Part I:The House Story

Artist’s Reflection

Every creative journey begins with a space that asks to be seen differently. This property wasn’t perfect—it was weathered, uneven, and wild—but something about it felt alive with potential. I didn’t see what it was; I saw what it could become.

This story isn’t just about rebuilding a home. It’s about rediscovering roots, embracing imperfection, and trusting that beauty often starts in the messiest places.

The House That Needed Love

When I first saw the property in 2021, most people didn’t see what I saw. They saw the peeling paint, the warped floors, and the way the garden beds sagged in quiet surrender. They saw a house that “needed a lot of love.”
They weren’t wrong. It did.

But where others saw the mess, I felt something deeper—potential. The kind that whispers instead of shouts. The kind that invites you to slow down and listen. I remember standing in the front yard that first day, breathing in the scent of damp wood and lake air, and feeling a strange pull toward it. It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t easy. But it felt right.

I think that’s what drew me in—the rawness. The honesty. It mirrored the kind of beauty I’ve always been inspired by: the kind that grows from time, effort, and trust in the process.

A Wild and Imperfect Sanctuary

Tucked in the woods near the lake, the property hums with life. You can hear it if you’re quiet enough—the call of birds from the canopy, the hum of a distant boat engine, the rhythmic hush of waves against the shore.

There’s a wildness here that refuses to be tamed, and I fell in love with that immediately. I could picture mornings spent drinking coffee on the porch as sunlight filtered through the leaves, and evenings when the trees turned gold before fading into dusk.

The house, though tired, had good bones. The kind that could hold dreams if you were willing to do the work. Every room had a story to tell. Cracks in the plaster, crooked corners, windows that stuck when it rained—these were signs of age and imperfection, but also of life.

In a world that often worships polish and perfection, this place reminded me that authenticity carries its own quiet strength. That lesson has found its way into everything I create at Midnight Moss Co.—because flowers, like people and places, are most beautiful when they’re allowed to be themselves.

The Climb and the Lesson

To reach the front door, you have to climb three crooked flights of stairs. It’s a climb that leaves you a little winded and a little amused—but I’ve come to love it. Every time I carry an armful of flowers or buckets of water up those stairs, I think about how that climb feels like a metaphor for building something from the ground up. It’s not always graceful. It’s rarely easy. But it’s worth it.

Those stairs became a daily reminder of the balance between effort and reward, between patience and progress. Step by step, both the house and I were finding our footing—renovating, restoring, reimagining. As walls were patched, floors leveled, and light began to fill the rooms again, I started to see more than just a home. I saw a reflection of my creative journey—one that values evolution over instant results. Because in both floristry and life, the most meaningful transformations take time.

Where Roots Begin

The first season here was quiet. I spent months listening to the rhythms of the place—how the light moved through the trees, how the soil held moisture after rain, how the air smelled of pine and salt. Slowly, the property and I began to grow together. What started as a fixer-upper became a sanctuary for creativity and renewal. It grounded me, reminded me of where beauty really comes from: the patience to nurture, the courage to rebuild, and the curiosity to see what could be.

Now, every arrangement that leaves my studio carries a piece of that story. The imperfections, the evolution, the love that grows from tending to something with care. Because Midnight Moss isn’t just a floral studio—it’s a living expression of that philosophy. Of finding artistry in the everyday. Of celebrating the imperfect, the evolving, and the deeply human.