Today we’d like to introduce you to Carolyn Pritchett Aponte.
Hi Carolyn, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I began my career in Interior Design in New York City as a Technical Project Specialist for the iconic furniture company Knoll, Inc. (now MillerKnoll). In this role, I developed custom furniture applications for high-profile clients, cultivating a deep, nuanced understanding of the custom product process.
From there, I transitioned into residential design, joining JD Bell, Inc. as an Interior Designer. While overseeing a high-end renovation of a 2,000-square-foot Tribeca loft, I discovered a passion for construction management and went on to join Soho Construction Group in that capacity. Working alongside my crew on-site deepened my command of construction processes—an education I consider the most formative of my career.
What began as a side hustle in New York City in 2010, and was fully realized in Austin in 2017, has grown into CPID Renovations and Interiors: a licensed, full-service Interior Design and Renovation Management firm serving Austin, the Hill Country, and beyond. I believe that interior design and construction are inextricably linked—vision and craftsmanship are inseparable, each incomplete without the other.
I am a native of Fairhope, Alabama and earned my degree in Interior Design and Art History from The University of Alabama before spending the first twelve years of my career in New York City. I now resides in Austin, Texas, with my husband, daughter, and two cats.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Shortly after I moved to Austin and launched my company, life handed me a few unexpected challenges. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and faced a difficult road to fertility. My husband and I were thankfully able to conceive, but my pregnancy was far from easy. I battled hyperemesis for the first half of it, which meant pausing my first full-scope project in Austin for several months. We wrapped it just before my daughter arrived. The home turned out beautifully and just in time to welcome our baby girl.
I decided to take a year off to soak up those early days with her. Just as that year came to a close, COVID hit, and the preschool she was set to attend closed its doors for good. So once again, I put the growth of my business on hold, this time until early 2021.
Then, in a lovely full-circle moment, a former client from my NYC days reached out. They had relocated to Dallas during the pandemic and asked me to design and renovate their 1913 Prairie-style home in Old East Dallas. That project brought me back into my career with renewed energy, and it went on to win first place in the ASID Celebrating Design Awards in their Texas competition.
Navigating health issues, motherhood, and a growing business has been a true roller coaster. However, every twist has taught me resilience, and to trust that whatever comes my way is shaping the story I’m meant to tell.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about CPID Renovations and Interiors?
CPID Renovations and Interiors is a licensed, full-service interior design and renovation management firm based in Austin. We design, build, and install kitchens, baths, and whole-home renovations, and we carry every project from the first sketch to the final pillow on installation day. Our clients have a single point of contact the whole way through, and one team accountable for the result.
What sets us apart is that I speak two languages fluently: design and construction. Ive seen firsthand how much can be lost between a beautiful drawing and the finished room, so I keep design and construction under one roof. Millwork, lighting, plumbing, and finish details are resolved on paper with the right trades before anyone picks up a tool. That means fewer surprises, fewer costly change orders, and much less fatigue for the homeowner. A design on paper is nothing if it can’t be brought to life on time and on budget.
We offer three ways to work together. Our Full Scope Design and Build service unites design, documentation, procurement, and in-house construction in one seamless engagement. Our Furnishings, Color, and Installation service brings a home to life through furniture, textiles, lighting, window treatments, and cosmetic upgrades, thoughtfully blended with the pieces our clients already treasure. And for clients building or remodeling in Austin and the Hill Country who can’t be on site every day, I serve as their Owner’s Representative, advocating for them and protecting their investment from team selection through the final punch list. I also love partnering with fellow interior designers as their contractor and project manager, translating their vision into built reality with the care it deserves.
Brand-wise, I’m proudest of the trust our clients place in us. Renovation can feel daunting and mysterious, and clients often tell me we made the process approachable, even fun. I’m also deeply honored that our Munger Place restoration in Dallas earned first place for Residential Historic Preservation in the 2023 ASID Texas Celebrating Design Awards, and that our restoration of a century-old family cottage in the Thousand Islands was featured in Cottage Life Magazine in 2025. Both projects reflect what I love most: respecting a home’s history while making it work beautifully for the family living in it today.
What I most want readers to know is that I never forget I’m working in someone’s home. It’s where they wake up, raise their kids, and gather the people they love. Inviting a designer and contractor into that space takes real trust. So I start by listening: how my client actually lives, what they hope will feel different, which inherited pieces they can’t imagine parting with. I learned how much a home matters when I was working to finish my first Austin project before my daughter was born. Nothing compares to walking into a space that’s finally ready for the life you’re about to live in it. That’s the feeling I want every client to have. Beauty is part of it, but what I’m really after is a home that feels like theirs, built carefully enough that it will serve them well for years to come.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I’ve been fortunate to have people in my corner who believed in me before I fully believed in myself. Leonard Bass and Sandy Friedman, the owners of Soho Construction Group in New York City, gave me my education in how great interiors actually get built. Working under them as a construction manager overseeing high-end renovations, I learned to read a job site, sequence a build-out, and solve problems in real time on projects where every detail mattered. They trusted me with a lot of responsibility, and the construction fluency I gained there is the foundation of how I run CPID today. I truly would not have the business I have without them.
I also owe a great deal to a former client tuned employer in NYC who hired me as their property manager after I completed construction on their Greenwich Village Penthouse. They saw how much I loved design and encouraged me to keep pursuing it, even while I was working full time for them. I began taking on design projects on the side, and that side hustle quietly became the beginning of my company. i can’t share their name for privacy purposes, but their encouragement came at exactly the moment I needed it. I think of them often, and I hope they know how much I enjoyed working with them as their construction manager and as their employee.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.carolynpritchett.com
- Instagram: @cpidatx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cpidatx/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolynpritchett/
- Other: https://share.google/F4HF8mxg5Kyh2iHff
