![\"Stories](\"https:\/\/www.lovehappensmag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Met-Home-Linda-OKeeffe.jpg\")
<\/a>I asked Linda O’Keeffe to start at the beginning. And so began her inspiring story.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n\u201cI have always had a sense of design, I grew up with it. And consequently [giggle], or rather, as a result, I was always thought of as a strange kid. I could walk into a room and feel that things needed to be repositioned, from the earliest age this was me. We happened to move around a lot when I was a kid growing up in London. So I had lots of opportunities to redecorate\u2026.or not so much redecorate, because we didn\u2019t have lots of money – more or less redoing the same furniture we had but in different locations.
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\u201cI always knew that my sense of wellbeing, my sense of balance was affected by what was in the immediate space I was in, I had from the beginning a sense of proportion and balance and mass and space and negative space. So, as I said, as a result, I was thought of to be a very weird child because this wasn\u2019t something the rest of my family had, and no one knew where it came from.\u201d
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Linda\u2019s Career Path<\/strong>
<\/h3>\n\n\n\nNext, Linda went on to tell me about her professional career path. Despite her childhood attraction to interior design, she did not go into the field right away. First, she chose to pursue photography. \u201cI always thought I was going to be a photographer,\u201d Linda said. But a woman of many interests and talents, photography wasn\u2019t it. She also dabbled in acting and had a line of jewelry. Next came fashion. But after a few years as a fashion stylist, Linda realized that her heart really lay in interiors. \u201cIt was just something that I did intuitively,\u201d she explained. So, she began abandoning the worlds of fashion and photography to follow her love for interior design.
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At first, Linda felt a bit bad about abandoning her long time love for photography. But when she discovered she could actually still be a photographer as a creative director and producing editor she realized she wasn\u2019t really abandoning anything. She was just shifting! A shift which she noted she has kind of come full circle on with her most recent book, Inside Outside:\u00a0A\u00a0Source\u00a0of\u00a0Inspired\u00a0Garden\u00a0Rooms<\/a><\/em> in which she personally photographed 5 of the book\u2019s 25 gardens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"D'Aquino](\"https:\/\/www.lovehappensmag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/186_DAquino_IMG_8730_LOK.jpg\")
<\/a>D’Aquino Garden Photographed by Linda O’Keeffe for Inside Outside<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nLinda began working freelance, contributing to top name publications like Elle Decor. Where she then became the Special Projects Editor before moving to Elle Decor\u2019s sister publication at the time, the former, Metropolitan Home.
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Met Home was the first full time (non-freelance) job Linda took in many years. So, of course, as fate would have it this was when she was also commissioned to write her first book, the infamous Shoes: A Celebration of Pumps, Sandals, Slippers & More<\/a><\/em> (and if you are a shoe lover and haven\u2019t heard of this book – get on it!)
<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"shoes](\"https:\/\/www.lovehappensmag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/shoes-by-linda-okeeffe-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\nA New Chapter<\/strong>
<\/h3>\n\n\n\nLinda completed Shoes <\/em>and stayed on at Met Home<\/a> for 16 years, at which point the magazine abruptly folded in 2009 due to the recession. It was Monday morning and as Linda and her team sat around the conference table they were given the news.\u00a0
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThe first thought I had was, what is everyone else going to do. Then I thought what am I going to do. Then I got really excited,\u201d explained Linda. \u201cI had to hide my excitement a bit because the magazine had been around for a long time.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople went into mourning when the magazine closed. My email box was bombarded. But I was not devastated personally at all. I could have stayed on happily there forever, still now, but all of a sudden I thought the world is my oyster.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before diving back into another fulltime venture, Linda decided to enjoy herself first by \u201cspending about 3 months doing nothing really structured,\u201d she laughed. \u201cI went to the movies in the middle of the afternoon, had long boozy lunches with friends, all the things I felt guilty about doing while working.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you work in a large corporate entity everything becomes institutionalized,\u201d she explained. \u201cFreelance life is so different, I never had any free time at Met home.\u201d Thus it was during this break that Linda felt a real sense of liberation and realized that the corporate world was not for her.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Curious about her thoughts on freelance vs. corporate I asked Linda O’Keeffe to elaborate on this.\u00a0<\/strong>
<\/h4>\n\n\n\n\u201cThe corporate world tends to be about protecting what you have, being cautious about what\u2019s out there if you don\u2019t do xyz<\/em> there is always someone ready to take your place,\u201d she replied. \u201cAnd it\u2019s even more daunting as you approach the top because if you get kicked off you have to go somewhere else. I knew editors who left magazines and could never find an equal position.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cFreelancers are as good as their last assignment\/job,\u201d she went on. \u201cBut to be successful you have to have a sense of confidence about who you are from the get-go.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A World of Books<\/strong>
