My name is Stacy Curran. I am a wife, mother of two (one 10 year old boy and one six year old girl), interior decorator, and blogger. This is a photo my son took of me when I was 40, last year. It may have been photo-shopped a little :)
My whole life, I’ve loved decorating -- anything and everything. When my son was two, I switched careers and finally decided to study decorating and open my own business. It is truly the best thing I've ever done, career-wise. But during down-times, or late at night when I can’t sleep because visions of lovely rooms are running through my head, I want to do more. And since I TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY love decorating blogs, I decided to start my own. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it!
For those of you who want to know even more .... I met my husband when I was 19, at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME. He was a junior and I was a sophomore. We knew within weeks that we would get married some day. It's funny, because when I was going through the miserable high school dating experience, my mother told me "You'll meet your husband in college." I didn't believe her for a second. But, like with most things she told me, she was right. My husband Patrick is truly the nicest, smartest, most gentle man I have ever met. But he is also strong, protective, and the best father in the world.
I had our first child, a son, when I was 30 and working in Washington, DC. Ten months after my son was born, 9/11 happened. I was in a government building at work at the time, but because I was in a remote room in the basement, I was cut off from what was going on. I didn't hear about it until 11:00 am, so I didn't really have time to be scared. I do remember trying to get home to Northern Virginia to my baby, but all of the bridges were closed to drivers. The only alternative was the subway, which of course was also disrupted and using alternate routes. I couldn't get a hold of my husband or nanny because the phone lines were jammed. I also couldn't get a hold of my parents, who knew that we drove within yards of the Pentagon every day at rush hour. What I remember most, though, was the Pentagon officials on the train that day after their own building was hit and their colleagues were surely dead. They were literally handing out money from their own pockets to strangers who didn't have train fare home. I have goosebumps even writing that ten years later. Like so many other people, we later learned that a fraternity bother of my husband's was in the first tower when it collapsed. Our nanny had also described the house shaking like in an earthquake at around 9:00 am that day. We couldn't figure it out for a long time, but finally learned it was the sonic boom caused by the jets taking off 100 miles from us to potentially intercept one of the planes that caused the house to shake. That day made us re-evaluate things.
We always knew that we would move back to MA someday, where my family was, but we never knew exactly when. My husband was doing well at work, and I had a family-friendly, exciting job. But 9/11 made us realize more than ever how important family was, and we didn't have any in DC. So within 6 months, my husband had a job in Boston and we flew home for one day and bought a house. We moved in a couple of months later when construction was finished. That is the house you see here on this blog.
When we first got here, I expected to work for the Boston field office of the agency I was working at in DC. But a couple of months later, when they called, I was lukewarm at best. I had been spending the last couple of months with my baby and decorating my new house. Enough said. I never went back. A couple of years later, we got our perfect, gorgeous little girl (six weeks early at that). We are so grateful for both of our kids - they are truly the best thing that has ever happened to us.
So, while I was home with my babies, I got hooked on decorating. After many kind, supportive friends suggested that I pursue a career in decorating (which was my deepest unspoken desire), I did it. I started a company, South Shore Decorating, and by the third year, the company was where I wanted it to be.
As I delved deeper and deeper into the world of design, I discovered design blogs. Now I can't imagine how I ever lived without them. There are so many kind, generous, and talented bloggers out there, and they were an inspiration to me. When I started this blog, I almost couldn't believe how much I enjoyed doing it. It has been a major part of my life every day since then, and I am very grateful to be able to do it. I am also extremely grateful to my readers and the other bloggers who have been supporting and encouraging every step of the way.
Thank you for reading my story. I hope I get the chance to know each and every one of you at some point along the way!
Thank you for reading my story. I hope I get the chance to know each and every one of you at some point along the way!
