Time to spare
Terri Julio can change your world in six hours
By Joanna Dehn Beresford 02/11/2010
A perfect plan. Everyone needs one. Personally, I’m the worst planner in the world — nothing comes easy to me in terms of organizing, planning, eliminating clutter, following through on ideas. So I’m the perfect client for Terri Julio, owner of Terri Julio, Design for a Day. As it turns out, so is my son.
Honestly, I personally need her for more than a day. I need her for about six months, or better yet, I need to BE Terri Julio. But short of that, well, she makes a lot happen in six hours. I can barely clean my bathroom in six hours and Terri can redesign a bathroom, a kitchen, an entire home in six hours. Six hours. According to tradition, it took God six days to make the whole world. For Terri — six hours to re-create your world.
Really, she’s a teacher and a guide. She studied home economics in college, taught school, raised children, opened a cooking academy with notable chefs participating in instruction in her Arcadia home (outside of which I imagine birds singing and delicious aromas wafting through the trees). She launched a catering company. Eventually friends asked — pleaded with, probably — Terri for help in organizing and designing their own kitchens, and a new career emerged.
She’s been consulting with clients and redesigning homes for more than a decade now.
“It’s true,” says Terri. “But I’m actually still teaching. I teach people how to be productive and how to avoid making mistakes in their homes.”
There’s no typical day for Terri, but lots of similar scenarios. Sometimes she dedicates an entire day to redesigning a kitchen or bathroom, for example. She always brings lunch, and she and her homeowner clients discuss practical and aesthetic concerns. She leaves them with plans, renderings, procedural datelines and other resources. Or she might spend a day looking at existing architectural plans. She helps clients consider spatial elements — where to put a door, how to arrange electrical outlets and work areas. Architects are generally thrilled to include Terri’s suggestions because it saves time and money for everyone during the building process, especially during a kitchen remodel.
Some people just want Terri to help them accessorize a home; some people need to spend a day shopping for tile, paint, stone, fabric etc; some want to downsize and can’t decide what to get rid of; some couples are starting a second marriage and need an objective mediator to help them combine furnishings. Blended families are an especially challenging clientele, and, in general, “kid spaces are largely overlooked,” says Terri. “A kid’s room and space is their world, and it should reflect their personalities, but also reflect good taste, and be carefully planned so the room can evolve as the child grows.”
Enter my teenage son.
“What are you working on, Mom?”
“Story about Terri Julio, an interior designer. She could come over and help you redesign your entire room in a day. What do you think that would look like?”
He paces around the living room, thinking aloud, with tremendous zeal. “Silver walls, black ceiling, naked ladies (yikes!), king-sized bed (double yikes!), flat screen, plush carpet, black doors with locks and latches, secret compartments, posters of my favorite bands, a mini-fridge and soda fountain, speakers and surround sound, private bathroom with hidden door…”
I’m scribbling like mad and his dad calls. “What’s the ideal room for Johnee? A clean room,” says his father, and Johnee groans.
An architect friend calls. “What’s the ideal room for a teenager? Well, what’s your budget?”
“What’s your budget?” I ask Johnee.
Saying sheepishly, “Um, zero?” he returns to his video game.
My architect friend says that’s perfect: throw out budget and logic and you can create the most amazing room for a teenage child.
I think he’s joking. Anyway, what are the universal factors, in terms of designing a home or a room, for a kid, couple or family? Based on a really great couple of conversations with Terri Julio, I’ve gotta say: the important thing is planning. And objectivity. And sincerity, communication, and experience. And of course, lunch.
Contact Joanna Dehn Beresford at truewrite@yahoo.com.
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