<\/h3>\n\n\n\nAfter Met Home and her break, Linda dove back into the world of freelance. And in particular the world of books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have been very very lucky in my life. I’ve had so many supportive, generous people help me along the way. I have a tremendous sense of gratitude,\u201d Linda began, before telling me how she got her book contract with Monacelli Press. While at Met Home Linda met renowned interior designer Vicente Wolf who had published books with Monacelli. Vicente insisted Linda meet them and proceeded to drag her to a meeting there that led to a three-book deal: Brilliant: White In Design; Stripes: Design Between The Lines; and Expressive Modern: The Interiors of Amy Lau<\/em>.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"brilliant](\"https:\/\/www.lovehappensmag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Brillian-White-in-Design-Linda-OKeeffe.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhile discussing her books Linda told me how one of the things she loved about Met Home was how geographically democratic it was. \u201cElle Decor and Architectural Digest feature lots of projects in LA and NYC, but Met home had a real commitment to uncovering design from cities around the country and world.\u201d A theme Linda intentionally followed in all the books she did after leaving Met Home from the Monacelli titles noted above to Heart and Home: Rooms That Tell Stories<\/em> and most recently Inside Outside: <\/em>A Sourcebook of Inspired Garden Rooms<\/em> in which the gardens she features are from a diverse group of locations.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nInside Outside: A Sourcebook of Inspired Garden Rooms<\/em><\/strong>
<\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lovehappensmag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Inside-Outside-Cover.jpg\")
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Next, Linda went on to tell me about her professional career path. Despite her childhood attraction to interior design, she did not go into the field right away. First, she chose to pursue photography. \u201cI always thought I was going to be a photographer,\u201d Linda said. But a woman of many interests and talents, photography wasn\u2019t it. She also dabbled in acting and had a line of jewelry. Next came fashion. But after a few years as a fashion stylist, Linda realized that her heart really lay in interiors. \u201cIt was just something that I did intuitively,\u201d she explained. So, she began abandoning the worlds of fashion and photography to follow her love for interior design.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At first, Linda felt a bit bad about abandoning her long time love for photography. But when she discovered she could actually still be a photographer as a creative director and producing editor she realized she wasn\u2019t really abandoning anything. She was just shifting! A shift which she noted she has kind of come full circle on with her most recent book, Inside Outside:\u00a0A\u00a0Source\u00a0of\u00a0Inspired\u00a0Garden\u00a0Rooms<\/a><\/em> in which she personally photographed 5 of the book\u2019s 25 gardens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Linda began working freelance, contributing to top name publications like Elle Decor. Where she then became the Special Projects Editor before moving to Elle Decor\u2019s sister publication at the time, the former, Metropolitan Home. Met Home was the first full time (non-freelance) job Linda took in many years. So, of course, as fate would have it this was when she was also commissioned to write her first book, the infamous Shoes: A Celebration of Pumps, Sandals, Slippers & More<\/a><\/em> (and if you are a shoe lover and haven\u2019t heard of this book – get on it!) Linda completed Shoes <\/em>and stayed on at Met Home<\/a> for 16 years, at which point the magazine abruptly folded in 2009 due to the recession. It was Monday morning and as Linda and her team sat around the conference table they were given the news.\u00a0 \u201cThe first thought I had was, what is everyone else going to do. Then I thought what am I going to do. Then I got really excited,\u201d explained Linda. \u201cI had to hide my excitement a bit because the magazine had been around for a long time. \u201cPeople went into mourning when the magazine closed. My email box was bombarded. But I was not devastated personally at all. I could have stayed on happily there forever, still now, but all of a sudden I thought the world is my oyster.\u201d Before diving back into another fulltime venture, Linda decided to enjoy herself first by \u201cspending about 3 months doing nothing really structured,\u201d she laughed. \u201cI went to the movies in the middle of the afternoon, had long boozy lunches with friends, all the things I felt guilty about doing while working.\u201d \u201cWhen you work in a large corporate entity everything becomes institutionalized,\u201d she explained. \u201cFreelance life is so different, I never had any free time at Met home.\u201d Thus it was during this break that Linda felt a real sense of liberation and realized that the corporate world was not for her. \u201cThe corporate world tends to be about protecting what you have, being cautious about what\u2019s out there if you don\u2019t do xyz<\/em> there is always someone ready to take your place,\u201d she replied. \u201cAnd it\u2019s even more daunting as you approach the top because if you get kicked off you have to go somewhere else. I knew editors who left magazines and could never find an equal position.\u201d \u201cFreelancers are as good as their last assignment\/job,\u201d she went on. \u201cBut to be successful you have to have a sense of confidence about who you are from the get-go.\u201d After Met Home and her break, Linda dove back into the world of freelance. And in particular the world of books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have been very very lucky in my life. I’ve had so many supportive, generous people help me along the way. I have a tremendous sense of gratitude,\u201d Linda began, before telling me how she got her book contract with Monacelli Press. While at Met Home Linda met renowned interior designer Vicente Wolf who had published books with Monacelli. Vicente insisted Linda meet them and proceeded to drag her to a meeting there that led to a three-book deal: Brilliant: White In Design; Stripes: Design Between The Lines; and Expressive Modern: The Interiors of Amy Lau<\/em>. While discussing her books Linda told me how one of the things she loved about Met Home was how geographically democratic it was. \u201cElle Decor and Architectural Digest feature lots of projects in LA and NYC, but Met home had a real commitment to uncovering design from cities around the country and world.\u201d A theme Linda intentionally followed in all the books she did after leaving Met Home from the Monacelli titles noted above to Heart and Home: Rooms That Tell Stories<\/em> and most recently Inside Outside: <\/em>A Sourcebook of Inspired Garden Rooms<\/em> in which the gardens she features are from a diverse group of locations.<\/a>
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\nA New Chapter<\/strong>
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCurious about her thoughts on freelance vs. corporate I asked Linda O’Keeffe to elaborate on this.\u00a0<\/strong>
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nA World of Books<\/strong>
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nInside Outside: A Sourcebook of Inspired Garden Rooms<\/em><\/strong>
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