Let’s Play Connect the Dots

Photo: Jackie Haxthausen

People who know me for my career in interior design are sometimes surprised when I start talking about fashion. People who found me through color analysis occasionally wonder what that has to do with their living room. And anyone who discovered me through organizing is probably still figuring out how all three fit together.

Here's my short answer: they're the same problem. They've always been the same problem. It just took me three certifications and a lot of client conversations to be able to recognize it.

Design, color analysis, and fashion are all fundamentally about one thing: making the space you inhabit (whether that's a room or an outfit) feel authentic. The principles that make a room feel balanced are the same principles that make an outfit work. The undertone relationships that matter in a paint palette matter just as much in a wardrobe. The way a disorganized closet undermines an otherwise beautiful room is the same way a disorganized wardrobe undermines an otherwise successful person.

A recent color analysis client, who had been mis-typed by another analyst, came to me with a request to find her best colors. My 21 years as an interior designer are an unexpected credential in this field. My entire life has been a world where color relationships, undertones, and contrast are load-bearing decisions.

When I became a certified seasonal color analyst, the thing that surprised me most was how directly it changed my approach to color in interior design. I had been specifying color by instinct for two decades. Suddenly, I had a framework and a way of communicating why certain palettes feel right for certain people and certain spaces, and why some colors fight when we want them to play nicely. It wasn't a new skill so much as a new language for something I already knew.

The organizing certification did the same thing. A beautifully designed room that doesn't function is a problem, and not a small one. The most stunning space in the world will stress you out if you can't find what you need or if the flow doesn't work for your actual life. Design and organization aren't separate disciplines; design creates the architecture, and organization is the operating system that makes it run.

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Custom Closet Design: Rachel Cannon Limited Interiors 

When we talk about organizing, we’re talking about a front-end approach to solving the problem. When we can design each corner of a home down to the smallest detail, we have the opportunity to create the space for everything to have a home. That helps our clients stay organized without having to train themselves on a new system that doesn’t naturally fit their habits.

In this month’s blog series, I'm going to be connecting these dots for you. If you've ever wondered why your room feels slightly off despite being full of nice things, why an outfit that technically “works” still doesn't feel right, or why a beautiful space can be the reason you’re late for work, the answer is usually the same: a methodology is missing. For many people, especially those who identify as overwhelmed overachievers (me), the results can be exhausting!

At the heart of everything I do, I am solving problems. In interiors, we are deliberately designing spaces, not just accumulating things. When we take on the organization piece for a client, we pinpoint exactly where everything lives in the overall design. And in color analysis, we help clients build a wardrobe that exudes confidence, rather than just shopping for clothes. 

My methodology isn’t any one certification; it’s the fact that all three now interlock. Most of us are missing one or all of them, which is why our lives can feel random, even when our homes and clothes are “nice.”

So here’s a question worth sitting with: How have you been approaching these things? Is there a natural sequence? Do you buy furniture on an as-needed basis? Do you constantly clean out and rearrange closets and pantries? Do you feel lost when you’re shopping and leave empty-handed, or worse, buy a huge haul that you end up never wearing?

The great news is that the process I’ve created for all of them has a clear architecture. It moves from vision to refinement to execution. That’s the direct opposite of just accumulating things and hoping for the best. 

To truly feel the confidence we want to instill in all of you, we design it all with intention and within a framework.