We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dina Selva a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dina, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I decided to pursue Interior Design to not only grow and develop my creative side, but to also satisfy the desire to help others experience joy through design. It all started during a stay in a newly built Upscale Brand hotel, I remember my brain just felt so visually stimulated perusing through all the architecture, design choices in textures, colors, flooring, and artwork.  
  There was something waking up in my brain that was just bursting with desire to uncover the Why’s and How’s of Design.  I knew that I felt alive in that space, while also feeling a sense of tranquility and I needed to know how those two could co-exist. 

I was eager to soak in all that knowledge and now I feel both enlightened and empowered to help others as I continue to satisfy the desire to bring beauty into daily life. Surrounding yourself with things that bring you joy is vital.  We know this when it comes to the other fundamental elements in life, like with friends, family, or your job but don’t always know how to apply that to our physical space. 
I believe this to be a new mission for me.

Dina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Being that my initial degree was in pharmacy, I think it was the science behind design that started this whole mission for me. I knew there had to be a rhyme and reason why you feel happier in some spaces than others and my training through the Interior Design Institute’s Darren Palmer Master Series was like quenching a thirst that was lingering inside of me. It helped my scientific side to understand while simultaneously sparking the creative side of my brain to begin working to find the balance in design that brings about the joy. The greatest compliment I receive from my clients is hearing how much they love spending time in their new space or how they sneak a peak and smile every time they walk past their newly designed room . It just warms my heart because in the end, that is my goal. It is my desire to bring joy and harmony to others through design. I want my clients to know that is what drives me in creating their space.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

So far, word of mouth has been one of my greatest source of new clients. I started off doing jobs for family members and when their friends or extended families would see what I had done, they would reach out. I also met a realtor/real estate photographer whom I hired to take some professional shots of a home I had staged. He has since then referred me to several clients for staging consults and full-stage jobs for his real estate clients. My business is still very young and I am hopeful that as my social media presence increases that I will also be finding new clients through those platforms as well.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I would say that I am constantly “re-learning” as opposed to “unlearning”. It is very easy for me to undercharge for my services because I do believe my generous heart wants to be sure that good design is achievable for all budgets. Plus between mine and my husbands’ extensive families, I was frequently inclined to offer “family discounts”. I have to continually remind myself that my worth and value as a designer is spoken to others via my fees and my language needs to be consistent so that I may continue to offer and deliver consistently good results. In the end, what my clients will feel when they enjoy the spaces I have created for them will far outweigh the monies they spent. If I want my clients to see my worth, it is something I need to project with confidence. That is a lesson that I truly believe is worth “re-learning”.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.4HavensDesign.com
• Instagram: @4HavensDesign

Image Credits
@Brooksandcophoto