Nicole White, CEO/Principal Designer, Nicole White Designs Interiors, is all smiles as she sweeps into the AC Hotel. She’s donned a long, white Asos wrap dress, Etal accessories and Bridget sandals for our catch-up. Her flowing braids now moved behind her ears reveal a gorgeous, expressive face; her perfect nails are white with gold foil accents. She’s happy to be home but even happier to share the news that the kitchen she designed for a client has landed the August/September House Beautiful cover. In between sips of Merlot, the St Andrew High School alumna recounts her best Olympic moments, her to-do list and how happy she is to be staying with her mum who’s been tantalising her palate with all of her favourites. We’re eager to hear more…

Where in Jamaica is your navel string planted?

Kingston! But lawks, if me never wish me did have some people a country so me coulda experience country life during the summers!

Your parents are?

Joan McFarlane and Donovan White (deceased).

What’s the one memory from your childhood that directly or indirectly impacted your decision to become an interior designer?

I used to always rearrange furniture in our homes and wondered why we didn’t have the right curtains and pillows! But I never knew that was a career. I thought everyone felt that way about the rooms in their homes.

Did interior design find you or vice versa?

Haha. Interior design found me. I thought I’d become a lawyer but ended up becoming a journalist because I also loved to write and fancied myself winning a Pulitzer Prize one day. Design was a hobby I did on the weekends when I wasn’t chasing news stories. It soon consumed my weekends/weeknights and eventually I took the leap of faith to pursue it full-time.

In such a competitive arena how have you managed to stay relevant?

As a reporter at heart, I know how to nurture relationships and stay in touch so we have been a pretty busy firm all these years because I remain in touch with clients always. I design all their homes and now those clients have grown kids so I design their homes [as well] and it’s kept us relevant, booked, busy and blessed.

You are described as the Renovation Queen. A wonderful label in a world of fast fashion and disposables. What are your thoughts?

I’ve gladly owned that label because I truly enjoy the renovation process, and not all designers do. I love the chaos of the demolition process and knowing that through it all there will be beauty at the end. That gets me excited with each project.

What has been your most memorable renovation?

Hmmmm, that’s a tough one. Memorable in a good way? Definitely a project for a client who’d lost a husband to cancer years before. That renovation was a way for her to heal and let go of her pain as she was starting over. It was a very emotional reveal and one I’ll never forget. She’s also a repeat client and we are now wrapping up a renovation for a new home she recently purchased with her new hubby.

What was your immediate reaction to seeing your work on the cover of House Beautiful ?

Straight cow-bawling! I had no clue. I had a Zoom call with the editors a day before it was scheduled to hit the newsstand but I thought they wanted to go over some last-minute fact checking for the kitchen which we thought was just one of many being featured in the issue. Imagine my shock when the Zoom call starts and they hold up the cover and it’s our project! I was speechless and just bawled. And it’s all on tape! I blame that one on my team, but it’s a good memory for sure!

How ‘hot’ are kitchens?

They literally are the heart of the home and have become more so now, thanks to the pandemic. So much cooking has had to happen at home and we have definitely seen a spike in kitchen renovations since then.

What are the colours, trends that we ought to be aware of?

All black everything.

What’s next on the agenda for you?

I have a few books in my head I seriously need to get written. Finding the time to do so has been hard but at least one has to drop by next year.

Your current colour obsession is?

Yellow. It just brightens my entire day.

The song top of mind currently is?

William Murphy’s Your Love. Gospel music is on heavy rotation for me always.

Your highlight/s of the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics?

The women’s 4×100 relay. Straight fire and powerful that the women held it down with so many medals for Jamaica!

What’s the first thing you ate on arrival in Jamaica?

Always BBQ KFC, a Tastee patty and a bottle of Ting.

What are you looking forward to doing during your time on the island?

Eating some good food and hopefully some lobster and fish from Hellshire! I’m also looking forward to seeing my maternal grandmother who recently turned 90. My paternal grandmother died earlier this year at 98, so I’m also here to revel in her spirit as much as possible since we weren’t able to attend her funeral.

Which celeb’s home would you like to restore and why?

I’d love to design a woman cave for Oprah and Michelle Obama! They are fellow book lovers and just bad-ass women who’ve achieved so much. Those rooms would be #blackgirlmagic fire.

You speak and indeed post about missing your son Xavier. How do you balance a successful career with parenthood?

Xavier is my only child and he has been the best blessing of my life. I’m divorced so he splits his time between two homes. That’s still hard because I miss him terribly when he’s gone for a few days but I’ve learned to use those days to recharge and focus on some quality time for Nicole. I’m raising him to fly the nest and spread his wings so we have adjusted slowly but surely. It isn’t easy being an entrepeneur and raising a child, but I thankfully have a great co-parenting relationship with his dad and that helps. But Xavier is also very attuned to the business because it’s all he’s seen me do. He’s now demanding to be on the payroll officially and to be given some NWD merch so that also has to happen before the year ends because him don’t play!

You are in Jamaica a week after ‘Emancipendence’. Given a chance to share a message with a room of recent tertiary graduates what would your message be?

Aww, man, don’t be afraid to try something new and don’t be defined by your degree. Use the skills learned from that degree to try new things because you never know just where they might take you.