Check out our interview with her below.
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Introduce yourself :)
- Hi!! My name is Cheri Carbajal and I am 27 yrs old. I am a Visual Associate Manager for Pottery Barn. I studied interior design at CSULB and graduated in 2012 however began working in the industry in 2009. I started out freelancing for a family, designing different rooms in their Bel Air home. They loved the work I did so they brought me on to help finish rooms at their vacation home in Dana Point, CA. During this time I was also a design specialist for Pottery Barn and would help design customers’ homes.
- My future plans
are to continue what I love doing and that is designing! I would love to have
my own interior design/styling business one day or to own my own shop, selling
unique one of a kind furnishings while also offering design insight.
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How did you get involved in prop styling?
- I always would gravitate towards objects with different colors, textures, and shapes. I think it started while working for Pottery Barn helping with a display or booking an appointment to stage a home!
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What has been your favorite styling project so
far?
-
There
are a many that I can say I loved, however if I had to choose one it would be
styling a living room for a family who just moved into a new house in Palos
Verdes, CA. The woman was a newly divorcee and she had three girls. I had free
reign, a not so high budget, and specific direction to not make it girly! Every
time I would go into their home it would be a blast! Her daughters would be
hanging around looking at everything I was unpacking and styling. Her youngest,
I think she was 8, spent the most time with me and you could clearly see she
was a designer in the making! I felt like I wasn’t even working but just
hanging out with the girls! Needless to say the living room came out great and
the family loved it! They just bought a new home and I am going out to style it
in the coming weeks!
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How do you define your design style?
-
My design style is very classic, timeless, and
eclectic. I love mixing different styles and materials together. I feel that
way it looks more designed and not straight out of a magazine. And one can live
with it for a long time!
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When looking for pieces for your own home, where
do you draw inspiration?
-
It sounds crazy but I ask myself where I see
myself in 5 yrs? Can I take these pieces with me when I move and not start
completely over but just add on to what I have? I don’t want to just buy pieces
to buy them, to then be thrown out or given away. I want to know that I will
have pieces in my home for a long time!
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Who are your favorite interior designers? What do you like most about their design approach?
- My favorite designers are Emily Henderson and Jeffery Alan Marks.
- I love how Emily Henderson mixes so many different styles together but it all works so well! She pairs really quirky items with on trend furnishings! And the girl seems to always score at the flea market!
- Jeffery Alan Marks has a very comfortable and
colorful design style. I love how his style doesn't seem "designed"
but like the space has been like that forever.
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Lastly, what are 3-5 easy tips you could give us
on styling our dream bedroom? And tell us a little about your bedroom design.
- Start with a consistent color palette and don’t be afraid to layer different textures and patterns.
- Forgo matchy-matchy pieces by using rustic with clean lined pieces and old with new.
- Make the headboard your focal point!
- I always like to add a touch of freshness to a room with botanicals. Either fresh cut flowers or branches just add that extra touch!
- In our bedroom I chose a very neutral palette to work off of and really went for it with texture! It is still a work in progress with one full wall of bookshelves that need to be styled and those burnt orange velvet chairs. We really scored with those guys and I plan on re-vamping them ASAP! We also plan on changing the headboard, as this one was an impulsive buy but I feel that It needs to be much higher and in a different fabric!
