As an event designer, Alexandra Azat is accustomed to immediate results. Turn a bland banquet hall into a floral fairyland? No problem. Transform a flat lawn into a mossy, undulating landscape out of The Lord of the Rings? In just a matter of days, the metamorphosis is complete.
None of that prepared her for renovating a century-old Craftsman near Pasadena, California.
“I’m used to moving really, really fast,” says Alexandra, who trained in floral design and helms three companies offering event, floral, and interior design services. “Living here and watching how slow the construction would go, there were times where I wanted to say, ‘Just give me the paint! I’ll do it!’”
While she laughs about it now, the process was a learning experience for the designer, who had never lived through a major renovation Alexandra recalls thinking, and that was before the pandemic—and a second pregnancy—threw a wrench into her renovation timeline.
