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An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

RINSE AND REPEAT- Repetition is the next key to creating a joyful space. Through the picking process, you will start to see some patterns forming of what your gut is attracted to. The design elements that make you feel good. Maybe it’s a metal finish that keeps popping up, or contemporary shapes and forms. or a specific color that steals the show. Follow down that path with a few more picks. Specifically, try to visualize where everything is going and if you haven’t repeated that common thread on the left side of the room yet, for example, it may be time to do so.

As part of my series on the “5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lance Thomas.

Spearheaded by Lance Thomas and Drew Hoffpauir, Louisiana-based Thomas Guy Interiors is a dynamic full-service interior design firm celebrating an evocative, curated style — where traditional meets current and eclectic. From classic estates to contemporary abodes, Lance and Drew team up to bring an elevated design to a variety of charming spaces.

Thomas Guy Interiors’ southern traditional roots mixed with current and modern edge brings a sophisticated sense of style to each and every project. Lance and Drew pride themselves on working closely with their clients to capture and evoke their individuality. Through their efforts to give each project a clear voice, the duo believes that each person should feel comfortable implementing their personal aesthetic throughout their home.

Thank you so much for joining us in this series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I grew up watching and admiring my mom’s knack for decorating. I vividly remember the TV being frozen on 90’s home network shows. Divine Design by Candace Olsen, Color Splash with David Bromstad, and Designer’s Challenge were some of our favorites. Being from a small town in Southwest Louisiana I never knew that there was a school degree you could take. So, I went on my way earning BFAs, MFAs, etc. in graphic design, art direction, and the like. Sort of circling my real passion for interior design like a knowledge buzzard. Through a series of wild career happenstances, I stumbled into a casting call for an HGTV reality competition show called Design Star. I knew I had never actually done interior decorating before, but I grew up around it, learned a lot from my mother, and was confident I had something to say in this field. I knew Color Theory and General Design History, etc. from my schooling so I said, “Why not?” Lucky for me, the casting agent recognized my accent as she, too, was from small-town Louisiana. She gave me some amazing pointers and homework to do before the big final casting in New York City. And suddenly, I found myself on national television cast as a contestant on HGTV Design Star: White Room Challenge. While I did not win, I knew I could hang with the best.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

There was an iconic estate in town built by one of the earliest founders of Lake Charles. This property was riddled with aristocratic mystique and pirate folklore and was literally the cover of the phone book for as long as phone books were around. In short, it is the most iconic home in Lake Charles. It was purchased a few years back and was threatened to be torn down for development and was left to rot. In a wild series of exchanges, town halls, and business deals, my husband’s family purchased the property from the former owner for the sole reason of preserving a historic landmark. As the Hoffpauirs did not need or want a 14,000-square foot estate, complete with two carriage houses, a caretaker’s cottage, and a boathouse, we were then tasked with renovating and branding it as a Bed and Breakfast open to the public. We had a ton of help, but we renovated and had the place up and running in eight months. We called it the Della Belle, named after the original founder’s wife Della, who was notorious for her soirees and southern hospitality.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

Currently, we are completing one of the busiest years of our careers. Lake Charles was destroyed by two back-to-back hurricanes, followed by a record ice storm (the one that shut down the Texas grid and wreaked havoc on the furniture industry’s foam supply) AND not to mention one of the worst floods in recorded history. Shall I mention this was happening in tandem with COVID? Our town was hurting, clients of the past 10 years were rebuilding, and we were still working on a full load of current builds. Long story short, I don’t have a most exciting project per se, but I have an exciting year seeing all our clients, past and present moving back into their homes with their loved ones. Our homes are our safe space, and we played a large part in creating those spaces after a terribly unsafe year. These projects will forever hold a soft spot in our heart. These projects gave Thomas Guy Interiors and more importantly, our town, a sense of resiliency. We know we can overcome hardships, impossible workloads and deadlines, and personnel shortages.

AND… now that the light is at the end of the tunnel, we are finally getting to work on ourselves. We are repairing the damages to our own home, our new design studio, and peering our eyes at a second Thomas Guy Interiors in a city we fell in love with while evacuated.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Life is making a series of mistakes and knowing which ones to keep.

I’ve learned to enjoy trying and failing. Hopping onto an opportunity to see if it has the legs to run and hopping off if it doesn’t. Absorbing business lessons and crafting skills along the way. I’ve done graphic design, a reality show, designed and opened a wine bar, created a candle line, lived in six different cities… the list goes on and on. I’ve made mistakes along the way, but through these experiences, I’ve grown from the bad mistakes and have learned to keep the good ones. I like to call these good mistakes happy accidents. And the magic (in beautifully designed spaces and in life) are the happy accidents.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I can speak on behalf of myself and Drew on this one, but our parents have been a major support of both our relationship personally and professionally. In a small conservative town, this is not the norm. We have been extraordinarily fortunate to have families that support us. From a career standpoint, her name is Brandi Cox. She was my first customer in my humble little home decor store in town. She came in to see if I had a gold pumpkin for her Thanksgiving table. She saw something in me from the moment we met and has been my biggest cheerleader, champion, referral service, and client. She is now one of my dearest friends, tequila connoisseur, and market travel buddy.

Thank you for that. Here is the main question of our discussion. What are your “5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

I’m going to take some creative liberties if I may on this question and create a 5 STEP guide to a joyful space. We will also assume we are doing this plan within the constraints of budget, time, etc.

1.) PICK YOUR PRETTY- If I were a Teddy Ruxpin bear, this is what my cassette would say any time someone asks me how to make their space better: Pick your pretty. Do you love that piece of art? Great. Get it. Want a green velvet sofa? Perfect. Done. Don’t listen to the experts trying to sell you on the latest interior design fad or what the next Instagram-famous person’s new favorite color is. The goal of creating a beautiful space is to pick all of the things out there that make you happy (and there are an infinite number of beautiful things out there). There is no math equation to solve what your eye is attracted to. This is your gut speaking.

