Today we’d like to introduce you to Crystal Taylor
Crystal, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Art, creativity and entrepreneurialism has always been apart of my life. My paternal grandmother was a music teacher at the elementary school that I attended and she was also a painter. My maternal grandmother loved shopping, fashion and was a seamstress. My parents met in choir in college and owned a restaurant when I was a kid. My great grandparents on my dad’s side were also business owners and rented out cabins on the Frio River. I grew up loving art projects assigned by my teachers in grade school and took part in black & white, film, photography classes all throughout my high school days. My love for fashion design and styling started in high school too. I remember the first time I put on an outfit that made me feel good about myself and individualized. Before, I was just another “copy and paste” version of all the other girls. When I was in college, I got pregnant my senior year and luckily was able to finish my degree and then purchased my first home a year later. The transition into motherhood was rough. I lost my identity, put on a significant amount of weight for the first time in my life and didn’t recognize the person staring back at me in the mirror. I also suffered from postpartum depression. None of my clothes fit and that is when I channeled my artistic energy into interior design. I had no clue what I was doing in that first home of mine, but you got to start somewhere. I experimented, hated everything I did at first, but the creativity helped me work through my depression. I saw how it could revitalize me. Fast forward to 2020 and I decided to put a heavier emphasis into interior styling and design. I was (and still am) working a corporate job and found that I was losing myself again. I started my instagram page and my handle name is a nickname that my husband gave me. I was wearing Chacos, running shorts and a Gucci fanny pack (the infamous one that Carrie Bradshaw wears in SATC) to go tour historic homes in the city that the Heritage Association of SM was putting on. He looked at me and said, “okay Gucci granola.” The nick name made a lot of sense to me so I ran with it. My husband and I moved to San Marcos in 2015 for work and purchased a home that was built in 1907. It needed, and still needs, a lot of work. We didn’t start remodeling until 2020 though. Slowly but surely we have been renovating the home room by room. Some help from General Contractors and some work we’ve done 100% ourselves. You can see the progress so far on my Instragram. I have an eclectic style and I love color. My dream would be to finish renovating my home and then move on to other projects. I’d love to do interior design full time. One thing that I’ve always known is that creativity would be a part of my life. Creating is therapeutic for me and I couldn’t imagine not having a way to express myself.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
This journey has not been a smooth road. Having challenges and obstacles to overcome are a good thing though. It is how I learn and get better. It took me a while to understand that failure is actually success. Challenges that I’ve had are juggling working a full time, corporate job, having kids and renovating a house that I am also living in. I didn’t realize that it is a luxury to not live in a home while it is being renovated. Living in a house while you’re working through major home renovations is the definition of crazy. Our kitchen was a full gut remodel, we had to put together a “camp kitchen” in the room that is now my closet and were washing dishes in the bathtub for 4 months. Finding the funding to renovate my home was also another challenge and why it took five years for the renovations to start. I ignorantly thought that it would only cost $50K to do all the renovations. A third challenge for me was finding my voice and specific style. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve redecorated my kid’s room, my fire mantel or the open shelving in my kitchen. I always think that I should get it right on the first attempt and have to remind myself that it is okay if I don’t. I am my worst critic. I have been better lately at showing myself some grace. I can struggle with putting together a design when I am overwhelmed by my corporate job, kid activities and laundry. I find my brain shutting down when I have too much on my plate.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
What I am known for is color and whimsy. I was an emo, art kid in high school, always dressing in all black, so I find it hilarious now that my interior design is the opposite of that. I want my designs to be happy. I like the “unexpected” and I’d rather my home be a conversation starter because of the “odd” color choices that I made. I am about to remodel my home office (I work a full time, corporate job from home) and I think that room will be my favorite once it is done, but right now, the design that I am most proud of is my laundry room. The laundry room is connected to my closet. Which is a functional feature that I appreciate. The laundry room before was the “random, junk room.” The washer and dryer were in there too, but you had to step over piles of random, junk to get to them. It was embarrassing. When designing the laundry room, I knew I wanted it to be non-claustrophobic. I am not sure what is up with home builders thinking that it is okay for laundry rooms to be tiny closets or always connected to the garage. Traditionally, the garage is a main entry point to a home and I don’t want to walk through my dirty laundry to get into my home. I am happy that that is not the case in my current home. I wanted to do a fun, blue color on the floors, trim and doors and compliment the blue with a whimsical wallpaper. This room used to be part of the wrap around porch, so the floors slant downward and it was the only room in the house that didn’t have shutters. I had to figure out window treatments and went with neutral shades and pink curtains. The overall design, to me, is fun and makes me happy every time I walk in there.
How do you think about luck?
I am lucky to have a husband that is both handy and helpful. When we got married, I didn’t know how handy he was and he didn’t reveal these skills until 2022. We had hired a GC to complete the kitchen remodel and he ended up leaving before the project was finished. My husband stepped up to the plate and finished our kitchen remodel. He also helped with our bedroom and laundry room remodel. He built shelves in our hallway closet so that I could organize all my kitchenware and he built the chicken coop in the backyard. I am also lucky and grateful that I’ve been able to acknowledge my struggles with mental health.. If I had never discovered therapy, I don’t think my home would be remodeled right now. Depression can take you to a dark place and it did with me many, many times.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guccigranolah/
Image Credits
All photos are photos I have taken myself on my phone with the exception of the kitchen photo. That was taken by Twist Tours (Caleb Ruckel is actual photographer who works/worked at Twist).
