After earning an Interior Design Degree from Bassist College in 1997, Monica spent the next two years gaining experience as a Design Associate for a developer and new home builder in Clackamas, Oregon. She worked with new home buyers to coordinate interior finishes packages, selected and implemented new home color schemes, provided floor plan layouts and oversaw installation quality control.
For the next 14 years, Monica worked at a local interior design firm in Longview, Washington, tackling all aspects of the field. Her local commercial projects included Windmere Real Estate offices, Peace Health offices, Wilcox & Flegel corporate offices, Salmon Creek Plastic Surgery and various local dental and chiropractic offices, where she provided color consulting, furniture, space planning and interior finishes of all sorts from carpet to tile and countertops.
Monica’s residential design experience includes everything from high-end residential buildings of 30,000 sq. ft. (yes, you read that right!) to 800 sq. ft. budget-minded projects. For projects both large and small, she has implemented all phases of interior design, including consulting on color, lighting, cabinetry, flooring and all decorative finishes including plumbing, hardware and light fixture selections. Her skills also included re-upholstery, drapery design and selection, kitchen and bathroom design, new furniture selection and layout and coordinating color, style, customer taste and budget in a cohesive and visually pleasing manner.
Monica founded MN Designs in 2015 as owner operator, designer and coordinator. She works hard to create trusted relationships with homeowners and builders and relies on her nearly 20 years of experience to create a company she is proud to put her name on. She strives to provide the highest level of professional interior design services tailored to fit the unique needs of her clients, and she loves providing personal services to clients who need help realizing their dream space. Never shying away from a creative challenge, Monica enjoys all aspects of design from beginning to end.
In 2017, Monica partnered with Kara Bloomfeldt to open Linked Design Group.
After college, majoring in Commercial Art and Design and Business, Kara began traveling the road to her destiny as an Interior Decorator. She enjoyed running her small children’s clothing store and continued her art as a window and sign painter for many local businesses.
In 1997, she went to work for Sherwin Williams as a paint pro specialist and received extensive knowledge and training in paint tinting, color matching and all the various coatings and wall coverings. She helped clients with all their color selections and both interior and exterior needs.
This knowledge launched her faux finish career where she began to perfect her love of color and texture in murals and custom faux finishing. In 2002, she took a job at a global design firm and apprenticed with Catherine Stansberry for four years. There, she became adept at all aspects of the interior design trade.
In 2006, Creative Touches by Kara was launched. While working up and down the I-5 corridor, she built a large client base in residential and commercial design, including new homes, reading floor plans and doing take offs to redesigning sections for better flow and major remodels, creating floor plans with various ideas in preparation for the architects and small single room remodels.
In 2011, she closed Creative Touches and went to work for a local design firm in Longview, WA and for the last seven years enjoyed a variety of design projects which included the Luck Eagle Casino and Hotel in Rochester, WA, Synergy Health Solutions, Pacific Northern Environmental Corporate Offices, KC Multi Ring in Woodland, WA, Davis and Associates and Happy Kids Dentistry Building, where she provided interior and exterior finishes, draperies, furniture, cabinetry, counters and custom paint finishes along with logo cutouts in the entry for personalized impact.
Kara’s residential design experience includes high-end custom home and condos from ground breaking. Hands on lighting plants and secret rooms. She has experience in all phases of interior design and takes a hands-on approach. This may include reworking something to make your design thought-provoking and personalized.
Kara has experience in lighting design, cabinetry, flooring and all decorative finishes, including plumbing, hardware, light fixture selection and on the soft side, drapery design, upholstery design, fabric selection and room layout. She can coordinate style and color to reflect your personal taste and budget.
Kara feels client relations are built on integrity and honesty and strives to build the design you dream of. She enjoys bringing your dreams to fruition and is always searching for innovative ways to make a room function well and look beautiful because every budget deserves great design.