2.) RINSE AND REPEAT- Repetition is the next key to creating a joyful space. Through the picking process, you will start to see some patterns forming of what your gut is attracted to. The design elements that make you feel good. Maybe it’s a metal finish that keeps popping up, or contemporary shapes and forms. or a specific color that steals the show. Follow down that path with a few more picks. Specifically, try to visualize where everything is going and if you haven’t repeated that common thread on the left side of the room yet, for example, it may be time to do so.

3.) DON’T DO STEP #2- Allow me to explain. We’ve been selecting all the things that make us happy and joyful in steps one and two and doing what designers call “creating a story.” This is just shop talk for picking out beautiful things and repeating similar elements. In order to show Intention, we need to weave from all of the bobbing we’ve been doing. It says, “See? I meant to do a neutral color story with brass detailing because I specifically chose not to do it here.” You’ll hear a lot of designers call it creating tension in a space. The tension between “one of these things is not like the other” proves this idea of intention. This is the fearless, happy accident sort of selection I live for. These picks are very few in the selection process- one or two (or more if you feel adventurous). They still need to be something you love but let your inner child or mid-life crisis do the picking this time around. I, personally, have an inner old grandma that does my picking. The best way I can paint this picture is by referencing editorial magazines. You’ll see a space with gorgeous classical moldings, gilded Neoclassical art, antique Persian rugs, and then a pinto bean-looking sofa and a pile of sticks that are supposedly a side table. Now that may be a bit extreme for your personal taste. But these are the intention pieces I speak of.

4.) GET PERSONAL- We’ve painted a joyful picture thus far. We’ve trusted our guts and picked out a bunch of pretty. We’ve got our version of a pinto bean sofa. Now it’s time to pick with our hearts. Typically, these things are family heirlooms and artifacts collected over the years. Things that mean something to us and evoke memories and stories that make us joyful and thankful. Maybe it’s an old chair passed down generations that simply just needs to exist in an empty corner to serve as a memory- and occasionally an extra seat. Maybe it’s an old stopwatch that rests on the mantle. It may not work anymore, but that clock now serves a different function now. It serves as a decorative memory. These things are the real soul of the space. These things breathe life into a room and tell your personal story. This step of the process is what Thomas Guy does best. With all of our clients, we take design personally. Clients are often shocked as to how many of their heirlooms make it back into their spaces after we finish styling. They may have not been where they were or highlighted the way we chose to highlight them, but the personal heirlooms are the heart of the room. Our goal is to make our clients love their personal artifacts more than they did before. One last thing on getting personal. If you are a young person or just never really acquired artifacts, you can still get personal. Drew and I, for example, collect art every time we travel. Whether it’s a glass heart sculpture that sits on a book, or a set of vintage books themselves, every time we are out on a business or personal adventure and we find something that we love. We get it. We’ve been together for almost 5 years and every time we see that glass heart, it reminds us of that trip we took that one time.

5.) THROW A PARTY- When we finish a client’s home and have created the most joyful living space our personal expertise knows how; we tell our clients to throw a celebration party. For several reasons. 1.) Steps one through four mean so much more when you see people you love living, conversing, sitting, and laughing in your own personal home. Seeing how your space breathes with people in it sparks so much joy. 2.) It’s a litmus test of your efforts. We aim for an 8 out of 10 rule (I prefer a 6 out of 10 for my own personal spaces but that’s beside the point). We tell clients that at this party we aim for 8 out of 10 guests to absolutely rave about the space. They love everything! It’s gorgeous! They love the pinto bean sofa! Everything is so chic and joyful and wonderful! The other two, we hope to feel differently. Now you may be thinking, “why would someone want 2 guests to not like the space?” Here’s why: If everyone loves the space then we believe that not enough risks to show your personality were taken. A space can start to feel generic. If it is everyone’s personal taste, then is it really that personal to you? Now don’t get me wrong, these two outliers should still appreciate it, just not want to live in it. A joyful space should be a direct reflection of you. If a stranger crashed your party, would he/she be able to determine whose home it was based on the personalities in the room? The 8 out of 10 rule helps with the party crasher analogy.

5b.) THE AFTER PARTY- One last quick note to mention is that a joyful space is never complete. There is never really an end to the process. People evolve, interests change, life happens. Sometimes to maintain a joyful space is to continue adding and editing. Drew and I are constantly adding collectibles and swapping out accent tables, etc. simply because we stumble upon a side table that brings us more joy.

Be open to changing up your living spaces because the people that live in them change too.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Hinging off this Pick Your Pretty concept I’ve created, I would start a social media movement that focuses on showcasing all the things that people find joy in. I miss the days of social media where people posted pictures of beautifully plated food, pictures of their cats named Kitty Perry, or vacation sunsets over whiskey. Social media has become a cesspool of negativity and hatred. I used to love finding inspiration for color combos and design concepts etc. in random pretty pictures people posted. It’d be nice to create a space or a movement that cut through the noise of negativity with some Pictures of Pretty. Sounds a bit pedestrian of an idea for a movement, but I think sometimes the resolution to complicated issues needs to start somewhere simple and easily mobilized. Too complicated and no one moves in a movement.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this, especially if we tag them 🙂

Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent. Being both business and life partners like my husband and I, it would be a dream to have breakfast (with mimosas of course) with the two of them to discuss how to manage both personal and business life. How to build your business while building a family. especially when each may have a different vision of what that growth may look like. We like to joke that Drew and I are the Cajun Nate and Jeremiah.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational!

Lance Thomas of Thomas Guy Interiors: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.