I’m sharing a little secret we’ve been keeping for about 20 weeks – we’re pregnant with our first child! While it’s usually easy for me to share about interior design, it’s a little bit harder to share the really personal moments. I’m both excited and nervous for this big change to come. I can only imagine how our little world will be rocked by this baby. I’ve always imagined that I would be a mom someday (and never thought I’d be a business owner!). Navigating this world with both titles is going to be a wild ride, and I’m so glad to have countless working-mom role models to look up to.

The past few years have certainly been all about interior design and building a business, and now I’ll be adding the all important title of MOM into my job description, while still growing the business! We are in the process of opening a brand new design studio in Lakeview on Lincoln Ave (near Southport). I was renting this space over the spring and summer, and recently took over the commercial lease! Studio 912, a cabinetry and kitchen + bath design company, whom I closely work with on many of my projects, will also be sub-leasing some of the space, and it’s exciting to have so many new resources to offer our clients – cabinets, countertops, wood working, appliance expertise, interior design, contracting – all at our fingertips!

I do have fears about doing it all, juggling it all and how I’ll have time to blog : ) – BUT I got some lovely advice from Ruth Bader Ginsberg (Supreme Court Justice & working mom) the other evening. You can have it all, you just can’t have it all at once. I think this will be my new moto. Ruth talked about being a working mom in the 60s, she and her husband both making their way through law school (facing discrimination as a Jewish woman), and how they had to pick the slack up for each other at different times in their careers to keep family and work functioning. I’m incredibly lucky to have Luke, who is so supportive of my business and has a relatively flexible job as a teacher and will be able to really co-parent this new addition to our family.

The pregnancy has been going really well to this point, and we hope and pray that continues for the delivery of a healthy baby. I think I’ve been experiencing typical preggo symptoms, such as exhaustion and nausea, but now hitting the second trimester stride I’ve been really feeling like my old self again, which has been wonderful!

The design studio is open but we are re-modeling / re-decorating, so there will be more news about a Grand Opening and lots of pretty pictures before the holidays. If you made it to the end of this post, thanks for reading and supporting me – it means so very much to get to live out my passions on this blog/business and now I get to figure out how to become a mom too. (Okay, I’m crying now – so many emotions!). We also find out if we are having a boy or girl this afternoon – so check Instagram or FB for that news soon!

XO – CLAIRE + baby (size of a mango)

Here are some funny outtakes from this little maternity shoot where my sisters took pics for us: