant helping to move the sofa with my spindly little-girl arms and legs! But as I grew older I’d get to help with the layout of furniture in a room or art on the walls; the placement of chotchkies on a shelf or china in a cabinet; the choice of fabric for the drapery or the style of wallpaper in the kitchen (we papered the walls AND ceiling in our little duplex at the top of Burma Road, Ocean Falls! Fantastic memory!!). We’d often have conversations about the flow of our home and how much better it would be if one wall was removed and possibly positioned in another place. Or we’d talk about how terrific it would be to build a deck off the dining room and install French doors. And, of course, we’d cruise neighbourhoods falling in love with houses.

The idea of having my own home one day, where I could do things like this and more, was my ultimate dream. And even though I rented for many, many years I always did a little something… everything from positioning furniture to painting rooms. I even removed carpet from one of my kitchens (yuck!) and replaced it with peel ‘n stick tiles. Debbie Travis in her Painted House told me I could do it, so I did!! Ha! Then I met Brian and soon had a place of my(our) own. Fortunately for me Brian is an agreeable sort… over the 5 years we’ve been together we’ve gutted kitchens and bathrooms, torn down and rebuilt walls, tiled floors and walls, laid laminate and hardwood floors… and Brian has done some wonderful finish carpentry while I’ve painted and painted and painted. Phew!! There’s more, but I think you get the idea!

Along the way I’ve learned something about myself: these projects I’ve designed and either performed or spearheaded are a reflection of my own personal creativity and talent. I’ve also learned something even more important: almost every project I engage in is the product of collaboration… I’m not just tapping into my own abilities but into the vision and talent of others. Together, with Laura or later with Brian, I’ve created beautiful homes.

So… that’s what I want to be at the heart of EdinDesign Interiors… a collaboration of ideas, vision and creativity. But that’s a topic for another post!!

Thanks Kelly for jumping in with the first post and breaking the proverbial ice of our new blog.

This is going to be fun!

My first post is shared in memory of

Laura Lorraine Lambert Petrie; my Mom.