Mother-Daughter Duo: Their Skills Come Together in the Kitchen
A love of cabinetry drives these two designers to build custom kitchens. We ask them each 4 quick questions
Join us as we celebrate Mother’s Day with a series on mother-daughter duos in the design world.
Favorite project: First nontoxic cherry kitchen for a mother-and-daughter client, pictured. The clients had a long wish list and wanted to use a cabinet material that was chemical-free. To check off everything on the list, they had to knock out some walls and combine rooms in the home.
Communication: They have started to think a lot alike, and have even been known to answer clients in stereo, using the exact same words with the same inflection.
Tell us about your daughter’s …
Tell us about your mom’s …
Mother’s Day plans: They took a trip during the first week of May to see the Kips Bay Decorator Showcase in Manhattan and to celebrate 12 years in business together.
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
Communication: They have started to think a lot alike, and have even been known to answer clients in stereo, using the exact same words with the same inflection.
Tell us about your daughter’s …
- Design signature: Hidden features. The duo prides themselves on not having a signature style. Instead they take on the client’s style, hence their vanity plate that says IDESGN4U. But Leigh Ann does like to add secret features, like a drawer inside a cabinet, when she can.
- Paint color personality: Exuberant Pink by Sherwin-Williams
- Go-to snack: Peanut butter
- Personality in three words: Stunning, artistic and caring
Tell us about your mom’s …
- Design signature: Drawers. “She has been designing full kitchens with the majority of bases being drawer units for over 20 years,” Leigh Ann says.
- Paint color personality: Rock Garden by Sherwin-Williams for a few reasons. The team operates a green (as in nontoxic) company, she loves gardening, and, Leigh Ann says, “Mom is my rock — the rock of our family and business.”
- Go-to snack: Protein and veggies
- Personality in three words: Caring, honest and dedicated
Mother’s Day plans: They took a trip during the first week of May to see the Kips Bay Decorator Showcase in Manhattan and to celebrate 12 years in business together.
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: 12 years
Design roots: Leigh Ann went to college, worked in marketing and then, after a year, asked her mom about joining her design business. In less than a month, she was working full-time with her mom and knew she was going to retire as a designer. Tereza, in contrast, always loved interior design. As a child, she’d watched TV and admired the kitchens on sitcom sets and the laundry rooms in commercials. This love turned into a business after watching her father run his business. “My father encouraged my entrepreneurial spirit,” she says.
Admiration: Leigh Ann has watched her mom run her business with honesty and integrity, both with her and with clients. Her candid approach to projects makes the process smoother and the clients less fearful, Leigh Ann says.
First project: A kitchen and dining room in Michigan. The project for a young couple let Tereza see Leigh Ann’s natural talent and professionalism on display right out of the gate. And Leigh Ann remembers this project well because, as she was standing in the kitchen presenting to the clients, she says, “I just stopped in my tracks, looked around the room like a kid in a candy store, and said, ‘I can actually see it finished. It’s beautiful.’ I worried it would have taken me years to be able to do that.”