Interior Design | Home Organization | Home Staging

The Lombard Home

We transformed a home with so much potential and character from a blank, white slate lacking style and functionality to a home that reflects our client’s maximalist, color-centric, energy.

The homeowners wanted to create a space that is filled with color, light, layers, plants and that feels like "them".

When they moved into the home, over a year ago, they painted all the walls a neutral white. They hired 2 designers who both did not “get them”. While both designers created beautiful designs, it seemed like they were not listening and did not pick up on their style. Kristi had an advantage …. they worked together in the education system and had collaborated on out of the box science and art projects for their students.

A woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, blue eyes, and wearing a white long-sleeve top and black pants, standing by a wooden staircase with a patterned carpet runner, smiling at the camera.

Design Process

Discovery and Assessment Phase

We do a deep dive in getting to know our clients, their lifestyle, their family, pets, interests, loves, hates, etc! Then we discuss flow and functional needs for the spaces we are designing and sometimes other areas. Each room affects the other so creating a vision to connect them all is imperative for good flow even if were are only working on one room now, we need the long-term vision.

A cozy living room with a hardwood floor, a floral-patterned sofa, a patterned armchair, a colorful rug, a grand piano, a side table with a lamp, and large windows letting in natural light.

Before” photo: dark, outdated and definitely lacking the energy the client’s desired.

View down a hallway with hardwood floors, white walls, wood trim, and a staircase with white spindles and wooden steps on the right. At the end of the hallway, a bathroom with a white vanity, and a mirror.
A dining room with a wooden table, chairs, and a sideboard. The table has art prints, a laptop, and notebooks. There are windows with plants and a ceiling chandelier.
Entryway with front door and three windows, coat rack with jacket to the left, white walls, and a white radiator on the right.
A small bathroom with a white vanity, a mirror, plants, a framed colorful poster, and natural light from a skylight.
View of an interior staircase with a dark carpet runner, wooden steps, and a handrail, leading to a second story with a window at the top. To the left, an entryway with a white cabinet and a framed picture on top, a wall-mounted light fixture, and a doorway to another room. The floor is hardwood, and the walls are painted a light color.

Design Concept

The first phase of the Design process is Design Concept. After gathering the information from the Discovery phase, Creative Order goes to “the drawing board” to develop a plan for the design direction to later share with our client. We work through options for space planning with considerations of everything we have learned so far. Next, we discuss aesthetics, the fun part! Colors, patterns, textures, layers to create the style and feeling we want for this space.

Let’s start here! Amazing art collected from Vietnam will drive the direction of the design.

Colorful abstract painting featuring a forest scene with trees and animals, a field of flowers, and a background with blue and white rays and a phrase in Swedish, 'Rung Là Vän'.
A poster with illustrations of two hands holding a heart-shaped object containing a flower. The text on the poster reads 'Chung tay bảo vệ môi trường!'

Design Development

This is where the creative magic happens! With so many factors involved in every design decision, this can be the most complicated and time-consuming, yet exciting and important part. Guided by the approved Design Concept, we visit showrooms, gather samples, and thoughtfully curate and source products that achieve the desired look, feel, and functionality. This is also when any construction or remodeling work takes place, bringing the vision to life

A top-down drawing of a living room with a 25-foot wide sofa at the bottom, two armchairs on the sides, a piano in the top left corner, a rectangular rug in the center with a chandelier, two small tables, and decorative plants and pillows.
Colorful textured area rug with abstract design featuring various bold colors and shapes.
Colorful living room with a fireplace, two green armchairs, a green sofa with colorful pillows, a grand piano, a multicolored floral rug, a modern side table, a pixel art lamp, and a wall-mounted TV above the fireplace.
Living room under renovation with construction tools, ladders, and building materials scattered around. Part of the ceiling had a hole, and drywall is partially installed on one wall.

No project goes without surprises. When we planned to install a chandelier in this ten-year-old home, we uncovered some truly alarming conditions: fabric-wrapped electrical cords, newspaper stuffed into the ceiling and walls, and even a mummified squirrel hidden in the fireplace.

Our contractor immediately paused work and took extra care to replace all of the first-floor electrical systems. This was not originally part of the scope or budget, but it was necessary to ensure the home was safe. In the end, the clients were grateful that I pushed for the chandelier—because without it, these hazards may have gone unnoticed until they caused a serious house fire.

This project is a perfect example of how thoughtful design decisions can uncover hidden risks and why advocating for safety is always worth it.

Final Installation

We made it. Despite a few unexpected detours, the final installation reflects exactly what our clients envisioned—a beautiful, functional space they can enjoy with confidence. Seeing a home come together safely and thoughtfully is always the most rewarding part of the process. Happy clients truly do make a happy designer.

Interior view of a house entry hall with wood floors, a staircase with a patterned runner, and walls decorated with colorfully framed pictures. French doors with green trim open into the hall.
A dining room with a wooden table and six chairs, a sideboard with decorative vases, framed artwork on green walls, a window with floral curtains, and a modern chandelier with globe lights.
A small bathroom with yellow and white patterned wallpaper, a dark blue vanity with a white sink, a round mirror, a gold faucet, and decorative wall sconces with blue and white floral designs. There is a small red shelf on the wall to the right.
Living room with a green sofa, colorful patterned rug, two patterned armchairs with yellow pillows, a brown leather ottoman, a black piano near a window, a fireplace with a flat-screen TV above, and artwork on the walls.
Living room with a dark green sofa, colorful pillows, framed artwork on the wall, a wooden side table with a patterned lamp, a bookshelf, and a brown leather ottoman with a tray and decorative items.
A cozy living room corner with two blue armchairs with colorful embroidered pillows, a black circular side table with decorative items, and a window with patterned curtains, allowing natural light to brighten the space.

“The difference between last year feeling like I just exist here, to after Creative Order coming these past couple of months–I now feel like it’s my home.”

Bring Your Vision to Life

Let’s turn your space into a home that works beautifully for you.

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