What is your favorite part about being a designer?
I love learning about my clients and curating a space that reflects their style. Finding individual touches that really enhance someone’s home takes patience and collaboration. The process of laying out all of the selections is my favorite part – seeing and feeling the textures, surfaces and materials and pulling in the perfect fabrics, lighting and layers for a room is so fun. I am obsessed with wallpaper. So my perfect room always finds a way to bring wallpaper together with the other elements in the space.
Tell us a little about your personal brand…
I am a story teller. I believe in identifying a unique narrative that is inherent in each project and creating interiors that will stand the test of time. I love the classical influences of design and culture, and I focus on creating timeless, elegant and inviting spaces, each as unique as the home owners themselves.
Who or what would you cite as your most important influence?
I love the work that people like LuAnn Nigara are doing to educate, motivate and inspire those in our industry. Her podcasts have been truly life changing – and her passion for teaching is inspirational. I believe that LuAnn is part of a big paradigm shift in the industry, toward mutual respect and lifting each other up. The foundation and culture of caring, education, support and relationship building she has inspired me to seek out will continue to allow my firm, and other creatives, to grow strong businesses. It’s not just about making things beautiful, it’s about creating a beautiful life for yourself as well.
If you could travel back, what advice would you give yourself as you start this career?
Don’t sweat the small stuff! I had a wonderful client who would tell me when things came in broken or damaged (which let’s face it, happens every day in our industry); “Kylie, they’re just things.” It was game changing for me. I would lay awake at night worrying about an install, or an item that was damaged, or how to get a vendor to replace an item with a flaw. It didn’t change how hard I work to fix those items. But it has saved me a lot of sleepless nights.
What is your favorite current resource?
I love our fabric and wallpaper vendors who will come to my studio and show me all of the latest and most beautiful offerings. They identify that designers are busy, and the less time I spend running around sourcing the perfect fabric, the better for my clients. And they bring treats! I also love resources like DesignerInc that allow me to source from thousands of vendors in one place – no more bulky catalogs for me!
Fun fact about yourself…
I just launched the Florida Chapter of Savvy Giving By Design. This is my passion project and I am so ecstatic that my dream of helping others through my design talents is coming to life. Savvy Giving By Design is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide comfort, support, and healing to families with a child facing a medical crisis by transforming the interior spaces of their homes at no cost to them. This will bring so much joy and inspiration to Tampa, and we can’t wait to design our first of many rooms in the next few months.You can learn more here: https://savvygivingbydesign.org/new-blog/2018/3/21/introducing-sgbd-tampa-chapter-kylie-ponton