In The Beginning There Was…
Well, it all started when I was a kid. My parents were DIY-home-renovators, and they, in fact, were OBSESSED with starting renovations. I call it an obsession because it was definitely unhealthy. I am not exaggerating when I say my childhood home was always under renovation. When I say always, I mean ALWAYS. My family and friends can testify to this. Whenever my friends came over, they’d ask me questions like “Where did the kitchen go?”, “What happened to the ceiling?” and “Why is the staircase missing?!” It was absolute chaos and embarrassing. My parents were really good at starting renovations, but not so good at finishing renovations. I guess starting renovations gave them a dopamine hit like no other. I mean, hey, everyone has their vice, right? Mine is sugar.
All this to say, my family and I got adjusted to living in a constant state of renovation. Through this experience, I got into Interior Design and also became mentally distressed from living in a constant state of renovation (but that’s a topic for my therapist). Growing up, instead of watching The Family Channel, I would watch shows on the W Network, including Divine Design and Colour Confidential. I was so intrigued by anything Interior Design related and realized I was gifted with the Interior Design eye. That is when I started to get involved in my family’s home renovations. You see, my parents loved renovations, but they also had awful taste and bizarre ideas. My mom loved stencilled walls, and my father loved chunky wood furniture…together it was quite the combination.
I started to select the paint colours, flooring, materials, etc. Once they started to listen to me, our house started to shape up nicely. It was through this that I started to imagine myself doing this professionally, and many years later, in 2017, Spaces by Dee was born.
I first operated Spaces by Dee as a boutique interior design firm in downtown Toronto and the surrounding areas. It was a period of years spent hustling, building my portfolio, and refining my design process. I focused heavily on residential design, with an approach centred on capturing each client’s personality and taste within their space, creating a unique combination of materials, textures, patterns, and storytelling reflected within every design.
How Spaces by Dee Became an Online Interior Design Platform…
When the world shifted online, so did my design business. Well, it didn’t exactly happen overnight, but that’s when I started reimagining my business to better suit a more flexible, jet-setter lifestyle.
I built this platform to connect with clients worldwide and design their dream spaces remotely. My work has reached homes across the United States, Canada, and even Europe.
My blog has become a resource for fellow interior designers and homeowners seeking insights into the latest AI interior design technologies, along with practical design guidance. It has also evolved into a more tech-focused space as I’ve leaned into technology to support a remote design practice that was once a very traditional, tactile process.
Sharing my journey of travelling the world, designing spaces, and testing out the latest interior design tech tools has helped establish my voice in the interior design space (I say that humbly). Since then, I’ve also taken part in speaking engagements where I share my story, business journey, and tools and techniques to inspire other designers to think outside the box of a traditional interior design business and reimagine what their career and life can look like.
For all inquiries, please email daniela@spacesbydee.com.
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