Countrified Urbanite

I live in a rural central Texas town of about 4000 people where I moved upon meeting and marrying my husband. Sounds simple but let's back it up a bit...

My career path prior to moving to The Country was in the construction field. In 2000, I went to work for a custom builder as a superintendent. My first 6 months or so was training and then I was on my own. I managed projects that included large scale custom build jobs as well as spec homes. I did several commercial jobs a year consisting of office buildings as well as large day care centers. Remodels were also on my plate and as crazy as it sounds, probably my favorite projects. I typically had 8-13 jobs at a time in some phase of construction as well as ongoing warranty work.

It was very busy, but very fun. My kids grew up with a lot of my trades. My son went deer hunting for the first time with the framers and we really were all one big family. In the metroplex to have so many jobs going, it took the part of everyone to keep them all in synch and moving forward and it was impossible to be at all job sites at once so everyone contributed to make those jobs a success.

I decided after about 6 years to go on my own and started with residential home building first and a couple of commercial finish outs but decided that I was going to be a single mom and I wanted to have a little more stability but wanted to stay in the construction industry. That was when I decided to open my first tile and granite store.

I believed that our area could sustain a high end, design specific tile and granite store. We were sending everyone to Dallas for their selections and while we had volume tile warehouses around us that had some small specialty lines, with the home building market booming, we needed more choices. That was where my store came into play. I was awarded distribution for some well known high end tile manufacturers to anchor my store and filled the rest in as I went.

That sounds like it was easy breezy but as any business owner will tell you, I had a lot to learn. It was my first business that I had overhead, employees, a store front and all that went along with it. I was accustomed to working in the field so I soon hired great showroom people and worked both in the showroom and on job sites. My previous experience in total construction made all of this an easy transition. I had the opportunity to work with many great clients and builders as well as being the stone selection coordinator for the 2008 Southern Living Texas Idea House.

That was then and this is now. I met my husband while I was still in Fort Worth and he is from a small town in central Texas. Everything was clicking, we were engaged and married and The City Chick and her two kiddos moved to The Country, hence the Countrified Urbanite. Quite the culture shock to say the least. More for myself than the kiddos but a huge change none the less. I was very fish out of water but for the most part business is business. My Sweet Man is in the fuel business with part of it being propane, I had dealt with gas and gas plumbing in construction so I slowly started working in one of his offices taking on random responsibilities. Then another office, then another office...

Pretty soon I looked up and my previous career was complete history. Then I remodeled one of our offices, got to know a few trades people and started thinking that it was time that I put my experience and talents to work in something that I enjoy and that is how Countrified Urbanite Consulting came to life.

I had started a blog in some of the free time that came with moving to The Counrty so I decided to revamp it and focus on what I know, construction in all facets, design services and my pet favorite - tile and stone! I also set up Countrified Urbanite Consulting to promote my services as a Construction or Design Consultant/Coordinator. One thing I noticed in my move is the industry as a whole is a lot different between The Country and The City. A lot of contractors or builders are hands on crews. They do everything from the framing to finish out and some even pour the slabs. There aren't any design centers and there certainly isn't a design district within 2 hours of here. Having been independent, I have sources for many materials as well as being able to work with local flooring stores, paint centers and other building material centers. This is something that can be of use for people in any rural areas wanting some DIY advice or direction on how to take their vision.

So how do my services work? No two jobs are ever the same. I always do an initial consultation and work up a estimate for services from there. I have worked with builders helping clients make selections and stay within the time frame and the budget of their job. I have worked with homeowners who want to hire all their own trades people for their job but don't know how pull it all together or realize that is a lot harder than they thought it would be and they need direction. I have worked with clients who just couldn't decide on a color scheme or a pattern and needed direction and yes, I have been hired to sort out the mess or hand-holding through the stressful parts.

As I said, no two jobs are ever the same and a consultation can bring into focus the scope of the job. My job is to handle the stress and make sure things are done on time and on budget and that there aren't any surprises. Everyone has heard all of the construction nightmares and as long as everyone is kept abreast of what is going on, it should be an enjoyable process. If you have a job that you would like to discuss or would like references, please email me at stephanie@countrifiedurbanite.com