Hello friendly faces! It’s that time of the week, time for CNSMoms’ Meet a Mom spotlight brought to you in part by Mary Gifford of Gifford Law*. This week’s Meet a Mom feature is the lovely Highland Park mama of sweet Benjamin and owner and sole designer of Honey & Salt Home Interior Design, Christy Ramón, ASID! Christy’s style is refreshingly bold, fearless and striking. Get to know more about Christy’s style, which literally jumps out of this interview and then head over to the North Shore Holiday Shopping Guide to find her generous CNSM discount! Welcome, Christy!
Hi Christy! Please introduce yourself. Where are you from originally? What city do you live in now?
Hi! I’m Christy Ramón, ASID. I am a classically-trained interior designer living in Highland Park. I jokingly refer to myself as a ‘Tex-Pat’ because there’s a large network of Texas Exes and Texans here; I was born and bred in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and buttered in Virginia, where I went to school.
We have a three-year-old son, Benjamin. I’d love to have more children, but I’m forty, so hard tellin’ not knowin’! We’ll see. Our home feels full and comfortable and hearty. We have two dogs and a sorority of fish, too!
What brought you to the Chicago area?
I landed in Chicago when I met my online Scrabble partner, with whom I share a life and family.
How would you describe yourself both personally and as a creative?
What you should know about me from the get-go: I’m a laid back, Type B personality but a nitty-gritty details editor and broad strokes artist. My favorite artists are Julian Schnabel, James Nares, and Sharon Shapiro; favorite designers are Sister Parish, the Late Patroness of Pattern, Anna Spiro, Rita Konig, Kit Kemp, and Michelle Nussbaumer.
You are the owner of the interior design practice, Honey & Salt Home Interior Design. Please tell us more about this endeavor!
Yes! I have been working as a designer since I finished grad school in 2012, but I worked for a few other firms before venturing out with my own practice in 2014. I’m the ‘principal of Honey & Salt Home Interior Design, obviously, but let’s not get too stiff – it’s my private practice, not a firm, so I’m also the sole designer.
Christy, What is your design philosophy?
I want to bring magic and comfort into everyone’s homes in a way that is environmentally clean. I want badly to break the stereotypes that interior design is this fancy, grand enterprise for only swanning showboats.
What is your background and training with regards to interior design?
I earned my MFA after studying at both the Academy in San Francisco and at the Corcoran; I have also completed independent courses at the University of Virginia, the Paris College of Art, and the Southwest School of Art and Craft. When I moved to Chicago, I spent three years working with local architecture and design firms before hanging my own shingle.
What makes Honey & Salt Home Interior Design unique from other local interior design firms?
I am the designer you call if you want to live comfortably, at ease and harmony with your environment – we do not live in museums, mausoleums, or magazines, after all!
Also, I am likely one of a few local designers who was educated on both coasts, even internationally – that really reads in my sensibility and personality, I think. I also think people call me because I’m just a normal person – I’m not ritzy or too fancy or glamorous. I just love my work!
What’s on the horizon for Honey & Salt Home?
I’ll finish three local projects in 2022 – and hopefully will get some new, fresh work!
Any design advice?
Don’t be shy in your own home – go for it! It doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to be yours.
Do you have an interior design motto?
Design for all the moments in between your big memories – now and forever.
Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know about your business that they typically do not know about?
I would love for readers to know that I always offer an initial phone call or site visit as a courtesy so we can sit down together and talk about the prospective client’s desires and needs. I bring a menu of services and then send them a tailored contract to meet their specific needs, and full-scope custom design concierge services for their project.
How do we learn more and get in touch for a free consult?
I hope you’ll visit my website honeyandsalthome.com and follow me on Instagram for more information and inspiration. And, of course, email me any questions, [email protected], or dial me at 210-216-2100.
Photo credits – Sarah Elizabeth Crowley
About CNSMoms’ Meet a Mom sponsor:
A very heartfelt thank you to CNSMoms’ Meet a Mom sponsor, Lake Forest mom of three and owner of Gifford Law, a solo Estate Planning Firm. Mary, we appreciate your support of local moms in our North Shore communities! Learn more about Mary by visiting her Meet a Mom spotlight here!