Daily Inspiration: Meet Paige Van Rensselaer-Kunkle

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paige Van Rensselaer-Kunkle.

Hi Paige, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in a small private community in the town of Laguna Beach. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was surrounded by and influenced by amazing strong women with impeccable style (plus Laguna is an artist’s colony) including my own mother, who was a decorator in her own right. My mother loved to collect antiques and decorate for the seasons – our home literally went through a metamorphosis for every holiday, something I carried over into my own family and home. After a series of corporate jobs post-college, I was newly married and laid off from a job I hated. At the time, I was helping a friend who started a bucket flower stand on Balboa Island, this was very natural for me as I always loved flower gardening and design. When the opportunity to open a flower shop of my own came about, I was hesitant. With my husband’s encouragement, I moved forward and did it on my own. I didn’t have any formal training, but loved flowers and gardening and was a quick learner. The store, Les Belles Fleurs was a success.

I ventured into custom topiaries (ahead of the trend) and taught myself everything I needed to know about flowers, gardening, garden design and running a small business. I eventually gained a good reputation and following and began doing flowers for major events and weddings across Southern California. This was the formal start of my career in not only floral, garden and patio design but also Interior Design. One of the highlights of my flower design career was doing flowers for visiting VIP guests at the then Four Season Hotel in Newport Beach. The guest was so thrilled with her arrangements that she declared I was to be her local floral source (I had the opportunity to deliver custom floral arrangements to her many more times) and this guest was none other than Martha Stewart, who was in town for a book signing, The business grew and I reached a point where I knew I wanted to start a family, and knew the grueling and labor-intensive work of owning a flower and garden business (it is a wonderful business, but not as glamorous as most think) would be a challenge, so I decided to sell the store. I continued to take on events and continued with decorating. While I owned the flower shop, it naturally led to clients asking me to design gardens and help decorate their homes for the holidays. That led to requests to help design and decorate their homes and help design custom furniture.

I took a hiatus from business for about 10 years to raise my two wonderful children (while still continuing to help family and close friends with design needs for their homes). During this time, when my children were older, I also had the wonderful opportunity to get involved in the philanthropic community in Orange County and had the incredible privilege to chair several galas for some wonderful organizations, including the Friends of the Santa Ana Zoo, the Orange County Symphony, Opera Pacific’s Opera Ball and also supported several committees for Harvesters, supporting the Orange County Second Harvest Food Bank and 44 women for Orange Wood. During this time I was approached by Newport Harbor High School to have our home featured in the Newport Harbor Home Tour. Unfortunately, the home they wanted to feature we had just sold and the one we had bought was a major “project”. We were doing some work on our new home to make it livable for a year so we could get a feel for the home and the property with plans to knock it down in a year and rebuild a formal French-style home. The home was in major disrepair but had an amazing view and location and all the makings for a wonderful family and entertaining home. We began the initial minor renovations, and the Newport Harbor Home tour committee remained persistent on wanting to feature our home (now the new home) in the upcoming home tour. In a moment of weakness (probably after a cocktail) I acquiesced and agreed to have our home featured. Now the pressure was on. The home was a single-story mid-century modern with a flat roof, 12-foot ceilings, ne’er a 90-degree angle to be found and a significant amount of pink quartz and deferred maintenance. I arrived with a treasure trove of French antiques and plein-air art.

Needless to say, we blew through our “make it livable” budget and were hanging art and window treatments the day before the home tour. I was preparing to put a sign in front that this was an example of a “home in the process of being remodeled”. My husband refused to buy all new modern furniture to match the house (especially given our plans to knock it down in a year), so I incorporated my French antiques, and art and a few mid-century pieces and declared the style “French Eclectic”. It was a huge success and in the home received rave reviews during tour. Then the financial crisis of 2008/2009 hit and we were hit very hard. All plans to knock the home down and rebuild it were put on hold. (I also ended up starting my own Jewelry line during this time and even opened a boutique) But by that time, we had fallen in love with the original mid-century architecture and thought it would be a tragedy to knock this amazing structure down. We ultimately sold the house. I always say my husband went to coffee and sold my home without my permission. We were often approached by local Realtors with Buyers interested in our home, even though it wasn’t on the market and usually allowed them to show it. We received an unsolicited offer (or my husband did over coffee) and we decided to sell.

At that point, we decided to move to the Peninsula Point, somewhere my husband had always wanted to live. Peninsula Point is a small, quaint neighborhood in Newport at the very end of the Newport Peninsula, with the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Newport Bay on the other. We literally moved into a beach shack, but it was steps to the beach and there was nothing better than making a craft martini and walking over to the beach to watch the sunset. It was during this time that a girlfriend had contacted me to help her redo her home on Lido Island to prepare it to sell. Thus launched me back into interior design endeavors. My girlfriend’s home turned out beautifully and sold quickly and she engaged me to design her new home, also on Peninsula Point. The neighbors liked what I was doing and asked for my card and eventually hired me to do their home. Since then, all of my business has been word of mouth and referrals. I have been blessed to help design beautiful homes and spaces across Southern California, homes for clients in Tennessee, Montana, Colorado, Puerto Penasco/Rocky Point, and recently several projects in a town I have fallen in love with, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I have also been blessed to meet some amazing artisans in San Miguel though whom I have been manufacturing furniture and lightening for projects in both Mexico and the US.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It hasn’t always been easy, through success and failure I’ve learned many lessons. Working in the Interior design industry, every day is a learning lesson for sure. I’ve had to wear many hats and maneuvering and being the go-between often for both client and contractor. Also learning to juggle friendships, wearing the friend hat and the designer hat (that has been challenging more than once) learning that my own life struggles, that I couldn’t let that show through to my clients and always having to have a smile and be “On”. Emotionally that can take a huge toll on a person. I had to learn how to deflect and not be emotional. However, the reward of bringing a client’s dream and vision to reality and creating a space and a home that is both their sanctuary and a place they will cherish as they celebrate with their family and entertain their friends brings me incredible joy.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an Interior Designer. Most of my projects are either from ground up or major remodels. I work alongside with the architects and contractors from the beginning to end including the installation and move in. And acquiring Art. We work on both the Interiors and exteriors creating inspired spaces across cultures and countries. We also have done very simple projects and ‘freshen ups” as I like to refer to these smaller projects. I also have been designing and manufacturing my own line of upholstered furniture along with lighting and mirrors. Since I LOVE entertaining I have also incorporated that into my business, creating cocktails, recipes and teaching flower arranging and decorating tips on my YouTube channel. I am a very hands-on designer from start to finish. I like to joke that I am basically a major problem solver with really, really good taste!

What does success mean to you?
I would say that success in my business is hearing from my clients weeks, months and years later, telling me how much they truly love their home and appreciate all the timeless little details that went into bringing their vision to fruition and creating a space to enjoy and flourish in for years to come.

Success in life is having wonderful loving and supportive friendships with family and friends, Family is always first!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.paigekunkledesigns.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paigekunkledesigns
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paigekunklehome
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@paigekunkledesigns

Image Credits
Somnu Media