The PNW

The PNW — short for the Pacific Northwest, where I was born and raised in the suburbs of Seattle, Washington — was the first home I purchased on my own. This house became the canvas where my love for design and hosting came alive. Room by room, I transformed the space during the pandemic — from interiors to landscaping — with the intention of creating a home that brought people together. It became the heart of family holidays, annual Friendsgivings, neighborhood Halloween parties, and countless nights filled with food, laughter, and even karaoke.

After college, I spent a year living in Los Angeles in search of sunshine, but when my mother was diagnosed with cancer, my sister Marilou asked me to move back home to the PNW to be closer to her during chemotherapy. I stayed — building a life, a home, a solid community of friends, and my love for design in Seattle — until years later, when Marilou, during her own battle with cancer, asked me to make her a promise: to sell my home, follow the sunshine, and embrace a new life in Arizona.

She told me how much she enjoyed watching my Instagram stories and reels as I designed and launched our family’s short-term rental, and that she was proud to see me glowing and happy in Arizona. That pride, paired with her wish for me to fully embrace the sunshine, gave me the courage to start a new chapter.

When I began splitting my time between Seattle and Phoenix, I turned the PNW home into a short-term rental. Hosting guests while also creating unforgettable experiences for my family confirmed what I had always felt: design is storytelling, and spaces are meant to be shared.

This project also became the catalyst for a bigger vision: spearheading my family business and ultimately designing and managing a successful luxury vacation rental in Arizona. The PNW will always hold a special place in my heart — it was my entry point into marketing and branding, where I gained a decade of agency experience working with Fortune 100 tech companies, the spark for my love of interiors, landscaping, DIY, the launchpad for Maximize Studio & Design, and the bridge to the desert lifestyle I now call home.

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