Thoughts from 2020
It’s New Year’s Eve and I am sitting in one of my favorite coffee shops here in Savannah, enjoying a day full of planning and dreaming for the New Year. Thanks to my amazing husband, Jared, for being on all-day daddy duty with Miss Collins Grace today. 2020 has been quite a year, hasn’t it? This year was a year of so many unknowns for everyone. A year of mourning, pivoting, canceling, and learning. Tennyson was founded in 2018, but it really wasn’t until this year that I truly was able to really dive into this business full time. Of course, the year of the pandemic was the year where I was finally able to truly launch Tennyson and give it the love it needed, and the love I wanted to give it. A pandemic. Who would need design services in the middle of a pandemic? Oddly enough, the shift to more remote design services was reimagined in a way I never thought possible. I started to learn from clients that working from home caused them to see that their homes too needed to be reimagined. A huge thank you to the Gruver, Spell, and Quizon families for “test driving” these new services so that I may be best able to serve clients in the future. And thanks to Collins for always lending Mama a helping hand with designs ;)
I think if there’s one takeaway from 2020, is that home is a safe haven, or it should be that way at least. I remember talking with a client after helping her and her husband with a refresh for their dining room and she began thanking me. She said her job has required her to stay at home this year, and her dining room has become her office. She said since the room now had purpose, function, and a cohesive design, it eased her and brought her more peace knowing she could spend the day in a room that reflected the style and needs of her family, as well as bringing a little joy in a time where the world lacked so much of it. And that is where Tennyson Studio’s heartbeat lies.
Some may see design or “stuff” as purely materialistic, but that is false. The design of your home, workspace, or wherever you inhabit is meant to reflect yourself. It’s meant to bring you peace and calm. It’s meant to corral the chaos of baby toys, bring organization and workflow through thoughtful design for the one that’s found their home to be their new office space, and so much more. The design of your home should be a warm welcome to you at the end of a long day of work, a place of comfort when you receive heartbreaking news, and spark happiness the moment guests walk into your home. That is what good design is about. That is what Tennyson Studio is about. Each client has a story. Each story is unique. Each story is important.
This year I launched E-Design and Design Consultation services, a new way to remotely help those near and far with their spaces. I also began a brand-new full scope project in the Charlotte area of North Carolina. Being able to step into a job site is always a breath of fresh air. Something about the hustle and bustle of contractors, plumbers, and electricians coming in and out of the house has always energized me. I think for all, it’s that underlying feeling of hope and expectancy that what you currently have is being transformed into your ultimate dream. For this family in particular, they’re imagining all of the foster kids that they will get to welcome into their home, playing in the playroom that was once a dining room. They’re already working in their newly converted bonus room turned home office, making plans of their own. They’re imagining holidays where their whole family gets to gather around their giant custom-made dining table that fits twelve. Yup, you hear that right. Twelve. Family means everything to these clients, and helping them to navigate design decisions for their forever home is such an honor. I don’t take that responsibility lightly.
Looking ahead to 2021, I’m excited to help others tell their stories of their home well, and to offer even better resources via the blog and Instagram to continue to keep you inspired and well educated on your own independent design endeavors, or to help walk alongside you in the process. Either way, big or small, I hope you can find Tennyson to be a helpful friend (and of course me, Kelsey). My hope is that this business provides more than just a job for me. Although that is nice, I believe there is a bigger purpose to every single thing we do in life. For me, that’s helping you to reimagine your space to tell the story that is so uniquely you. So thank you to all who have followed along over the years! And for those that are new around here, welcome! Here’s to an amazing New Year. The best is yet to come.
