Getting to Know Donna Hoffman

Hello from the Interiors by Donna Hoffman staff!

Clients tell us they love having Donna as their interior designer and not just because of the seemingly easy, glad-hearted way she has of  delivering that stunning and varied design of hers. It’s also the way she makes clients feel during the process – watching their backs or  keeping them calm and assured. We staffers (and the vendors and craftspeople) love working for her just as much, but we get to see a side of Donna that nobody else does, so we thought it’d be fun to have Donna answer a few questions to share “a backstage glimpse”:

Q:  You’re so upbeat and calm in business. Do you ever swear?
A:  When  I’m overtired & frustrated, I can swear like a truck driver, which is usually when Steve suggests I take a nap!  I never curse in front of a client and try not to in the office.

Q:  Greatest fear.
A:  I’m a card carrying aquaphobic. The sound of the ocean at night at close proximity, or standing in waist deep water are not good things for me.

Q:  Weirdest food love.
A:  Balsamic vinegar.  I used to sneak into the pantry as a kid and swig it from the bottle.

Q:  What is the hardest part of being a designer that would surprise people to learn?
A:  Working with unhappily married couples or spending time in unhappy homes can be very wearing if you’re a sensitive, which I am.

Q:  Color you really hate.
A:  Rust.

Q:  Can you design in colors you wouldn’t want to live in?

A:  Oh yes. Red is way too strong for me in my home yet I love designing with it.

Q:  Saddest event in your life.
A:  My mothers’ slow cancerous decline and eventual death went very hard with me.

Q:  Happiest?
A:  Easy and not original – Meeting and marrying Steve, having  & raising our kids.

Q:  Most surprising thing about you that clients wouldn’t suspect.
A:  Um…1) I can have a dirty sense of humor and 2)  At heart,  I’m also an introvert when not at work.

Q:  Top 3 Favorite personal trait of yours.
A:  My empathy, my ability to make people feel better and my ability to laugh.

Q:  Top 3 Least favorite traits of yours.
A:  I’m a closet pessimist, I’m a worrier and I take things too personally. God blessed me with Steve who has none of these traits. He’s the Rock of Gibraltar, while I’m more like the pebble. I should put that on a tee shirt…The Pebble of Gibraltar…it has a certain ring to it.

So there it is…the many shades of Donna, your favorite interior designer – and ours, too!