Community Highlights: Meet Catie Bouchard of Inkplot

Today we’d like to introduce you to Catie Bouchard.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, specifically in Glendale, California. I am the daughter of two incredible parents who worked in the industry. My mother was a television producer for NBC, and my dad retired as one of the camera operators for The Dr. Phil Show. Growing up on set, behind the scenes, and around the Production-Crew is where I first fell in love with all things design. I would go on to study Design at Cal State University Long Beach, where I found a deep affinity for furniture design. But it was not until after college that I felt like a real designer and started designing custom furniture. There is something so special about putting something down on paper and driving around Los Angeles to meet with different manufacturing vendors watching the process of your drawing come to life. It was my favorite part about being an Industrial Designer. I worked for Tangram Studio, now known as Studio Other, for about seven years until I left to pursue a deep passion of mine. In 2014, I decided I wanted to do something more important to me than furniture design. I wanted to help people.

I was looking out the window, enjoying a small cube of cheese with a glass of wine, overlooking downtown LA from the top of the PacMutual Building, when I noticed a woman on the street. This woman, who I assume was experiencing homelessness, was taking her dinner out of a trash can while I was not enjoying the bite-sized, overpriced hors d’oeuvres. It occurred to me at that moment that I wanted to serve a different clientele. My heart broke. I felt God was calling me out of the design industry and into an opportunity to love my neighbor. But what did that look like? How do we love our neighbor? For me, it started with a simple heart’s desire that led to a simple name, Pen & Napkin.

Today, Pen & Napkin is a 9-year-old 501(c)3 Non-Profit design community that activates creative professionals to solve needs in their communities. I had the honor of completing over 50 projects in Southern California, where I applied my interior design skills to furnishing and decorating homes for families and individuals transitioning out of homelessness. The most recent project I completed was for a safe house for women transitioning out of human trafficking and the sex trade industry in Los Angeles, called Cherished LA. As you can imagine, the work Pen & Napkin does is rewarding but can take a toll on you when you start to see that the needs all around us never seem to go away. So, I decided to stop fishing and start teaching people to fish. In other words, I started training other designers to look for needs in their community, encouraging them and coming alongside them so they can help too! Today we are a community of over 330 designers that spans the US in 48 states. Anyone can do a Pen & Napkin project. You can sign up to volunteer on our website.

In 2019, I was ready to re-enter the design industry. A friend asked me to create a rendering for a set he was building. There I was again, swept away by the magic of Set Design! As I said before, I grew up on Set and was fed by craft services and raised by the camera crew. I remember hiding behind couches in-between takes and would help prop stylists reset the sets with polaroid reference pictures (not to age myself). I was finally doing Set Design for some incredible YouTube personalities and television commercials. I still do the occasional Set Design project here and there. But Set Design is very demanding! And between being married, a mother of four little girls, running a non-profit, and homeschooling – I get to be more selective now when choosing my next project.

Lately, I have been enjoying designing for my Airbnb clients. One of my favorite projects has to be The Lightfoot Cabin! The cabin is in Dwell Magazine, which is humbling, and in some other amazingly kind articles by well-known travel bloggers like Callie Thorpe & Levi Kelly. The most exciting project to date has to be my first rental property. We hope to be ready for reservations on May 1st of this year in Lake Havasu City, Arizona! We are calling it Casa Castaway. This property will be a beautiful retreat for couples to enjoy and unwind. I cannot wait to share this home with couples looking to get away. If you are like me and love a good before and after, join us in the final stretch of our completely reimaged seventies adobe-style home on my Instagram @Inkplotco or #casacastawy. This home has been a tranquil space for my husband and me. I can only hope it brings peace to every couple who stays here in the future.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the greatest challenges I have ever faced was selling our home in California so we could buy our first rental investment property. We sold everything and moved into a 28′ travel trailer with our girls while we looked for a property. I was pregnant with our fourth when we gutted and renovated the Casa Castaway together. As beautiful as it is to design and build a house with your husband, it has its challenges, mostly because my ideas are too expensive, according to my husband. The kids struggled a little bit in the beginning, letting go of the excess number of toys and things, but really that turned out to be one of the best things we could have done for them. My kids are now, more than ever before, generous with everything they have. As much as we faced challenges, we enjoyed unforgettable moments I will cherish forever.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Inkplot?
Funny enough, “Inkplot” came to me in the shower! I remember I jumped out, grabbed my towel, and raced to my computer, tracking water through the house to see if “Inkplot” was taken. I loved how it tied into my non-profit Pen & Napkin but also spoke to the design world. Plotters are known for printing architectural drawings or plans, so I took a known word like Inkblot and changed it to Inkplot! From there, I was excited to re-enter the design space because I had been involved in charity work for five years and was ready for more. I specialize in the design process. I enjoy helping my clients define their design style or vision for their space. I firmly believe that good design comes out of good collaboration. I love working with my clients. We design together every step of the way. By the end of the experience, I want my clients to feel they can take just as much credit as I can for the result. What I am most proud of, to date, has to be the collection of cabins I have had the pleasure of designing, especially the a-frame ones! A-frames are such a challenge but also such a joy to work with. Right now, I really want to continue working with my clients with investment properties because I believe I know what makes a successful Airbnb. I want to pass on what I have learned to anyone interested in making their rental space a unique experience for their guests!

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
The role of luck has played a role in my life and business. I know I was so lucky to have grown up in Los Angeles. I know living in LA is a dream for so many people, and I was lucky enough to not only be born in the City of Angels but be completely molded by all its quirks and charms. Another stroke of luck was meeting my mentor at Tangram Studio (Studio Other), Charlotte Wiederholt. She was my boss and my mentor. Charlotte is an inspiring designer who inspired and encouraged me to pursue Pen & Napkin! Instead of telling me to stay and help her continue to grow the Studio, she told me she always saw my wings. Without her support, I would not have had the courage to quit a job I loved to pursue a dream I didn’t know anything about. Lastly, the luckiest moment of my life has to be walking into my high school gym and meeting my future husband. No, I didn’t know he would be my husband when our couch introduced us. Frankly, I didn’t even know he was interested in me until nine years later. But I am so glad we found each other all those years later because I would have never had the courage to start a non-profit, become a mother, raise a family, build a design business, and build a life together – if it weren’t for his relentless love for me. Our family is the reason I love doing what I do so much.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @inkplotco

Image Credits
Photographer: Heather Gundersen @heatherdawnphoto (portraits, casa castaway images) Lightfoot Cabin Photographer: Chase Charifa @lightfootcabin (lightfoot cabin interior and exterior images) Rendering & Moodboard by: Catie Bouchard @inkplotco