Mother-Daughter Duo: Big Dreams About Furnishings
Their creative talents combine to create fun luxury furniture for the market and their clients
Join us as we celebrate Mother’s Day with a series on mother-daughter duos in the design world.
First (and favorite) project: A furniture launch at the High Point Market trade show. “We were in over our heads and barely knew what we were doing,” Gabriela says. “But no one could tell. We are both overachieving women with big dreams and ideas.” They created the furniture collection together, and Bea says her daughter’s ability to understand a piece’s scale and proportions and the manufacturing process helped make it a smooth process. They have since launched three more collections with more than a hundred pieces, including the chair seen here. The acrylic seat flows out of a solid walnut back and is topped with a gemstone-hued cushion.
Design dilemmas: “We are both strong Cuban women, so most of the time we just have to agree to disagree,” Bea says. Gabriela and Bea have found that those bumpy moments have helped them create some of their best work.
On the job: Sometimes, Bea says, it’s hard to separate the roles of Mom and boss. “It’s very fulfilling, yet at the same time challenging,” she says. But she and Gabriela love the moments when they both get really excited and inspired, batting ideas back and forth until they produce something great.
Funniest moment: When they were filming a video for their website, Gabriela had just dyed her hair a gray-blue. Before the hair change, the duo had routinely been mistaken for sisters. “But when we released the video, a client commented that she thought I was the mother,” Gabriela says. “I think my mom got a kick out of it. I did too actually.”
Tell us about your daughter’s …
Tell us about your mom’s …
Mother’s Day plans: Nothing specific, but Gabriela knows her mom loves family, great food and some wine.
Your turn: Do you work with your child or parent? Please tell us about your family design team in the Comments.
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Read more stories about mother-daughter design duos
Design dilemmas: “We are both strong Cuban women, so most of the time we just have to agree to disagree,” Bea says. Gabriela and Bea have found that those bumpy moments have helped them create some of their best work.
On the job: Sometimes, Bea says, it’s hard to separate the roles of Mom and boss. “It’s very fulfilling, yet at the same time challenging,” she says. But she and Gabriela love the moments when they both get really excited and inspired, batting ideas back and forth until they produce something great.
Funniest moment: When they were filming a video for their website, Gabriela had just dyed her hair a gray-blue. Before the hair change, the duo had routinely been mistaken for sisters. “But when we released the video, a client commented that she thought I was the mother,” Gabriela says. “I think my mom got a kick out of it. I did too actually.”
Tell us about your daughter’s …
- Biggest strength: Extreme creativity
- Paint color personality: Peach and sea foam green. She makes them look fresh and amazing, Bea says.
- Go-to snack: Kind bars
- Personality in three words: Light, deep and gifted
Tell us about your mom’s …
- Biggest strength: Her vision and ability to dream … really big. “It’s like working with Superwoman,” Gabriela says.
- Paint color personality: Red, even though her favorite paint for interiors is White Cloud by Benjamin Moore. “She is so far from White Cloud,” Gabriela says. Also, Gabriela remembers that when she was a girl, her mom always had toenails painted candy apple red.
- Go-to snack: Snack? She barely has time for lunch, Gabriela says.
- Personality in three words: Fearless, visionary and transcendent
Mother’s Day plans: Nothing specific, but Gabriela knows her mom loves family, great food and some wine.
Your turn: Do you work with your child or parent? Please tell us about your family design team in the Comments.
More
Design Lessons My Mother Taught Me
Create a Cheery, Romantic Mother’s Day Tablescape
Read more stories about mother-daughter design duos
Time working together: Five years
Design roots: Bea loved to watch her mother decorate their home growing up, but she didn’t see it as a career option until she visited a home with her father. He was a contractor, and his client that day was an interior designer. Bea was blown away by the home’s beauty, and asked the designer “how I could do what she does, and she simply answered, ‘Draw.’” That’s exactly what she learned to do, and her first job was as a junior designer at that same homeowner’s design firm.
Daughter Gabriela got her start as a child when she painted a tote bag for a friend. It gained popularity at school, and soon lots of people were asking for them. She started making them for free, and then started charging $25 a bag so she could buy more materials. After 275 bags, “I guess I knew I wanted to keep that type of creative entrepreneurship going,” Gabriela says.