If Astrid Reifer, owner of design and real estate firm, Leoni Home, isn’t on your radar, you’re in for a real treat. Astrid is an ace at the layered, eclectic style that is the backbone of AGI soulful style. Possibly the most amazing thing to me is her talent at giving an investment house the same thoughtfully-considered touches she would in her own or a client’s home. She and her husband are building an empire of design, one house at a time.

AGI’s Interview with Astrid

AGI: We met you through a shared Instagram "pod," and were immediately drawn to your deliberate attention to detail, cool design, and muddy/moody color palette. Can you tell us a bit about how your personal style developed?

Astrid: Oh the wonderful pod, I can't express enough how thankful I am to have met such an empowering group. With that said, Alison, it's sheer pleasure to be a part of this and connect with your audience. Thank you for including me. Going back to what my personal style is, I like to believe that I don't have one since I love and appreciate all design styles. However I have been told that I have a European meets organic-modern twist to my work. Personally, I have zero limit when it comes to design, where's the fun in picking just one style? I feel like design is like fashion, I grow out of and into different styles depending on what vibe I'm feeling in the home I'm designing. What matters most to me is refining my ability to create unique spaces that my clients can thrive in. Oh, and I love juxtaposition, live for it.

AGI: What is your background, and how did you come to recognize your passion and talent for design?

Astrid: I attended the University of Riverside's extension program for Interior Design. My road to discovering interior design as my passion is a winding one. Before majoring in design I majored in Business Communications; this means that by the time I finished both majors I accumulated nine years in school. Gosh, it's exhausting even thinking about it. This isn't to discredit my experience with school, I did learn a lot, however; I do not believe art is something that could be taught. I am a strong believer that it's something we are born to do; just the same way a person is born with the voice to sing or the ability to dance. Since I was a child I loved design, whether in the form of fashion or interiors, my love for it ran deep. Yet the stigma of being a starving artist didn't appeal to me (hence the communications major), so it wasn't until my husband Adam encouraged me to pursue my passion that I really delved deeper.

AGI: You also own a real estate business with your husband. When thinking about the environment you want to create in your or clients' home, how does it differ from the "vibe" you create in a home you're doing to sell?

Astrid: Sure, great question, it really depends. I think giving you a short summary of how we blend design and real estate would illustrate a clear answer to this question. First let me reel it back and give you a quick background on my husband since he plays such an important role in my career. My husband Adam played professional baseball for nine years. Knowing that baseball wouldn't last forever, the last three years of his career we began dreaming up our company; Leoni Homes. Our services provide real estate, interior design and build. We help clients: buy and sell homes, design their own homes, and in addition we also help sellers renovate/stage their homes for a profit. With our client's permission to disclose, after transforming our latest flip project (Renée), we helped our sellers profit 60K on top of their equity. The entire renovation took six weeks and a budget of 30K. The home sold in as little as ten days with multiple offers on the table. Circling back to your question, we treat each flipped home with the same attention to detail as we treat homes we help clients design for themselves. The only difference, is budget. What dictates the budget for a home we are flipping is market value, area and avoiding over improvement. With a client's personal home, the budget depends on the client. Going back to flipping, our goal is to prove a concept, that functional and intentionally designed homes sell faster and for a higher value. We are essentially rebelling against flippers who set the same budgets we do, and yet spare little to no attention to design. As a result, they are destroying homes in our historic district. Let me spare you of all my rambling because I can go on forever about this, but I hope this answers the question.

AGI: What is your dream project and/or client?

Astrid: Oh boy, in a nutshell, my dream project would be to transform our hometown through our own investments. I suppose that would mean many projects? Funny enough my husband and I like to say we are on a twenty year plan because we have such huge dreams for the future of Leoni. Adam and I grew up minutes from each other and met in high school, so the potential of our hometown means everything to us. We are centrally located one hour from LA, OC, Palm Springs and the mountains; and oddly enough our town is underdeveloped. Making this place everything we know it could be, that's the fuel that keeps us going.

AGI: What do you believe it means to have a soulful home?

Astrid: Wow, this is such a loaded question! And you bet I have a loaded answer! Are you guys ready for this one?!

Ironically our company's motto is "Home Is The Root Of The Soul". It means that our thoughts are intimately connected to our homes. In other words, our thoughts in someway create our reality; therefore create our homes. I think when it comes to designing a soulful home, having a clear vision of how we need our home to serve us is key. Many struggle with this, I know, and I believe the reason is because we are flooded with so many advertisements telling us what that perfect home should looks like. The truth is, a soulful home is not a "one shoe fits all" kinda deal. Now this might sound a little out there but here I go anyway: We must ask our home what it needs. Yes, communicate with your home, and no I'm not saying run around like a crazy lady asking your home to answer you. I'm talking more like turning down the social noise and tuning into your home's energy. All homes have energy, these translate in the form of a feeling, a vibe, an essence, even the architectural features and natural surroundings. Asking your home what it needs simply means directing your awareness towards the home itself. You see sometimes our minds get so clogged with trends and we don't pay attention to what our homes really look and feel like. Bare with me here, let's go back to this idea that our thoughts create our homes. To illustrate this, let me use items we style our homes with as an example. Let's say I purchased a large basket during my honeymoon in Mexico, place it in my living room, and fill it with cozy blankets for our family movie nights. When I look at the basket not only does it reminds me of my beautiful honeymoon, but it also serves as storage for blankets which serve my family during movie nights. In terms of sentimental value, you bet that honeymoon basket will beat out a basket that I swiped up to purchase. This is to say that items that promote thoughts of joy will then create actual joy in our homes. Now it's unfair to say that everything in our home should be that special, however, mixing those special pieces with those trendier ones is really where the juice is. Doing so not only makes our homes feel collected and intentional, however really adds a balance between holding on and letting go. Holding on to those special pieces and circulating the ones that go out of style, both create a blended environment of old and new. The yin and yang if you will. We grown where we are planted, so this avoids a stagnant home and allows for one that our families can evolve in.
Further (I told you guys I had a loaded answer) I always say that we are contagious to those around us, that we must fill ourselves up with good vibes everyday so we can spread those into our homes. I believe that happiness is a choice we make each day, that each of us are responsible for who we choose to show up as every single day. We can choose to be victims of our circumstances, or we can choose to rise above them and find a lesson in every experience. I also don’t believe that we attract goodness into our lives, instead I believe we radiate it, and therefore it shows up for us. Most would agree that what turns houses into homes are the memories we create, the words we speak, the thoughts we think, the love we share, the interactions we have, the gatherings we hold, and how well we live.