About
A California engineer, a life lived across continents, and a belief that your home should work for your life.
Your home should work for your life, not the other way around.
Maybe you’ve just landed in a new city with a container’s worth of belongings and no idea where to start. Maybe you’ve been in the same space for years and something just isn’t working anymore. Either way, the friction is real, and it’s not because you’re doing something wrong. Your space just hasn’t caught up with your life yet.
My story
I’ve always been someone who sees systems. As a kid growing up in California, I was constantly rearranging my bedroom furniture before I knew why. I was chasing just the right atmosphere and a feeling that everything was exactly where it should be.
That instinct took me across the country to study structural engineering, because I wanted to design one of the most important systems we have – the infrastructure that holds up society. A decade in that world taught me a lot, including that it’s not just the physical systems that matter, but social ones too, and unfortunately those are not designed with everyone in mind. I spent the years that followed living and working across the US, Paris, Sweden, and New Zealand, supporting people that the social and educational systems had overlooked, and learning firsthand what it means to build a life somewhere new.
Through every move, every new chapter, every place we called home – from a studio in the city, a suburban house with yard and a garage, even stints in a truck camper – I was also the person solving the space puzzle. Figuring out how to fit a full life into whatever we had, without losing the things that mattered. It never felt like work, it felt like exactly what I was supposed to be doing.
In 2024, we traded a four-bedroom house in California for a two-bedroom apartment in the heart of Toulouse. We weren’t willing to give up the things we loved with the move, especially the joy of making. What had been an entire garage’s worth of tools and DIY projects transformed into carefully labeled bins tucked beside a water heater. The footprint changed completely, but thanks to the right system for the space, the function and joy to do what we love remained.
That’s when HomeWorks by Sofie became something real.
What I believe
Three principles that guide every project
Never Shame
Your belongings are part of your story. They have value, they have meaning, and there is no version of this work where you are made to feel embarrassed by them. From the very first conversation, I create a space where you can keep what matters to you, without judgment, pressure, or guilt.
Always Potential
Every space has more to give, even when it’s hard to see. I look at your home holistically, question what’s assumed to be fixed, and find solutions that aren’t always obvious. The weird little nook, the awkward layout, the room that’s never quite worked are exactly the problems I love most.
Real Life First
A beautiful home is nice. A home that actually works is everything. I design around your real routines, your real habits, and the way your household actually runs, not an idealized version of it. The result is a system that’s intuitive to live in and easy to maintain, without effort or overthinking.
Let’s make your space work
Whether you’ve just arrived in Toulouse or you’ve been wrestling with the same space for years, I’d love to help. Reach out for a free discovery call to talk about your space and what’s possible.
