Meet your Designer
A Personal and Professional History
I was born into a family of artists and designers. The value of creating beauty was instilled in me on all fronts including home decor, apparel, and music. As an Egyptian/American raised in Texas, and having lived and travelled abroad, I have a fascination with people, the psychology of beauty, style, and culture; and I have mastered the art of re-inventing myself in various right-brained endeavors through 6 relocations. This has given me an important understanding of what home needs to be, beyond how it looks. With this comes a passion for what's "real" in our homes. Sentimental pieces, vintage pieces... a style that suits you and your family very personally are of utmost importance. My children had 7 bedrooms growing up, and my son recently declared: “Even though all the houses we’ve lived in have been totally different, they have all looked like us.” A priceless statement to a Mom who desperately wanted to give them the feeling of stability throughout all of the changes.
As a graduate of Baylor University, I began my professional life as an IT consultant, spending 10 years doing relational database design and development. I developed the first scheduling system for trading megawatts of power at the inception of the industry in the late 90’s. I designed and managed shuttle software databases filled with change requests and discrepancy reports at Johnson Space Center in Houston, and eventually I was negotiating my own high dollar contracts in a man’s world.
Spit-fire, right? And then I quit.
Upon becoming a stay at home Mom, I did various creative hobbies from selling custom floral arrangements off of a card table in my dining room to creating custom light fixtures out of bicycle rims, glass stars, and glass buckets with live beta fish! I had many eccentric creations, including a 12’ tall shower curtain made of old windows assembled with s-hooks and dangling from a railroad tie chained to the ceiling. Every wall was faux finished at midnight with some interesting texture such as denim, linen, glazes, and hand-made stencils. It was always a sorrowful experience to leave behind a trail of beauty in each home I tenderly curated for our family after only a few years as my husband’s job relocated us. However, an artist can never have enough palettes. And my homes were mine.
2011-2013
My creative history includes the fulfillment of a life-long dream as a Music Artist in the Musical Capital of Europe: Prague, CZ.
An excerpt from my Memoir:
“We made our new home in the utterly enchanting Old Towne Square with its unspoiled architecture, cobblestone streets, and unending spires. We Lived on the top floor of a Renaissance house which was the home-of-origin to a Czech composer [a contemporary of Mozart] on Melantrichova Street, named after the Medieval writer, Melantrich. This powerful energy invaded my spirit, and lyrics flowed prolifically as I wrote song after song at midnight, on the toilet, in the bathtub, on walks. I busked in the cobblestone alley at dusk with the sunlight fading over the pastel hues of old world stone walls, and listeners started to gather. I was brought flowers and perfume. I soon started filling up small venues. My opportunities grew, and I won a semi-finalist award in the International Songwriters Competition for my song, King of Steady, written about my marriage. I became the #1 Singer Songwriter on the Reverb Nation Charts in the Czech Republic a year and a half to the day I first busked in front of 13 Melantrichova Street.”
My reward to myself and the world was an opportunity to record with famous musicians in Nashville and New York, leaving a legacy of EP's and singles that can be heard on any music streaming platform. I even use my musical sensitivity in my design process; I hear music, I see spaces!
Feature on HGTV
Our family was honored to be selected as guests on the HGTV show Living Abroad in 2012 featuring American Expats in Prague. We staged a gorgeously renovated apartment in the above described home built in the year 1616. The morning of the filming, my daughter (10 years old at the time) leaped out of bed, threw on her “Life Loves Me” T-shirt and her Michael Jackson trilby and declared, “Mamma, I was MADE for this!”. It was a time our family felt seen after the hardship of so many moves. A time my talent would shine in a way that I never new would support me in a future (now my current) venture.
2014-2020
Our flying carpet landed in Westport, CT, where I employed my skills at Terrain, a famous home and garden center. I serviced the likes of Martha Stewart, Anne Hathaway, Susan Sarandon and others. Our next relocation brought us back to Texas in 2020.
2020-Present
Upon becoming an empty nester, the time was right. I achieved a Diploma from the Interior Design Institute of San Francisco and opened Liz Gabriel Interiors as a sole proprietorship. After completing our first design for a $1 million dollar renovation, we grew into an LLC with various service levels. Over time we refined our mission statement:
“Our mission is to create one-of-a-kind, story-telling spaces that cater to the rhythms and patterns of your daily lifestyle, emboldening you to aesthetically share your soul and to experience healing through the elixir of beauty in self-reflection.”
Best Selling Author
As my design blog and songwriting exhibit, I am a passionate writer. I was commissioned to write my memoir in a best selling anthology, published by Lori Dixon in April, 2024. Through my writings I have developed another heartfelt passion: Encouraging others by sharing my story & lifestyle with wisdom and experiences on how to cope with the emotional highs and lows that come with being a classic and quirky creator. Beauty heals. No one can understand that better than I can. And no one can give you a more beautifully nurturing environment in your home than we can.
My Faith
As a spiritually sensitive follower of Jesus, I believe with all of my heart that God and ‘the walls’ have loved, protected, and empowered me over the years. And we want your walls to love and empower you, too!
The Walls © Liz Gabriel
The walls loved me
When I was down and out and lonely
The walls held me
When I could not find a friend
When all the changes took their toll
And I could not see the end
The walls loved me. The walls held me.
Until I left again
It’s been an honor to share my story. I hope it is a great inspiration for your own journey. Please share yours with us in the comments or via email! I relish the uniqueness of every individual's journey and passions, always aiming to reflect them in your sacred spaces.
With Unconditional Love,
Liz