By far, the most comments I receive from you all are regarding our home.  Which is why I am SO excited to finally open the doors and let you inside, but first I thought it would be fun to share how we got to this point.

Meet my design dream team and dear friends, Sarah and Saba Jawda.

Reviewing our design plans at Sarah & Saba’s home.

Fabric selections from one of our many meetings.  You can see how indecisive I was by tracking our #harperxjawda hash tags and see what changed  before we got to the end…

Sarah uses her graphic design background to create visual mock-ups of each room which really help people like me that need to ‘see’ it all come together before committing.

Saba is also an artist and she created beautiful custom pieces that put the perfect finishing touch on our home like this piece that now hangs in our dinning room.

Photographed by Kate Robinson

I met Saba and Sarah at a Neiman Marcus annual influencer event.  They actually honor an ‘It Girl of Instagram’ every year and JawdaandJawda had won the previous year and passed down their torch to me. Cheesy, we know.

But let’s back track a little.  After Fred and I married in 2009, we moved to New York City so we had never owned a home before this one and the process of decorating it seemed so much more daunting to me than our past apartments.  We opened up walls to ‘modernize’ and maximize our ranch style home, but the new open concept was also throwing me off.  I was concerned about how making decisions in the living room (which I wanted to start on first) would affect our dinning room decisions down the road.  For these reasons, I decided to contact the Jawdas about partnering with me to start decorate our home.

When I first met with Saba and Sarah, I thought I only needed their help on fabric selections for some chairs I wanted to recover in the living room and to help me start a plan for the entry and dinning room, since they are all open to each other and need to flow accordingly. But as we got started, one thing lead to another and they helped me complete the common areas of the house from curtains and rugs to shelf styling while working with my existing furniture from NYC and some new (to me) inherited pieces from family members.

Since our story with PaperCity hit stands last week, I thought it would be fun to do a little Q&A over here with my design dream team, Saba and Sarah Jawda.

What is your overall design philosophy?  If you were to be know for 3 things what would they be?

1. Chic live able spaces.
2. Bold, yet versatile and family/entertainment friendly spaces.
3. Memorable yet cozy

What role do you each play in the partnership?

We are the yin and yang in a sense.  We know our strengths and communicate our visions with our clients to come up with the best outcome for a space.

What are your backgrounds?

Saba’s degree is in architecture and interior design while Sarah’s is Advertising, Public relations and Marketing – both University of Houston graduates.

How do you balance style and function when working on a space?

Whether cozy casual or no one go in this room formal, each space should reflect it’s intended use. Whether it’s a family home or a bachelor/bachelorette pad, we begin with utilizing symmetry to create balance, then move to space planning/layout and finally, we incorporate customized character through color, accessories and detail-oriented styling.

What is it like living and working with your sister?

We can’t speak for most sibling duos but when it comes to the balance, we manage to have a great working and sister relationship. We know our strengths and weaknesses and the flow of knowing when to step in/out has always been a natural, well choreographed one. That’s not to say we don’t have our mini meltdowns regularly, they’re usually hunger-induced – oops!

What other projects do you have up your sleeves? Anything you can share with us?

Aside from our interior projects we have been doing a ton of styling and art commissions. We are both super creative and like to make time to hone said crafts, it can be quite therapeutic.

What was your goal for our project?

To create a family-friendly yet refined aesthetic.

What is your favorite design moment in the house?

Omg so many, but mainly creating symmetry and a unified feel for the open floor plan.  We loved working with your antique pieces and vision to create a look/feel that is both perfect for entertaining and everyday life. Ones that’s both beautiful and comfortable for your young family.

Any advice for someone considering working with an interior designer?

1. It’s not as complicated or expensive a process as one might think.
2. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
3. Do your homework and be decisive.
4. Know your budget.
5. Discuss said budget thoroughly with significant other.
6. Once on the same page, trust the designer you hired.
7. Communication is K E Y.
8. Don’t forget to have fun.

Stay tuned for more interiors post coming to you every Friday (until we’ve made it through the whole house)!

xo