It’s been quite a month for us here at Metta Home! With our exciting announcement and pivot towards full-time interior design business, it’s been a busy time for us as we get the Metta Home and Metta Haven properties ready for their next chapters! With this pivot, however, I wanted to talk a little further in-depth about my decision to leave the short-term rental business and move into full-time interior design work and take this opportunity to reintroduce myself.
I started Metta Home in 2017 as both a way to express myself creatively through interior decorating and to run our short-term rental business. But Metta Home and my deeper love of interior design has been running through my veins for much longer.
As a kid, an only child to a single dad in a pre-Target world, we had to get real creative about getting “styled” products in our home. There was no Marshalls (we had Marshalls but they weren't that heavy into the homegoods space and there certainly wasn’t a Homegoods!) to find cool, well-traveled-looking things to decorate with. Heck- even a set of queen sheets was expensive back then! My dad had a contracting business, and I was always on jobs with him or keeping myself busy rearranging my bedroom or our living room and making due with what we had and attempting to make those things look styled or current. In those early years, I always had to make whatever I had work for me. This became one of my interior design superpowers: I could always find a way to make those beloved heirlooms or prized possessions work without sacrificing our overall vision. So between seeing my dad at his contracting jobs and my affinity towards decorating our home, I was always around interior design in some form from my earliest days.
In high school, you had to go work somewhere for 2 weeks a year outside of school as a prerequisite to graduate. My job was at an interior design firm, working for a well-known interior designer. One day, the firm was presenting a moodboard to a client and I got to select a few pieces they included on the board. Imagine my surprise when the client (someone famous in the music industry!) selected the curtains I had submitted! I felt elated. This was a huge moment of validation to me and cemented my lifelong desire to follow the interior design path.
I’ll take a moment to note here the difference between an interior designer and an interior decorator, both of which I’ve done, but only one is where we are choosing to shift the primary focus of my business. Interior decorating is picking out fabrics, choosing wallpaper, paint colors, curating furniture, styling shelves, etc. Interior design is truly designing the space, like moving the walls and reconfiguring bathroom and kitchen layouts. This is great when done in conjunction with an architect who knows that these designs can work. I’ve always loved thinking about my clients and how they’re really going to be using the space, and using interior design to achieve that goal. It’s never about a trend or about following any specific design rules. For me, it’s all about how that space will work for that particular person- and then making it all come together.
Fast forward to a few years later in my career where I was always finding myself in some sort of a design position or another, and from there I ended up working in furniture product development. That job gave me such a good lesson in learning to understand how that part of the business works. This career path has been invaluable to my interior design career. when it comes to sourcing and managing timelines, and so much more. It’s funny how that happens, isn’t it? I truly believe that life puts you in the positions you need to be in so that you’re prepared when the moment strikes.
So when the next moment struck, it found me transitioning into the short-term rental business. One of our first full-scale projects was the Metta Gem, which consisted of an entire gut rehab, furnishing, and setting up the properties listings in the midst of COVID. From there, we segued into adding even more properties under the Metta Home collection; not only designing the spaces with the guiding principles of Metta but considering the travelers staying and furnishing these listings with branded Metta Home products, thanks to my connections around the world. I knew what it was like to arrive after a long journey and I wanted their every need to be considered, so I developed a line of sheets, towels, blankets, bed pillows, mattresses, and even a signature fragrance that would be included in the amenities (body wash, shampoo, and conditioner). This concept grew and my team and I managed over 10 listings over the years. We got into a routine where I would finish one project, get it up and running, and if timing permitted I could take on a residential interior design project here and there, but only in between the needs of our properties. As time has gone by and life has happened, my heart has pulled me in a different direction - which brings us to where we are now.
For the first time in my life, I'm making space for a big change. After much thought and reflection, I have decided to remove the management element of our short-term rentals and go all in on the residential client side of the interior design business. Words cannot express my excitement for this new direction.
I am forever grateful for all of the clients and guests that I have designed and managed properties for over the years. It’s a huge amount of trust people have put in me and my team, and I am honored to have been a part of creating memorable and comfortable spaces for so many. The lessons learned from this experience have been game-changing, shaping not only my professional skills but also my understanding of creating spaces that truly resonate with people.
As we transition away from managing short-term rentals, my team and I will be dedicating ourselves fully to residential interior design. Our guiding principles of loving kindness and benevolence will continue to inspire our work, ensuring that every home we touch becomes a sanctuary of comfort and style.
I can’t wait to share this journey with you. Stay tuned for more updates, and thank you for being a part of this exciting new chapter. Your support and trust mean the world to me, and I look forward to creating beautiful homes together.
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