It’s honestly hard to believe that we’ve been living in our new home for over a half a year! Part of me feels like we just moved in yesterday and part of me feels like we’ve been there forever. Building a home can be an intimidating process — a sort of guessing game in terms of exactly what you want, need, and how you hope you’ll use it. I am happy to report that we 10/10 nailed our build thanks to the help of our amazing design and build firm, Alma Homes! We literally use every corner of our house daily and exactly how we had hoped. I can honestly say I don’t have any regrets around how we laid out our home or the design which is a sweet sigh of relief.

As we were planning all of the details and light fixtures, I knew I wanted to get some professional help when it came to the furniture and decor for our main living spaces. While I absolutely love interior design, I have a deep respect for the art of it and recognize that my knowledge is incredibly limited. For the first time as a homeowner, we hired a pro to help us decorate, furnish, and finish our spaces. When thinking of who I dreamed of working with, the choice was easy. I wanted Lindye Galloway!

Lindye had designed two of my dear friends homes, and I watched as she built her own custom home, too. As a fellow female entrepreneur, I was both fascinated and impressed with the business she’s built. I slid into her DMs with a voice memo seeing if she had the bandwidth to work with us and thankfully she said, “YES!” —after she figured out how to send a voice memo back. And from the airport no less.

The Design Process

We hopped on a Zoom call with Lindye once we scooted out of the DMs and started to talk through the spaces we needed help with! We wanted her to design our main great room, dining room, kitchen, and our primary bedroom. These were the main spaces that I wanted to feel elevated, welcoming, and warm. They were also spaces with unique scale opportunities that I didn’t want to mess up by choosing the wrong furniture.

After our initial call that went something like, “Well, we entirely trust you, have fun with it!” we jumped on another call where they revealed the design plans and gave us a few different options on things like dining room chairs, bed styles, and fabric choices. Their team then shipped us a box that had all of the fabrics and finishes so we could see and, just as important to me, feel what they chose.

One thing that was super important to us was choosing options that would stand the test of toddlers. While we LOVE light and airy design and clean white fabrics, we also know that things like Cheeto fingers are real and so finding a good balance of beautiful, minimal design, with an emphasis on kid-friendly was the name of the game. I’d like to say it was super collaborative but honestly, it was pretty much all Lindye and her team because they understood us and what we were looking for.

The Install

The hardest part of the process was the waiting game. While we were able to get our hands on a few key pieces early on like our dining table and our bar stools so we actually had somewhere to sit, we waited on the majority of the pieces so that they could do one big install. Typically their team will go in and install everything before the clients move in but since we had some interesting timelines with our build, we were using a lot of the furniture from our last house while we waited for the final install.

A few days before her team flew in, we cleared out our space in anticipation! We were so excited to get everything situated. For anyone who has ever lived in any sort of “temporary” housing situation, you know how good it feels to have a space be complete! We played “Duck, duck, goose” in the empty great room and waited for it to be filled.

Lindye and her team arrived and Coco greeted them at the door and then gave them the house tour (seriously!) From the first glance at their organized binder, I knew we were in for a treat. They had everything planned out to the minute and contractors ready to rock to help get our home put together quickly, easily, and beautifully. It’s so fun to watch professionals do their thing (and let me tell you, being on the experiencing end of it, it’s amazing to be able to sit back and relax!)

The Details

A huge gift in working with a team was having all of the details and logistics sorted out (and not having to be in charge of them!) From storing everything at a local warehouse to having the movers showing up right at 8AM with everything loaded, getting our bed linens dry cleaned (something I’ve never done in my entire life) to working with a local florist for fresh blooms — every single detail was thought out and planned, making every detail perfect.

One of Lindye’s gifts is in her ability to accessorize and style spaces. When her team had sent over the accessories she chose, I thought there was no way that we would be able to use all of the pieces but I trusted the process — and boy am I glad I did. Watching the space come to life from the movers setting the furniture “just so” to the blueprints that were laid out to make sure everything was exactly where it should be. It was so fun to get to see every intentional detail and how they all worked together in a space. I swear, I am so inspired to finish accessorizing the rest of our space because Lindye’s work elevated everything to a whole new level.

Funny note: We asked Lindye to go all out with accessories, knowing we could pare things down a bit and make them slightly more kid-friendly, but we wanted to see what she’d do with no limits and so it was so fun to watch her genius. Before she left, we did a lap around the house to pull down anything that might not survive kid hands and we were able to decorate our primary bath and my office with what we removed.

The Big Reveal

I felt like I was on an HGTV show getting to walk into our finished space. There was so many things to notice all at once like finally having two sofas, the fabrics, the textures, the rugs beneath our feet. It was wild to take it all in — and to realize, we live here! This is our home, we built this!

The space was not just elevated design-wise, but it also felt so intentional, warm, and inviting! It was this moment of recognizing that we get to live and enjoy this space and in it, we get to fulfill so many visions we had throughout the entire process. I honestly feel like I show up as a different version of myself in this space, as I find myself becoming more intentional, warm, and inviting, too. 

It’s hard to chose favorite things but I’ll try to nail down my favorite parts of each space:

Kitchen: I am obsessed with the bar stools. The leather detail, the color. It brings in some interest without being too over the top. Lindye’s team was able to design leather cushions which are easily wipeable for kids, so we still get the elevated design while being kid friendly. 

Dining: This whole entire space is like a space out of my dreams. I envisioned these floor to ceiling windows overlooking our maple tree and we got it! I’ve got to mention the drapery because I think it adds SO much to our spaces. The drapes in this space really ground the room and set the stage for the seating area. This table and these chairs have been perfect for our fam (and kid-friendly!) We are also in love with this rug! It just grounds the space while still feeling light and warm. 

Great Room: I have to call out our massive coffee table! It’s gorgeous and helps pull the entire room together. Since it’s a unique shape, having a large table like this is a dream. I also love that we now have two couches for comfy seating and ample spots to gather round. This whole configuration wasn’t something I could have pulled off on my own. My other fave are these ottomans that are SO comfortable, chic, and beautifully designed. 

Primary Bedroom: This entire room feels like a hotel (like the cute, boutique kind!) We love our new bed and our oversized nightstands — it’s wildly inviting! We also love our reading nook with these fun boucle chairs and the styling on our shelf! This was a space that we weren’t sure what to use it for and I LOVE how it’s this separate but connected area of our bedroom that feels so special.

It feels SO good to see these spaces finished and beautified and I can happily share that we’re enjoying them, exactly as we dreamed we would. We are so grateful for this space, this home, and this design. It’s honestly all a dream come true.

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To shop all of the pieces in our home from Lindye, click here!