Patti Johnson loves the juxtaposition of the before and after comparison of a room when she finishes a design.

“I really like to take walls out,” Johnson told Daniel Litwin on a recent episode of Live Beautifully. “Maybe a wall could have been placed better, and we can improve traffic flow – it’s just going to help them live better.”

Johnson elaborated on her process and her motivation for her interior design career. She said that, in the past, some contractors may have pushed back or been difficult on a site. It’s important to treat contractors with respect, but to hold them accountable.

With Johnson’s company, Patti Johnson Interiors, a job starts with a client contacting her, and then she will decide which crew she will bring with her to a site.

“It’s important to have trust,” she said. “If they work with me long enough, they may know which decision I would make.”

Johnson did not start her career looking to own her own design business. Rather, her career materialized from humble beginnings when she was working as a designer at a furniture company.

Now, Johnson mostly handles renovations. She enjoys making people’s lives “more at ease” by reducing clutter and improving flow. Her motivation comes from incorporating an entire space, from the windows and walls down to the window treatment and the art – everything must work together.

“I think that I look at the entire space, even if [a client] invites me to look at just a single room,” she said. “I will assess the entire space and make a decision from there.”

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