My name is Kristi and I want to welcome you to KIKI INTERIORS.COM

A bit about me….I love coffee, wine, home and holiday decor, cooking, baking, laughing and beauty (not necessarily in that order – that changes depending on my mood).  I am a teacher (French teacher) by trade but I have always loved all aspects of creativity and I love making things beautiful…

This is a blog that has changed over time since it was originally started in 2009. It started after the birth of my first son, I was home with him experiencing motherhood for the first time and I was looking for an outlet that didn’t keep me away from him but still kept me connected to the world outside of my own space.  I have always had a passion for home decorating and design and this was the perfect opportunity to explore that side of me.  I was on maternity leave from my teaching career and found myself with some free time (he was a good baby who slept a lot)….so along came KIKI INTERIORS. This blog soon turned into a home staging business to help my husband and family real estate business (which is now known as the Bennett Property Shop) putting my worlds into action…..

I started staging homes to make them more presentable in photos and viewings – if you look through my archives you will see that I have written a lot about the benefits of staging your home. The home staging business took off and I really enjoyed transforming spaces and also helping my family with their real estate business. Soon that home staging service grew into interior decorating and working with private clients and builders to create model homes (take a look at the gallery for some of my model home projects). As my decorating and staging business grew, so did my family – by 2014, my husband and I had 4 children together while we were both working in the busy world of real estate and home decorating / home staging.

I realized having 4 children and working crazy hours was a big balancing act and we made it work…but I realized that my time was really best spent at home. I took an 8 year hiatus from teaching and I hired a few people to assist with the home staging and decorating. there was a lot of my plate and it was time to prioritize. Back to the blog and the changes….through my life experiences in home decor, home staging, teaching middle school and elementary school and my own growing (crazy busy) family – I have had friends, family and even acquaintances ask me about a variety of topics ranging from “How can I get the farmhouse look for less?” to “How do you stay organized with 4 kids running around?” and “Do your kids eat their vegetables?” and “When do you shower?” LOL……I even had my own questions (after returning to a teaching career after 8 years off, I remember asking my friend, Amy at a New Years Eve party – “What are people wearing at work, what’s now considered office appropriate?” ) And those are the questions that have inspired me to make this blog not just about decorating the home but having a ‘whole home’ which includes all aspects of life.

Over the 9 years (and counting) of hosting this blog, I have only really shared areas of my life and work experience related to home decorating but there is so much more to make home life more complete. KIKI INTERIORS.COM is a look at my life at home with 4 crazy kids and balancing it all. My life as a mother, wife, friend, entrepreneur and colleague has taught me a lot (good and bad) and now I’m ready to share some of my secrets, favourite things and other great tips for a ‘whole home life’ – I’m looking forward to sharing more with you….