In our latest From the Tap podcast, we speak with Lidia Valdivia, a designer, builder and contractor who founded Minnesota-based Moonstone Design and Build. It’s a woman- and minority-owned firm.
The topic: how designers and builders can work together more effectively to create projects that are both buildable and beautiful.
The conversation begins with Valdivia recounting her career. Moving to the US from Nicaragua in 2018, her first job was refinishing hardwood floors. Soon enough, she experienced a light-bulb moment: she could use her bilingual skills to help contractors secure qualified workers. Later, she opened her own business as a painting subcontractor, where she developed a passion for interior design. That evolved into fixing and flipping homes.
Next, Valdivia explains the importance – and her technique – of balancing design, budget and constructability. “Normally, how a lot of people do design is they hire a designer and then they hire a contractor, and that can cause a lot of problems,” she said. “There’s a lot of small design decisions that affect labor and sequencing, and it’s easier for a builder to understand that sometimes. I also think it’s very important to have interior designers involved with the general contractor on the build side of things. It takes a lot of communication.”
She says a project can be aesthetically ambitious while still being grounded in the realities of the structure as long as the design/build team can solve problems together, minimizing or eliminating compromises on both the creative elements or the quality of construction.
Finally, the discussion turns to beauty and buildability. “I have learned to collaborate with and involve artists in projects,” Valdivia said. “That’s what’s going to make all the difference, especially in the AI world that we live in now. People are craving artistic, hand-crafted things in a house. To me, that’s the new standard of luxury.”
To hear the full conversation with Lidia Valdivia, listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora and other outlets.
