New Jersey native Roseanne Kirby has been a Napa resident since 1982. She currently wears many hats, including freelancer for the Napa Valley Register, design instructor at the Napa Valley Adult School and owner of a Central Coast gift shop. Kirby has had a penchant for design since childhood. In 2003, after her two daughters were grown, she established About You Redesign. While one-day makeovers are her specialty, she consults on all aspects of interior design, from staging homes for sale to seasonal décor. A long-time volunteer for community educational and cultural projects, one of her favorite down-time activities is mahjong. Last year, she and her husband, Bruce, went to Las Vegas to celebrate 26 years of marriage by renewing their vows at the drive-through Little White Chapel Tunnel of Vows.
Are you a morning person?
I am viewed as a slow starter with very good endurance.
What’s your all-time favorite movie? Why?
“To Kill a Mockingbird” because of Atticus Finch’s humility and bravery, Boo Radley’s treasures and protectiveness and the narration through a child’s eyes.
If you were to travel back in time and Vincent van Gogh asked you to give his famous bedroom a makeover, what would you suggest?
The Bedroom at Arles: Add area rug incorporating room’s primary colors; acquire new washstand for opposite side of room and position with mirror there; group two chairs with table; add an oil lamp (red); use decorative hooks on back of doors for coats, towels and so forth; add a lamp near bed on small table for reading. Tighten the artwork.
Do you have any unfulfilled dreams or ambitions?
“Never a ship sails out of the bay but carries my heart as a stowaway.” (Montgomery) To travel and discover, near and far, and to retrace ancestors’ paths.
What trait in others tends to frustrate you most?
Elitism buddies up with gossip—both are spirit-killers.
What’s your most frustrating trait?
Prolonged good-byes…on the phone, in person—just one more thing!
What’s the most difficult challenge you’ve ever surmounted?
Embracing the grieving process.
What would people be surprised to know about the interior design business?
That it’s rooted in science and psychology.
Where do you stand on the nature/nurture debate?
In the camp of self-determination with free will. Individuals with little opportunity have risen to great heights, and those in high estate have sunken to great depths. The choices are in our own hands as to how we respond to what we are given.
What advice do you have for people who tend to hoard things?
Try to figure out why you do it. To simplify our lives takes discipline and a plan. Start small (a drawer). Give away what others can use. Enjoy watching your children receive family heirlooms now. Caring for things can be a burden that chokes time for relationships.
What makes an ideal evening?
The appropriate lighting (sunset, hearth, moon, stars), quiet, chilled champagne and my husband holding my hand. No time constraints. Guess I’m romantic.
If you could be a famous fictional character for a week, which character would you choose?
A fairy godmother with a very busy wand. Creating all sorts of happily-ever-after homes and families. I’d have an army of fairies assigned to global trash removal.
What objects from your childhood have you saved?
I have blue suede shoes that I wore at high school graduation and an anthology of Beatles lyrics in a book illustrated by Peter Max.
What’s the greatest invention the world has ever seen?
Electricity. Let there be light. Not only did it revolutionize industries, it provided more time in a day after sunset. Functional and aesthetic, it is a civilizing tool in any economy.
If you had a million dollars to distribute to others, how would you dole it out?
Educational and vocational training to be “paid forward” by students who have proven to be hard-working and goal-oriented.
Did you ever fail miserably at something? What did you learn?
Success is getting up one more time than you fall down. To fail is to not learn from mistakes. Mistakes are experiences that tell us what does not work. I have failed often enough to know that it is part of being human, and imperfection has its own beauty. I learned humility.
Is it ever OK to lie? If so, when?
I cannot think of an occasion when it is OK to lie. I do believe, though, that it’s OK to be discreet.
