Design Truth + Queer Eye

IMAGE CREDIT: GAVIN BOND/NETFLIX

You guys watch Queer Eye, right? Are we the only people begging Jonathan Van Ness to come live with us and do our hair and strut with us and scream 'YAAAASSS QUEEN!!!" at us all day long?!?

Is that weird?

I just don't understand why an afternoon JVN break between 2 and 3PM isn't an actual thing that closes down schools and shops.

Actually, we hereby declare that all people have permission to take a JVN break between 2 and 3PM.

You’re welcome.

Anyway, have you noticed that the Fab Five don’t just swoop into their people's lives like a bunch of fairy gaymothers and make their lives perfect without making them work for it??

We know. RUDE.

Actually…Not rude.

The Fab Five hold a mirror up in their client’s faces. They ask them hard questions that usually come with hard answers and tears.

Fact: They make everyone cry all day long.

Even us. But in the best way!

They help their people work through the pain that got them into their sad lives to begin with and it’s pure magic. Only AFTER their person has put some skin in the game and shed a few salty tears of growth, they unleash them into their new, beautiful, and happy world!

It's the best thing everrrr!

It's why we can't. stop. watching!

The same premise is why we keep watching movies like The Karate Kid!

That's what working with a designer is like, you guys! (Sorry…just yelled a little… I got excited!)

Ok…Maybe working with us is not quite as fab as being on Queer Eye, but not every project is a super intense transformation. It’s still pretty frickin’ close, though, honestly.

Sometimes the internal transformations are just as difficult and profound as the exterior transformations that you see the people go through on Queer Eye, and we’re there for it. BIG TIME. It means a lot to us and to our clients.

Sometimes, projects are easy peasy lemon squeeze-y.

Most of the time THEY AREN’T.

Honestly, most people don't realize that even desiring a beautiful home is desiring a new level in life. It's not just an experience that you pay for and voila, pretty! It is a PROCESS and it ain’t always sunshine and rainbows, either. It might sound harsh and negative, but it's THE TRUTH and you all deserve the truth.

Despite what Colonel Jessup says in a Few Good Men, you all CAN handle the truth.

When you scroll through Instagram and you see feeds from designers that make you think that with the right sum of money that they will somehow create the perfect backdrop to a perfect life for you...That's a lie, honey. It might look perfect. It might set your heart aflutter. But it's NOT. REAL.

Please don't fall in love with a designer's feed and then call them and expect them to make your life perfect. (unless you intend on writing a check and walking away, that is)

Please PAUSE instead.

Seeking perfect is never, I repeat, NEVER a good idea.

Seeking real beauty, the visual embodiment of your story, and a meaningful journey to get there, is a much wiser goal than perfection because IT’S REAL. It’s the good shit. It goes beyond buying matching stuff that makes your house look like a Pier 1 or Z Gallerie.

Thinking you can pay for a perfect life experience that involves self awareness is a lie.

You can't buy a higher level life the same way you can buy a new car or iPhone. When you buy into an experience that levels up your life, you're seeking a mirror and a journey towards self improvement. BOOM. Hard truth.

Another hard truth for our ladies reading: Antoni is not interested in marrying any of us. Like, at all.

Whyyyyyyy???

He’s supposed to be my fourth husband.

Anyway, when a person is nominated on Queer Eye, they realize it’s gonna be some hard frickin’ work but they realize the payoff is absolutely going to be worth it. That’s high level decision making right there.

A high level decision that leads to high level results, baby!

Now lets talk about the rules of the universe for a second…brace yourself…we apologize in advance…

…the universe will not just hand you a new, more beautiful home, and better experience in life just because you decide you want it and because you can pay for it.

We know…You’re probably like, “NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! WHYYYYY?????”

If you want to be on a higher level, or have the money to buy up to the next level, the universe will be like, "Oh, you want better? Show me how bad you want it. Wax on, wax off, bitch." And then every single weak spot, fault that needs improving, every crazy little thing that annoys you WILL come to the surface, and everything that can go wrong WILL go wrong.

Those are the ACTUAL RULES.

And those rules are OK because when we have to learn and grow to earn the higher level, we RESPECT it and the amazing feeling of reaping the rewards lasts a whole helluvalot longer because we have really invested ourselves in it. The investment in the process is how you actually learn HOW to live better.

Woooooo!!!

The result won't be disposable because the journey and the lessons learned will be engraved onto your soul.

I can’t even tell you how many rules about selling services I just broke by telling you all the actual HARD AF truth.

I’m supposed to be selling you an easy breezy, beautiful life filled with throw pillows, chandeliers, and flowers.

Welp.

I just gave that concept the middle finger didn’t I?

Sorry, not sorry?

I want MORE for you.

Seeking beauty with purpose and meaning and self improvement IS seeking a higher level in life and we’re extremely good at helping our people get there— when they’re ready to look in the mirror.

You might be asking yourself, BUT can’t I just write a check, leave town, and then come home to a whole new world?

Absolutely.

The result won’t be as personal or meaningful. The picture painted for you won’t be as accurate. IF that’s the end goal for you, cool. We do that too.

The main ingredient in that scenario is that YOU leave it.

For 99% of our clients that isn’t enough.

99% of our client’s do not write a check and then step out of the process.

That’s because they realize they need to be a part of the process in order for the story to be there.

Meaningful design is wanting your home to be a mirror of you. Profound design tells your story.

Making the decision to do what is necessary for the best end result, just like all the nominated clients on Queer Eye have done, is super high level!

Any high level decision comes with a hard journey, but that’s the point. The journey will transform YOU for the better.

Not just any designer can go with you on that journey.

Just like how the creators of Queer Eye didn’t go out and just pick any random five stylish and talented gay guys to be the Fab Five. They went out and found the most emotionally intelligent, most compassionate, most talented and beautifully strong gay men they could find. Your designer needs to meet those same requirements.

Not all will be equipped.

If you’re like, “Wait…Did she just call herself all that?”

You’re damn right I did.

Because I’m ALWAYS working on being real woke on the inside in order to earn my place on that journey with my people.

Not all designers are strong enough to hold the mirror up to you when you're fighting them. Just like the fab five have to behold enough self awareness and emotional intelligence to hold up the mirror and ask you the hard questions, so does your designer.

We won’t know how to make your life and your world better if we haven’t gone through our own hard journeys. If we haven’t had to take a long hard look in the mirror for ourselves. That’s how we know what questions to ask. That’s how we know how to handle the truth.

That’s why we care so much about your answers.

So, what’s the first step in leveling up your home and your life?

It’s getting out of your own way, honey.

It’s making room and making the time to allow a compassionate friend that wants you to be at your best to come in and put a mirror in your face.

It will be horrifying.

Like when you look at yourself in your visor mirror in bright daylight after being out of town away from your magnifying mirror for a week….AHHHHH! OR like when you log into your checking account after you go to Target for q-tips. Gulp.

You might cry…you will absolutely be uncomfortable…but that’s the point.

Crying and being uncomfortable is the name of the growth game.

That's the experience of design. FOR. REAL.

Our long time clients know it. They know it's worth it, and they keep coming back for more of it because they see the value in the mirror and the relationship that is established when we're all looking in the mirror together. They keep coming back because they love living within the beauty of their life story and getting to make new memories within that beauty.

We’re truly incredibly honored to be by their sides and we love all of our people!

Quick summary: There's no perfect designer for creating the perfect life. There’s no easy button. There’s no amount of money to get you to a higher level. There’s just you, baby.

And we’re here for it!

If you let us, we got you, boo.