Joyce Robinson was a stand-out artist in high school. Design, printing, painting, drawing, sewing—you name it. She attended art school for a year which helped her realize her passion for graphic design, but when she enrolled in a university a year later, she ended up choosing photography for her art degree emphasis. She graduated and worked a few years in a darkroom, and stated, “all that time in the dark helped me see the light!” She finally decided to pursue a career in graphic design by going back to school. After graduating she had a great combination of both photography and graphic design experience.

Before relocating to Portland, Joyce spent 28 years in Colorado and had a variety of careers including a graphic designer, art director, photographer, and stylist for national quilting magazines. Throughout this time, she discovered her love for architecture and interior design. Joyce had the opportunity to explore her love for interior design by building two custom homes, remodeling a log home and also a few condos. She attributes her love and passion for design to her childhood. “My dad had been into drafting and had dream home plans on the drafting table for years. I guess he started me out young thinking about homes and design. I used to love to draw up floorplans for my bedroom and then rearrange the furniture.” But it wasn’t until recently that she decided to take her passion further by pursuing a career in interior design.

Joyce was in the midst of remodeling her kitchen and brainstorming finishes with Leland at Urban Timberworks when she realized her next career step was interior design. “I kept running across the Heritage ads online, and they kept calling out to me, in a whisper at first. The beautiful spaces in the photography and all of the success stories touched me.” Deciding to take this next step in her career wasn’t easy though. Joyce was recovering from the loss of her mom as well as a steady decline in referrals and freelance graphic design clients. “It was time to face what felt like a mid-life crisis! I wanted to find meaningful employment and I found inspiration at Heritage School of Interior Design.”

After meeting with Amy and Stephanie, Joyce gained the courage to take the next step towards a career that she loves. Since coming to Heritage everything seems to be falling in to place for Joyce. Her design skills have transferred nicely into interior design from typography, having an eye for photography, arranging product and props for the camera, color and fabric selection skills, mixing pattern and texture, finishing and sewing techniques, branding and more!  “It just feels right. You know, the shoe fits. I am loving all of the lessons, visiting the showrooms, designing under pressure, and having a big project and “real” client is great hands-on experience. It is also wonderful to be present in a room full of designers—designers of all ages with talent and similar career goals. I’m thankful and I’ve been smiling a lot.”

After graduating from Heritage, Joyce see’s herself designing residential spaces. She would also love to design a line of products and custom art and furniture pieces. “I’ve named my company Interior Design Joy. I will design for others and hope to share a special joy that is possible to experience through custom interior design.”