About SONNERI 

Family History and Inspiration

My story begins as the daughter of two native South Africans who longed for the opportunities and creative freedoms that living in America promised. Before getting married and starting his family, my father set out on an adventure to backpack, hitchhike and explore this great country.  The trip left a lasting impression and an unrelenting desire to return to the land that provided such inspiration for him, and to seek out his own American Dream. Eight months after I was born, my parents packed up baby-me and two suitcases, boarded a plane, and never looked back.

With my father’s engineering degree, connections made from his prior trip and my mother’s pharmacy degree, my parents were able to find jobs and settle in the US - first in Indiana, then California, Michigan, and finally Tennessee (this is why the “where are you from?” question is a tricky one!). Everywhere we went, my father was an innovator in his field - from trolleys to RVs and shuttle buses, mass transit, aeronautics… even a friend’s Volkswagen bus overhaul project. Always tinkering, always building (even fabricating his own specialized tools when required), always pointing out or photographing interesting architecture - his mechanical expertise and passion for good design became my own. 

Early Design Influence

When our family (now including my little brother) moved to Tennessee, the opportunity arose for my parents to build their dream house on a 5 acre plot of rocky farmland outside the city limits: complete with a neglected pond and old red workshop. They bought the smallest single-wide mobile home, had it delivered to the property, moved in and got to work. We spent months clearing the trees, picking up wagon load after wagon load of rocks, cleaning the pond, and building the house. Seventeen months later, we moved in. Its ultra-modern design drove locals nuts, and some drove by occasionally - spurred by curiosity - to try and figure out what exactly it was. We heard everything from mosque to water pump station! The design had come from a book of house plans my father picked up in town (this is pre- home internet), and he implemented years of design and aesthetic inspiration including all of his cost saving, efficiency and style changes. 

Thoughtfulness and resourcefulness of design in their modern home was evident throughout - from the wood flooring salvaged from a semi-truck trailer, to stair railings made from airport runway mesh support, even to trim finishes improvised from DiBond (a thin composite material made of aluminum with polycarbonate core) to accommodate the large radiused interior walls’ graceful curves. The focal point of the home’s interior was the sleek, modern minimalist kitchen with an open view to most of the first floor of the home, and accentuated with automotive-gloss finished, fire engine red cabinetry, paired with sleek black granite countertops. 

It’s in this house that I spent the majority of my formative years - surrounded by nature, farm animals, and modern design. So it’s no surprise that many of my earliest drawings and sketches were of homes and buildings, complete with child-like flair, that incorporated the design elements I lived in and loved.

Personal & Professional Experience 

With initial dreams of being an architect, I wound up following my father’s footsteps by pursuing a college degree in structural civil engineering. Fate would have its last say, however, as I spent a summer interning for a construction company doing additions and renovations on the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL - the same company that would later hire me for my first post-graduation job. I loved being at the worksite daily - getting to see everything first hand, and learning in even more detail how large-scale projects are structured, run and successfully completed. After moving to Charlotte, NC with my fiancé and taking a job with a small local engineering firm, the company was bought out by a large engineering and construction firm based in Texas. With new management came many changes, but the best was an opportunity to co-lead the renovation of the existing office space we occupied. That would become the first of many such renovation projects I would do for the company in a variety of locations across the United States. All this while also flipping our first home - a seriously dated Colonial in desperate need of everything from new finishes to updated landscaping. It sparked a passion in me, reminiscent of the one my father himself had many years ago, to set out on a new path towards thoughtful, innovative and practical design for the spaces in which we live and work. 

Where I Am Now

After having taken the last few years off to spend time with my daughter in her youngest years, and with a move to Charleston to be closer to family, I’ve decided - with the encouragement of family and friends who have requested my help on recent projects - to once again offer my perspective, aesthetic and organizational “know-how” to those who might value that expertise for their unique project dreams and desires.  I am excited about the opportunity to work with anyone who needs design assistance - paint or furnishings selection, pantry organization, kitchen remodel planning and management, whole-house finishes selection… no job is too big or too small!