Jill Abelman
CEO/PRINCIPAL DESIGNER
My career started with a passing comment when I was 24.
A visitor to my new apartment exclaimed with delight over the colorful pieces, vibrant art, and the rare Art Deco Bar I had found and restored. Overstuffed fluffy white sofas with multi-colored handpainted pillows and my rented black lacquer piano which was really more “for looks” as I never really learned to play more than a few songs lol, but I justified, it’s good to have goals! The super chic sofas had been put on “layaway” until I could afford them … I can still remember the excitement of delivery day after the 6 month payment period! The comment was, ”Have you ever thought of going into interior design?! If you’re interested, I know someone who manages a design school.” As funny as it sounds now, that hadn’t even been on my radar! If you can imagine, HGTV wasn’t even a thing yet! and I had never considered design as a design path.
However, within hours of visiting the design school, I was completely intrigued and over the moon about finding a career path I could really sink my teeth into. After finishing school, I was willing to do anything to make this career path come true and the journey included.. – Working for a furniture importer – Traveling to Indonesia was a highlight to pick pieces for the line.
– Designing model homes for companies in LA, Orange County, and San Diego.
– I worked in sales and design for the model home companies, learning all about both sides of the business I was wholeheartedly pursuing.
– Working in a furniture store while juggling 2 other jobs to make rent.. – And later, when I became more financially stable, I opened a boutique furniture and accessories store on Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach while also designing for clients.
I’ll skip the tragic but valuable business lessons I learned in Laguna Beach and share that moving to San Diego was a big scary change I decided to make when my store was purchased by another entity and I was forced out..
But I believe that the Universe always has a plan for you if you have good intentions and follow your heart.
Lo and behold, San Diego was not only a great stepping stone for my career, but more importantly, I quickly met Marc – my husband of 25 years and the love of my life.
We had already talked about marriage when 2 years later, I was recruited to Las Vegas to work for a National Homebuilder. The offer was too good to pass up! So after one year of long-distance dating, Marc agreed to reluctantly leave his beloved beach lifestyle to move to the Desert and we were married. It took some time for him to recalibrate, but now he can’t see living anywhere else! Life is funny like that.
We dreamt of the day when we would have a couple of kids, perhaps open a business, and live life on our own terms, instead of asking for vacation days as you do in Corporate America.
We made it happen in 2004 with creative financing and determination and crafted our Mission Statement of “Creating extraordinary experiences while enriching people’s lives through design.”
We moved downtown to the Arts District in 2011 after we purchased our building. It was a bit “rough” down here at that time, but Marc’s vision was clear and he was positive that the area would “catch up” to his vision. (It did!) It’s still Home for us and we are grateful and continually inspired by the wonderful community of artistic people we have met downtown while doing what we love.
Today, we find ourselves working in homes I only dreamt about back when I started this journey. We typically work for clients who have several rooms or an entire home to furnish or remodel and I still LOVE the process and discoveries we make each time. I love to impart the knowledge and share the resources that have taken over 30 years of steady work to establish for the best results with the least stress to our wonderful clientele!
Our focus is solely on Residential design. Nothing makes me happier than making our clients comfortable and ecstatic in their homes – the most sacred place on earth, in my opinion.
I have been fortunate to design some amazing homes but the main focus is enjoying the time spent with our clients.
Our main criteria is working with someone we can not only create with but also share an occasional belly laugh! The process is always born out of the joyful collaborations between us and our clients to create a home that is truly restorative, beautiful, and unique.
This year is our 20th year in business and we are still enjoying every moment!
