Heidi Howard, ASID
NCIDQ Certificate #018339

As proprietor and lead designer of Expressive Environments LLC, Heidi takes pride in the positive impact she makes in the everyday lives of her clients. Understanding that each new project is unique, she dedicates herself to the goal of actualizing each project with the client’s visions, values, aesthetic tastes, desires, and expectations. Her combination of listening skills, ethics, creative talent, industry knowledge, past experience, and the expertise of other industry-related team members earns Heidi the trust of her clientele and the reward of long-term working relationships with them.

Prior to establishing her own firm, Heidi worked in both retail and commercial design. Fortunate to work within a well established, reputable full-service architectural firm, she partnered with architects, engineers, and construction managers to design, develop and realize comprehensive architectural solutions for churches, hospitals, hotels, educational facilities and laboratory facilities. This broad range experience and knowledge has proven invaluable to her professional development and to the protection of her clients’ best interests.

Exacting standards and personal and professional betterment are common threads in Heidi’s career development from the start. After graduating Magna Cum Laude with a BFA in Interior Design from Georgia State University under the tutelage of then Director, Tim Bookout, and Associate Director, Jeff Ashworth, both of whom imparted unique and complimentary perspectives and expertise in the field, Heidi worked hard to qualify for the NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design Qualification) exams. She took and passed the exams in 2002 earning her the privilege of becoming a licensed and registered interior designer. Comparatively few designers undergo these rigorous exam standards; Heidi is currently one of only several hundred Interior Designers to hold a license in the State of Georgia.

HEIDI’S PERSONAL PERSPECTIVES:

How I chose Interior Design as my career
Just before leaving for college, one of my father’s dearest elderly patients approached me at the office and asked me what I would study in college. What did I want to be? My answer: I’m not sure yet. I’m going to study the basic fine arts curriculum until I decide what path to pursue. His response: Be sure you choose something you love because work isn’t fun unless you love what you do. Even then, it’s not generally fun, but it should be at least rewarding.

I thought about it a great deal and I narrowed it down to three things I liked best: Interior Design, Culinary Arts, and Veterinary Medicine. I’m a good cook. While I enjoy it, working in a kitchen is hot and demanding work. As a day in, day out profession, I didn’t find it appealing. Veterinary Medicine would require too many Science classes and would involve caring for hurt animals incapable of clearly communicating their ills. I don’t like to see things hurt, thus a poor career choice. But interiors! I came to the conclusion that I loved, beyond all else, interior space: furniture, fabrics, finishes, volume, plane, style, light, psychology, you name it. My natural strengths include interpersonal skills, creativity, and sensitivity to environment. So, I decided that as long as there were people inhabiting Earth, there would be buildings to inhabit in turn. I would be one of the people who made those buildings enjoyable and meaningful.

What does my Interior Design career mean to me?
I like people, and I enjoy making people happy. Having a positive impact on the everyday lives of the people I meet gives me an immense sense of satisfaction. I became an Interior Designer because I have always been fascinated with space and style and how they, in combination, affect the occupants of a given environment. Design speaks to psychology in a number of ways. We, as humans, are vast in our personal preferences, so “good design” is a very subjective term. To me, generally speaking, “good design” is anything well executed, effectively organized, multi-faceted yet unified, and pleasing to the occupant. I work to provide my clients with what they like and want to achieve.

Developing a space that is “pleasing to the occupant” is the most critical end result of my role as an interior designer. You may or may not recognize that your personal level of comfort and well being, both physical and mental, are directly affected by the environment you inhabit. You may be aware of things that you like or dislike, but often times the details about why you like or dislike specific elements are either overlooked or unacknowledged. Part of my work is to help you define what and why you like what you like so that we can use these specific elements within your project to make it representative of and successful for you.