Today, we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Waldron. Kelly was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Kayla Jacks.
Hi Kelly, we’re so thrilled to have you sharing your story with us today. Maybe we can kick things off by having you introduce yourself to our readers? We’d love to have you go into your story and how you got to where you are today.
I suppose my design story begins as a new bride, planning her wedding on a measly budget, in the height of DIY and blogging culture. Sure, I always leaned creative- art, photography, musical theater. But designing and brining a big vision to life was new to me until this moment. In 5 months, I had my parent’s backyard freshly landscaped, vintage vases for centerpieces sourced, and bouquets made from an assortment of wholesale flowers. I bought out all of Joanne Fabric’s ivory linen and lace for tablecloths and created a color-coordinated candy bar from glass jars I found at Big Lots. I mean, I even printed out music sheets, age-dyed the paper with tea, and formed them into little cones to hold flower petals that would shower me as I recessed down the aisle. Hours and hours of details, crafting, and work, proved worth it all.
Then, as newlywed life began, there was the ever growing struggle to make a house a home. No matter the (tiny) budget, it was my goal, and for the longest time we had one sofa, one bed, some furniture from my childhood, and whatever I could create to make it come together. After buying our first house, brining home 3 babies, accumulating all that comes with it, and absorbing everything I could from blogs, magazines and store displays, I finally hit a stride in home design. Something I was proud of.
I’d love to say from here, I became a wedding planner, or my career took off after going to design school, or even started redesigning my friend’s homes for fun. But, no. For years, this was the extent— Rearranging and painting rooms, creating art for gallery walls, throwing themed parties, and making my husband build a few floating shelves. Until years later, we sold our home to the very young lady who would become like a sister to me and eventually start a design business I’m now proud to be a part of.
Shortly after our move, and upon accidentally ordering a chair to be delivered to my old address, we re-visited that home and found the furnishings and styling (and new homeowner, Kayla!) to be such a delight. We chatted for hours about what we had planned for our new homes and became fast friends, bonding over all things design. When years passed, and Kayla began The Self + Space, I was her number one fan— Always supporting and encouraging her while really getting a feel for how she was running the business and creating spectacular design. Eventually, she asked me to come work for her and I haven’t looked back!
Let’s talk about your work and career – what else should we know?
The past few years of working in this field have proven to be really successful and gratifying. In the beginning, I absorbed all that I could— Researching design, history, trends and classics. And with probably a little too much confidence, would pull together new room furnishing concepts like I was born for it. That natural ease and ability and drive has carried on ever since. There have been struggles and difficulty, of course, but the overarching theme of gratefulness— to have found this unexpected career path and to work for this company— has been unmistakable. There is nothing quite like giving a client more than what they could expect in making their space perfectly theirs.
Kayla Jacks and the Self + Space LLC have been great to us and I know you’ve got a great relationship with them as well. Maybe you can tell our audience a bit about Kayla Jacks and the Self + Space LLC and your experience with them.
My experience with Kayla has been nothing short of magical. From our God-ordained meeting to our sound work ethic, we mesh considerably well.
I am beyond fortunate for the ability to work from home while raising my kids, as Kayla has given me complete freedom of schedule with what works best for our family (because she knows and loves our family!). So, there’s an ease to how we plan and design; a natural way of communicating that comes from appreciating and respecting one another. We’ve created a process that makes client connections and concept creating, to project managing and installation, run efficiently and effectively. It’s almost as if we can finish each other’s (design and styling) sentences. Specifically, our knack for blending modern and vintage is a shared love so undeniable, we rarely have to challenge one another on design direction.
However, the highs often come with lows, and we’ve experienced our fair-share of delays, disruptions, and un-met expectations. I find it a testament to Kayla’s leadership and resiliency, though, her ability to problem solve, and put our clients above all else, that lends to successful, and really really pretty, outcomes every time. It’s a great privilege to be part of what she has created in The Self + Space.
Website: theselfandspace.com
Instagram: @kelwaldron
Image Credits
Kelly Waldron
