nBaxter Design
INTERIOR DESIGN + BOLD REAL ESTATE, CHAPEL HILL
About Nicole
The daughter of an architect, Nicole was raised with the idea that architecture and design was about creating emotional experiences through the use of sapce, light, finishes, and furnishings. Rather than relying on a signature style reflective of her, or current trends, Nicole finds inspiration in her clients-- who they are, their history and family, and what feels natural to them. "I subscribe to the belief that we are all beautiful, and it's my job to show my clients their own beauty by using them as the inspiration for their home's design."
Her approach to home and twenty-five years of design experience has led her to develop a new philosophy for homeowners and designers, as well as her first book, the Emotional Home, so everyone can understand the grounding power of Home. Her concept is built around three core principles-- 1) that our homes are extentions of both our body and identity, and nothing is as healing or as powerful as a home that respects that psychological connection. 2) we each have a unique way of viewing and processing our world, and if it happens internally, then we need the proper tools for it to happen externally, and 3) per the new research into neuroaesthetics, led by top neuroscientists at universities around the country, beauty has been proven to be critical to our our health and well-being by lowering our 'fight-or-flight' responses, which in turn lowers our heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol levels, which, when elevated, leads to long-term inflammation and chronic disease.
Nicole is also a certified Myers-Briggs administrator and uses the MBTI as a tool to better understand her clients, what they need in their home, how to most effectively communicate with them, and what they need from the design process. Through her study she has discovered hidden behavioral luxuries that are unique to each personality type and have otherwise gone unnoticed. Our traditional veiws of luxury is a blanket more-is-more approach where we overwhelm people with bigger houses, high-end finishes, and endless bells and whistles, when true luxury is having a house tailored to one's own behavioral needs. For types that show their love and affection for their family through mundane daily tasks like ensuring their laundry is clean, their loose buttons are secure, and their favorite dinner is ready after a long and stressful day, luxury is high end appliances, a beautiful kitchen, and a laundry room and invokes joy. For those who are big idea people but struggle with daily tasks, luxury is an owner's entrance off the garage that allows them to quickly sort through the mail and organize everything they bring into the house, before it makes it to the kitchen, where it will be moved to the dining table, then the office, and eventually another house. Logical, big idea people don't need a house that caters to guests, they just need an office with a large whiteboard, big desk, and comfy chair where they can spend hours and hours pursuing the 'what-ifs' that fill their mind.
After many years of helping clients to drastically change their new house to fit their style, Nicole earned her real estate license and is a broker at Bold Real Estate in Chapel Hill. She understands that the first design decision we make is the house we buy, and enables people to shop for houses with how they live in mind. While it is important that her clients are financially aware of the price they pay for a house and it's appreciation rates, she also ensures they are focused on all the days in between, because emotionally, those days are as critical to our well-being as the investiment is to our finances.
Her book and course are slated to be released Spring of 2022.