Happy Home, Happy Life
How Amie Howes Is Changing The Face of Interior Design
“I truly believe that if a home is organized and peaceful that it dissolves stress and creates happier families and people,” says Amie Howes, the founder of the local interior design company Grand Masterpiece Design. “At the end of the day my goal is for my clients
to feel relieved that I’m able to really hear their needs, take the stress out of key
decisions creating stress, help set up quotes and help stay within their budget, and
make the vision and dream a reality.”
Aime’s super personalized and realistic approach to design is what’s made her business so outstanding, but for as clear as she is about her mission now, she says that she didn’t always have that same level of clarity. As a child, she grew up on a farm, which she cites as having instilled in her a grounded, hard work ethic. “The agriculture community was so vital to my development as a person and professionally,” she shared. “Learning to work long, hard days until the job is completed, improvising when problems come up, being creative with little resources, and increasing confidence to handle anything thrown my direction was the birthing place of my entrepreneurial spirit.”
After she had her first child, she felt as though she was called to do something more, and eventually found herself working in home staging for real estate. Quickly, she discovered that she had a gift: the ability to take what she calls “pain points” from people. In other words, she realized that she had a knack for creating really inviting, personalized spaces.
That spiritedness from her childhood certainly lends itself to her life now, as she works with clients who are interested in transforming either their homes, professional offices or work spaces. Aime says her company’s goal is to help with decisions that could “create stress and anxiety inside the home or office,” and to work as efficiently as possible to make their clientele’s dreams into reality.
Aime makes it clear that her motivation in life is to make spaces as comfortable and welcoming for people as possible. Though she works with inanimate objects for a living, her service is really to those who use them, and those who would most benefit from feeling comforted or inspired by them. “Helping people creates an immense about of gratification to me,” she said. “I truly believe that if a home is organized and peaceful that it dissolves stress and creates happier families and people.”
Another important point that Aime brings up is that she works with many different budgets, and strives to make comfortable living a reality for people with different means. A detriment to that? The abundance of home-renovation shows on TV, and the expectations they give people who are going into it for the first time. “An hour show doesn’t show all the hurdles that the last three months may have brought to those people, and only shows the highlight reels, with some drama,” she explained. “Costs also fluctuate depending on where they are in America. For example, some areas of Texas are grossly less expensive in comparison to some areas of California.” Aime says that discrepancy is the biggest misconception in her industry, and feels that it is important for expectations to be discussed up front.
As for the future, Aime says her long-term goal is to be “the most sought after design company” in Lancaster, not only because of her desire to serve and help others, but also because of how generous and efficient she is with other people’s time. She also looks forward to bringing on an architect and becoming a “one-stop-shop design firm.” Personally, Aime aspires to “helping women gain confidence in what they can achieve,” as well as “helping to develop their strengths, talents and leadership abilities,” and for that, she’s already a prime example.
By: Brianna Wiest
