Last year when I was working on a project with Darryl Carter (yes, that Darryl Carter who is in just about every home decor and interior design mag on a regular basis AND in the Benjamin Moore advertising campaign), I *almost* got to meet Tate Gunnerson of Strange Closets who has his own list of interior design-related accomplishments.

As fate would have it, we did not meet but also as fate would have it, I have had new opportunities to interact with him. Tate recently wrote a post on wing chairs that included a few from Clairemont client, Thomasville Furniture. And last week, he agreed to let me turn the tables a bit as he answered a few questions for me for a blogger spotlight that I wrote for the Drexel Heritage blog.

One of the things I learned about Tate is that interior design and writing started as hobbies for him. It was just last year that he left a sales career to be a full-time writer! He’s already been writing for several Chicago-based outlets, and since my Q&A with him, I saw a post on his Facebook page that he is working on an assignment for Country Living. Expect to see him more & more!

The funny thing about Darryl Carter leading me to Tate is that Darryl didn’t start his career as an interior designer either. He was an attorney working at his dad’s practice, and I always love the story he tells about “Legal crisis on line 1, lost bolt of fabric on line 2!” The lesson here people…. if you want to be brilliant at something, follow your passion! Tate, thank you for letting me write about you and for demonstrating in our electronic interactions that you are as kind as you are talented and passionate. You are an inspiration!

xoxox –Dana