After graduation, the job applications weren't going great.
So I made my own job instead...
I started a little blog called The Curative Company — a play on curating and the creative side of design. I sheepishly advertised to my friends, my family, and the regulars at the gym where I worked part-time. Saying I was an interior designer!! I spent a hundred dollars of graduation money on a very small shop's worth of vintage. And I mean really small. But you have to start somewhere.
What surprised me was that people actually liked it. They found the blog helpful or entertaining. They used the design proposals I sent them. They wanted the pieces I was finding. Like — people like what I can do? Great. Let's keep going.
I became OBSESSED with creating my own job. It felt like one big design project, and it still does.
The Story
After graduating with a B.S. in Interior Design, I spent a while applying for jobs in the corporate design world and feeling increasingly like I wasn't quite cut out for it. The interviews were awkward. The feedback was vague.
BUT- a few good mentors kept reminding me of what I was actually capable of - and what I loved about design in the first place.
Around the same time I moved back home, with a lot of time on my hands and a mom who'd been telling me for years that I should write about interiors in movies. Because apparently, I couldn't get through a film without pointing out a Barcelona chair or a piece of furniture nobody else was looking at. So I figured - the least I could do was try. I could always apply for more job.
What I Do Now
Now the blog has become a studio. I source vintage with a strong point of view - I'm drawn to pieces with a little mystery, a history worth knowing, and a styling puzzle worth solving. That's the part I love - figuring out what something is and then finding an entirely new way to live with it.
I also paint and make pottery, mostly inspired by places I've been and moments I want to keep in my space. Walking through Monet's garden with my mom. Watching the ducks in my boyfriend's village. The quieter everyday moments that are worth remembering. I make pieces I want in my own home, and hope they remind someone else of their own happy places.
And a few times a year, I take on interior projects. My favorite clients are the ones who already have lots of beautiful things - they just don't know how to put them together yet. I get to play detective, figure out who they are from what they already own, and add in the few pieces that make it all click. Seeing them excited to actually live in their space is the best part of the job.
How I See Things
I really believe the best rooms are mostly made of things that already exist. Old things, made things, the pieces you picked up somewhere and never quite knew how to style. My job is to put them all together for you.
Well, that’s me…
When I'm not sourcing or in the studio, I'm probably scrolling Pinterest, watching tv or movies (for the interiors of course), or planning a trip somewhere with good flea markets.
My newsletter goes out every Sunday - it's called Aidan’s Edit, and it's where I share new pieces, studio updates, and whatever I've been thinking about that week. Subscribers see new vintage and original work before anyone else.
Glad you're here. Really.