From picking out the perfect lot for a new-build to the finishing design touches in a redesign, Karen Horte is an interior designer that is able to bring more than 10 years of experience into any project.
“I am a design-build interior designer so I’m involved with every aspect from conception to completion where we do styling and photoshoots,” Horte said. An important aspect of what Horte does is taking all the stress off the homeowner throughout a project. To do this, Horte is the main point of contact for clients and handles all site work and sourcing. She builds the floor plans and layouts, which the client is able to revise in order to get exactly what they’re hoping for. “Once we get to the construction site, I’m their point of contact still and will help explain things that are going on, give them updates, and then do site walkthroughs with them,” she said.
Horte got her start in the industry with a local home builder in Calgary and after a stint with a custom cabinet company, she launched Karen Horte Interiors in 2017. She’s currently located in Okotoks and serves the Okotoks, Foothills, and Calgary areas. The Bragg Creek area isn’t new to Horte, as she has worked on some acreages around the community.
Her favourite project so far is one she’s currently working on in Revelstoke. “It’s a timber-frame home and it’s a custom-build, so we started from literally bubble drawings and hand drawings on napkins and created a floor plan that now has gone through the architect process and engineering process,” Horte said.
She enjoys being part of a project from the beginning and is working with another client to select the perfect lot that works for the placement of their new-build. Due to her experience with a custom cabinet maker, she can also provide clients with site knowledge and the creative aspect of building things. “It’s really fun to build things precisely to what works for that homeowner,” Horte said.
Aside from making a home functional with the right cabinets and layout, she also has the ability to bring harmony into a space. As a trained and certified Feng Shui consultant, Horte optimizes the placement of the home on the lot and makes sure each piece inside is placed to create a positive space. For this service, clients can request a Feng Shui consultation. She explained that sometimes the layout of a room doesn’t feel right for an unexplained reason, and a Feng Shui consultation will help figure out why and change that.
“Generally speaking when you’re laying out furniture or making sure things have great function or flow to them, those aspects are kind of intertwined into Feng Shui anyway, whether somebody knows it’s from the ancient chinese chi or not, it’s just a part of good design,” Horte said.
Interior designing has always been Horte’s dream, even as a child. Prior to the start of each school year she wrote down what she wanted to be when she grew up and it hasn’t changed since Grade One. “It was a ballerina in kindergarten and then since Grade one, interior designer,” she said, laughing. What drew her to the profession was the ever-changing colour palette, layering patterns and textures, and moving around furniture. Growing up on a farm in Alberta, she became quite handy at building things with a hammer and nails, which made the construction aspect of home-building even more appealing.
“I thought it was neat how people could build things, like some of the architecture that’s out there is stunning. That’s kind of how it started and it just grew and grew as I got older,” Horte said.
To find out more about Karen Horte or to request a consultation, visit karenhorteinteriors.ca
Business Profile by:
Masha Scheele, HCN Staff
media@highcountrynews.ca
