I was born in Dallas, Texas and raised outside of Phoenix, Arizona. My Mom loved gardening and had a flair for garden design. I often found myself working alongside her with our hands in the soil and imaginations busy as we planted and tended these garden spaces.

I have always been a tinkerer, designer, and creative. Sourcing from my Hot Wheels and Lincoln Logs, I would use these raw materials in unexpected ways to design homes that always featured fully-developed gardens.

I would take the green plastic strawberry baskets and turn them over to make houses, cutting out one side to form the garage.  Then, I would line the drives and streets with Lincoln Logs, use the shrubs and trees from my train set, combined with rocks and small clippings from the garden, to create landscapes.

When I was 10, my grandparents took me on a 3-week journey around the Western United States and it was fuel for my passion and fodder for my imagination. I was endlessly inspired and when we made our way through 13 states and crossed over into Vancouver, British Columbia, a new realm was unlocked. Picturesque doesn't begin to describe it. The ivy-covered buildings, the lush lawns, the baskets filled with flowers hanging from the lamp posts. It felt otherworldly. Then we toured Butchart Gardens which is a botanical garden that was created in the pit of an old limestone quarry (Google it) and it was awe-inspiring. It sparked something in me that still exists today.

Hot Wheels, Lincoln Logs, and Train Sets aside, my first real design project was developing small areas in my parents’ and grandparents’ flower beds.

My degree is in Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design from Texas A&M.  

After graduation, I worked in Washington D.C. for several years. By day, I worked for a large commercial real estate firm in their in-house engineering and architecture wing (in the landscape division). We crafted maintenance plans and elaborate floral programs, as well as designed for new projects and renovated existing properties. But after work, I would drive from Crystal City to Kalorama and work for two gentlemen at their boutique residential design-build business. I would have dinner with them then go to the basement to draw until well past midnight. And on the weekends I would work Saturday and Sunday planting gardens with them all over the city. From courtyards in Georgetown to rooftop terraces. It was a magical, exhausting, invigorating time. I loved it all.

Over the last 20 years of experience, my designs have won numerous awards, garnered attention from taste-makers and influential figures, and have been featured in Paper City, DHome, Dallas Morning News, Luxe, Veranda, Traditional Home online, Better Homes and Gardens online, Architectural Digest online, and Town and Country online.  And I am honored to be a member of Design Leadership Network and Co-Chair of the Kips Bay Showhouse Alumni Committee in Dallas.