The Woman Behind Burlock Interiors

If you were to look at the photos on my personal Facebook page, you might find smoothies from my vitamix blender, images and quotes from Rumi, the perfect mint julep, a garden restaurant in Piermont, a boating adventure, talk of recycling, vintage furniture, beautiful artwork, sprouted lentils and maybe a yoga pose or two.

My big passions (other than design) are food, nutrition, our planet and yoga. Along with these passions comes a love of cooking, entertaining and adventures to find vintage furniture with stops at farm markets and roadside ice cream stands.

I have a lust for life, and an integrative approach to living it, but I  haven't shown it professionally.

Until now.

I have over 14 years design experience, but being out on my own is still new. I spent the first two years very focused on building my client base, marketing and promotion. I am at a point now where I am ready to be true to who I am, and lay the groundwork for the design practice I want to operate.

Luckily, I live in a place that supports all of it. This was no accident. The Hudson Valley is chock full of amazing artisans, vintage and antique furniture stores, talented artists and a "buy local" attitude.

These are all the things that are integral to running my company. However, I am not just selling design services, I'm selling a lifestyle. It can all be summed up as leading a happy, balanced, stress-free life, that supports who you are as well as the planet we live on.

I chose Seattle over Austin for my masters in architecture because it was one of the greenest cities in the U.S. I learned about passive heating and cooling, grey and black-water systems, I have built models to test at a daylighting lab and I've worked in Mexico building a solar kitchen. No one knows this. It's not the side of me I chose to show.

I'm coming out of the closet.

The state of the earth is very important to me. However, it doesn't mean that my clients need to live like Thoreau and wear patchouli. It doesn't mean my love of lacquer and brass disappears and has their place taken by bamboo and hemp.  It just means making better decisions.

By taking my passions and fusing it with my work, I can have a more integrative approach. It means losing the disconnect between my business and me. I am Nicole Amanda Romano (my birth name) and I can improve people's lives.

In my career, how we live is more important than ever.

Confucius said "choose a job you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life". I have always loved what I do, but now I can eat, sleep and breath it. Awesome.

For a visual essay that supplements this blog, please click here.