Genevieve and I met through a mutual friend about two years ago. She is that kind of person you immediately want to be friends with. Her work is stylish, upscale and sophisticated, and her personality shines even brighter than her magnificent beauty. She is one of the people that inspires me the most to create even greater content on the blog, and to surround myself with beauty at home and in my everyday life. I am thrilled that she’ll be contributing to the blog with her home decor tips and inspirations in the upcoming months. Here are her answers to the Luxury Insiders questionnaire.

What does luxury mean to you?

I love this question. Too often, luxury is misunderstood for something that is considered expensive, due to its high end consumer range. If your perception of luxury is based on expensive items only, you have an old idea of what luxury stands for. Luxury is all about exclusiveness, uniqueness and originality.  It’s not about an item or service that’s addressed to a special group of individuals, but rather, it’s an item or service that is considered special. A great example of this is craftsmanship. Craftsmanship is luxury. A product (or home) that is handmade, tailored to someone’s specific needs, and customized for an individual, is luxury.  It’s about quality details and carefully creating or designing discrete richness. In fact, luxury should not have to be shown.

Overly displaying it, only speaks to your class of richness.

How would you describe your job?

I create custom, tailored, contemporary living environments for busy couples, families and entrepreneurs that need a relaxing, serene setting to come home to, at the end of a stressful day.

How great does it feel to clean your messy desk at the end of a long week?!

That feeling of clean, decluttered serenity is what I want all my clients to feel when they walk through their door.

What are the first things you do when you wake up in the morning?

I jump out of my bed and break into a super smooth yoga pose.

Haha, I kid. I look at my phone. (Don’t pretend like you don’t!). What follows is usually playing feel good music, driving (or walking if it’s warm) to my fave cafe in little Italy and browsing Pinterest to get inspired. Stress-Free, so I can be my most creative self.

What do you like the most about your job?

Recently, many of my male clients have been coming out of divorce or separation. I love helping them discover their style just as much as I love helping them come home to a beautiful environment, that will aid in starting a new chapter in their life. It’s rewarding to be even a small part of that.

Who are you most inspired by and why?

Namdang Mitchell, Jean Louis Deniot, Jospeh Dirand, Christian Liaigre, John Pawson: designers and architects that have created their own signature style.

Initially though, it was fashion designers that inspired me most. There’s a lot to be said about artists that can forecast trends, and set the tone of style, season, after season, after season.

What would you tell people who aspire to work in your industry?

Two words: Art History. Study the evolution of style and you’ll train your eye to provided educated design answers to your clients rather than subjective opinions.

Who influenced you in your career?

My parents. My father due to his extraordinary artistic abilities, and appreciation for quality craftsmanship. My mother because she possessed this incredible gift of turning any unliveable, mundane space into a warm, welcoming home, for my brothers and me.

What skill set is needed to do what you do?

I can name a few, but my number one would have to be drawing. The ability to express yourself creatively through a quick sketch will help, co-workers, employees, trades and clients understand your vision, instantly.

What’s the most common misconception people have regarding your industry?

A trained, educated interior designer, has strong knowledge in architectural drawing and technical drafting. That’s right,  we do more than just furniture shop! We actually do what our title says we do. We design interiors, wall partitions and all!

What’s the best career advice you ever received?

My brother Angelo wrote a quote on my bedroom mirror when I graduated from design school:

Luck, that’s when preparation and opportunity meet.