It is such a pleasure to introduce my friend Stephanie Ybarra! I worked with Stephanie for years but never knew her on a personal level. We got to know each other better on Facebook as we found we loved similar art along with jigsaw puzzles and books. Naturally, a friendship was born.

I retired prior to Stephanie and started my blog. When Stephanie retired she started a design business and an accompanying blog. I know you will enjoy getting to know a bit about her personally, as well as gaining insight into her design business!

You are a very interesting person! You received your law degree and worked at Microsoft for the past 20 years and on the side, your passion was decorating! How did you parlay your passion into a full-fledged design business?

First, thanks for this opportunity! I love that you and I have been able to reconnect through our mutual love of James Christensen art, DIY decor and love of family! Following your blog was a big inspiration in getting started with my blog.

I have always loved interior design starting at a young age when I frequently rearranged my bedroom and I have been a HGTV junkie over the past 20 years. This led to home improvement projects in my own home (drywall, one and done) and requests from friends to help with their home design. While at Microsoft, I worked with many smart people to make technology available so people could reach their full potential. Now, as a user of those technologies, I would be lost without my Microsoft Surface notebook touch screen which saves me so much time. Combine that with PowerPoint for creating design layouts for my clients and of course, Word and Outlook for drafting my blog and managing email and I have the perfect work companions.  

When you have a new client, how do you solidify the relationship and ensure you are representing their design style?

Lots of listening! The ideal client has a Pinterest board with some inspiration pictures and I also ask a lot of questions about their lifestyle, favorite colors, and how they want to use a space. It is a very interactive process with lots of options shared back and forth until we get it perfect.

What are the basic design elements you try to incorporate into each design project?

Balancing color, form, function, light, line, pattern, and texture are key to good design. I like to incorporate personal touches throughout like custom cartoon family drawing, a watercolor of their dog or other accessories that reflect the client’s hobbies or interest like the neon tennis sign in my son’s room.

Moving from the Pacific Northwest to Newport Beach provides a whole new opportunity for design style. How do you prepare for style changes both in your own environment and your clients?

It was a major change to move a craftsman home on 5 acres that I loved (still do) and had lived in for 16 years to a more modern home. I sold my previous home furnished because the buyer loved the pieces that were specifically selected for that architecture and space and have really enjoyed the process of decorating my home with a more modern design style. Many of the homes in Newport Beach have costal or Spanish design influences which is less common in the Pacific NW so that has been a fun change also.

What is your favorite design style and why?

I love all design styles that are functional, include personal touches and align with the architecture of the room and the house. The best designs often have a bit of each which makes a space more interesting. For example, modern lighting can really create a moment in a room with traditional décor. I am currently working on a beautiful costal dining room with teal grass cloth wallpaper for a client and it may end up being my favorite room.

How has Covid-19 impacted your business?

I have used this time to move, decorate my new house and start my blog. I love sharing great design tips to help others update their homes and it has also created some fun opportunities to do digital design for clients. I am also tackling my biggest project yet which is a 500 sq/ft addition to my house that will be my husbands work at home office and includes a master bath and closet so that has the flexibility to be a main floor master. Working closely with the architect and the builder has been very inspiring and I am sharing the process on my blog HERE.

If you could design one room for a famous person, who would it be and why? What style would you design for them?

This question stumped me the most…I love to design for everyday people who do not have unlimited money and resources. I really admire Bill Gates and Rodger Federer so I could pick one of them, however; I would rather partner with them to do a HGTV Celebrity IOU style makeover to give back to someone who has had an impact on their life. It would be fun to see Bill Gates in a hard hat and wielding a sledgehammer, right?

Have you ever had a design project that went sideways? What did you do to recover the project?

There are sideways moments in every project, so it is best to expect this at the start; i.e., rug too big, wrong color couch, or door too large in the case of my current office build. The key is to remember that setbacks ultimately lead to a better result so it is important not to get too hung up in the moment. I shared more details of a rug and couch setback I experienced HERE.

How do you use technology in your approach to design? Do you find people today expect more ‘smart’ technology be built into the design of their home?

In the early 2000s, much of the technology that was being used in homes was expensive, flashy, and ultimately, not very well used.

Now, most clients want practical tech updates that require minimal human intervention but improve the quality of life such as smart thermostats (Nest), doorbell cameras (Ring) and robot vacuums (iRobot). My favorite tech I have added to my new house are the outside speakers that support my Covid workouts with great music, motion activated lighting in the walk-in closet and laundry, solar powered ultrasonic squirrel deterrent to keep them from eating my outdoor cushions, and smart plugs that turn on my bedroom lamps that are not connected to a switch. Most of these are easy, and inexpensive updates that everyone appreciates but may not be familiar with.

What are the upcoming trends for interior design for 2021? What design trends can we safely leave in 2020?

Continuing/upcoming trends

    • Rich, saturated colors – an all-neutral design can be beautiful but adding a bit of color will increase the interest – teal and mustard (not necessarily together) are two colors that are trending in 2021. Check out some cool teal accents HERE including the ones that are featured in the pictures below.

 

    • Oversize pendant lights – great above island or dining table with many affordable options, changing out builder grade fixtures will instantly update the entire space
    • Brass – this is not the shiny 70s gold you may remember, it is matte, satin or antique which looks amazing on light fixtures, mirrors, and bathroom hardware. Check out my lighting round-up posts – Flush Mount, Master Bedroom, Sconces and Floor lamps.

Let it go trends

    • Macrame – my Mom was great at making these in the 70s, but they should have stayed there along with shag carpeting
    • All white kitchens – people are opting for a great mix of warm woods as well as color on tile and/or cabinets which create a more interesting space and can still be timeless
    • Granny chic – bye, bye chintz fabric, rattan furniture, and fringe accents

What are your goals for your business this year?

Continue posting to my blog 3x per week and develop a marketing plan to grow my online followers by 3x and design business by 25%.

What is one thing we would be surprised to learn about you?

I looove a good bargain. A couple of my favorite stores to shop for clothes are Marshalls and Thread Up (online consignment reseller). Check out my post about this HERE. I also love a good budget design challenge and generally include high, medium, and low options to help achieve the biggest impact.

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Please note that Stephanie will be a quarterly contributor.  She would love to feature YOUR most interesting, pressing or needed design question in her next article. Send your input to BeautyBrainsAndABlog@outlook.com to potentially have it answered by Stephanie in an upcoming article.