Stephanie recalls her parents being so supportive in allowing and helping her redesign spaces in their home when she was growing up. Beginning in elementary school, Stephanie's dad taught her how to paint walls (properly), hang light fixtures, learn basic plumbing, and creatively update spaces. By middle school, Stephanie's dad helped her with a mini kitchen renovation (replacing the flooring and counter tops, installing new appliances, painting the cabinets, and hanging additional cabinets). Stephanie also stenciled a design on the walls. She then took up abstract painting and learned how to wallpaper, install chair rails, draperies and shelving.

 

By the time Stephanie graduated high school, she knew she wanted to design homes for a living. She went to college and majored in architecture with a minor in art history. By her second year in school, she began working at an auto repair shop in Rockville, MD and gave birth to her daughter. She was out of the design and build business for a few years to focus on raising her young child. At this time, she rented a small home. Stephanie was able to utilize her creativity by making small updates to her quaint living quarters. She was able to maximize space in the small kitchen by designing an additional eat in area that included more counter top space and a breakfast bar. She painted and added glass doors to the cabinets which updated the space. When it was time to sell, those updates made the house stand out among other properties for sale. 

 

Stephanie was then introduced to Luke Stewart (of Luma Build and Design) and was hired as his part-time design consultant. She was able to learn everything possible about construction and renovations. Within two months, she was hired by a friend for a full home renovation on a budget. Stephanie recalls.... "This is when I found my niche for design and Design by StephanieO began!".

 

Plenty of people need help making decisions when taking on a project. Stephanie truly believes everyone should be able to get the look they want, no matter what their budget is. 

 

Over the past 14+ years, Stephanie became a licensed real estate agent in Maryland and Washington DC. She also worked with an appraisal company and quickly learned all aspects of buying and selling a home. These strong skills enable Stephanie to offer her clients the best possible services. As the market shifted, staging become a necessity for selling your home for the best price. Stephanie soon became know as "the everything person". "I mean it when I say Stephanie can get anything done. She isn't afraid to get her hands dirty, even when it comes to cleaning, organizing and moving furniture in and out of your home. She'll even help you sort through all of your knick-nacks and help you decide what to keep, toss and donate! And, when it comes to things she doesn't do herself she'll bring someone in who can do it for you." - says Marjorie Dick Stuart (Realtor at Long and Foster).

 

Stephanie no longer is a licensed real estate agent but her past experience in this field has served her well. She helps homeowners make the best decisions with every aspect of buying, selling or renovating a home. As any busy parent knows, it is a challenge to balance work and all of your children's activities. Stephanie takes pride in having been able to raise her daughter while starting up and building her business through tough real estate markets and consistently changing times. Stephanie's world is busy and crazy. She has learned how to enbrace all kinds of changes (as things come while keeping everything under control). Family is so important to her and she knows it can be a big stress on your family life when you have to move (or deal with a project). Stephanie is happy to put her skills to work for her clients and alleviate as much stress as possible. She finds it a privilege that so many people trust her to help them navigate through some of the most important times in their lives. She truly knows how lucky she is to be able to do what she loves every day while helping others.

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Stephanie approaches every project with an exciting but calm attitude. She has a vision to get you as close to perfection as possible. She also has the ability to balance many things that can be challenging throughout these processes and reassures her clients every step of the way... that the final outcome will be worth it!