Fresh Faces for Eclectic Spaces: Meet JoAnn Truax, one of our four, featured up-and-coming interior designers in the Scottsdale area who may have varying styles, but all have one thing in common — their passion for design.
Q. When did you start designing?
A. I launched my interior design career in April of 2011 after graduating from the American Institute of Interior Design in Fountain Hills.
Q. Why did you decide to pursue interior designing as a career?
A. One day I asked myself, “How can I encourage my three daughters to follow their dream, their passion, if I don’t have the courage to follow my own?” From that moment, my husband and I strategized on how I could walk away from a successful two-decade career and become a professional interior designer.
My journey to become a professional interior designer began on Friday, May 28, 2010. I said goodbye to colleagues at my job and enrolled at the American Institute of Interior Design. I graduated with honors in April of 2010 and launched my design studio, Tre Ragazze Design. Tre Ragazze (pronounced: tray rah-got-c) is Italian for “three girls,” a nod to my three daughters, Shelby, Cassidy and Sydney, for being the catalyst to my understanding that it’s never too late to be who want to be and do what you love most.
Q. How would you describe your work or style? Does it have a unique look or feel?
A. I would describe my style as “comfortable elegance amplified with a dash of glamour.” Yet, I appreciate inherent beauty in any style. My perfect room would be one that initially takes your breath away and eventually encourages you to settle in and savor.
Q. Where do you draw your inspiration?
A. Everywhere and everyone! Interior design is who I am and not just what I do. The creative design process is impossible to turn off and nearly impossible to lower it’s volume.
Q. What’s one tip to readers who plan to redesign their room/home?
A. Seek knowledge! Often times we know where we want to end up, but we don’t have the roadmap to get there. It is far better to seek the knowledge of a professional interior designer and have a clear direction than to get lost on your journey.
Also, be true to yourself. Surround yourself with the things that make you happy and be careful not to take the annual trends so seriously that your walls stop speaking to your soul.
Q. What are your top three favorite, local store/boutiques to shop for items?
The Embellished House
Scottsdale Marketplace
Trouve
Q. Your most memorable project?
A. It would have to be my first design project; it was a bedroom for this amazing little boy who took the project very seriously and had valuable opinions and clear direction of what he wanted the room to feel like. The redesign of his bedroom was also a Christmas gift from his parents; so although he knew what he was receiving, the room was kept a secret until Christmas Eve.
I placed a big bow on the door with a sign that read, “Do Not Open Until December 24th,” and on Christmas Eve, the family invited me to share in the big reveal. I will never forget the look on his face the first time he saw his “football-themed” space. He hugged me and thanked me, and at that moment, I truly understood that good design has the potential of being great when it’s personal!
View a few of JoAnn’s designs:
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Owner and Designer, Tre Ragazze Design
(623) 734-4268
treragazzedesign.com
