THE BEGINNING

What started as furnishing our Woodhouse, nestled in the Oakland hills, has become so much more. I saw a different path unfold in front of me and I leaned into it. I didn’t have a background in design. I didn’t have a background in sales or marketing but I had an idea of the life I wanted so I took a chance. There’s always been something stirring inside me that I couldn’t ignore. I dwelled on the uncertainty of starting over and reinventing myself but I ultimately left my career as a nurse to rebuild my life.

I wanted to create something of my own and fell in love with home decor and vintage sourcing. I’ll never forget coming home to a new laptop with a blue post-it that read, “This is for you to start your own business- Love Zak” I wouldn’t be where I am today without the love and support of @zakelfassi. Thank you for investing time and energy into helping me build my site and teaching me how to use Photoshop to create clean visuals. You brought my dream to life, always encouraged me to stay curious and you bring out the absolute best in me. Also, sorry for breaking the code on the site numerous times trying to be an engineer like you thinking I could “fix things.”

INK + PORCELAIN was built to create, share and curate. A destination for timeless home decor featuring stories of female creatives in the design space. I decided to use this platform to share a fully curated shopable edit that reflects my personal style with affordability in mind. While some of the posts on @inkandporcelain are years old, it’s a reminder of something that I had wanted to do for a long time. If one thing is for sure, it’s that there’s more coming. This is just the beginning and I’m excited to share this journey with you all. 

This launch wouldn’t have happened without the special help of a few others. This week is all about gratitude and I’m thankful for:

Lauren Sloate- for being our editor, first customer and biggest supporter.

Monica Lo- for all the advice on how to build a small business and for keeping me in check when I hesitated.

Emma Rubenstein- for our long chats when I struggled before and after I left my career and the reassurance of what I’m working towards.

Mackenzie Smith- for believing in our brand and being our incredible photographer for products.