SHOWN HERE IS a bathroom design project that Sophie Somers completed herself. Somers will soon start her own construction and design business, Somers Design and Build, within the next couple of months. She will offer decor design services, in-home consultations and more.
ALONG WITH BATHROOM design and renovation, Sophie Somers’ new business, Somers Design and Build, will also offer kitchen design and renovation. Shown here is a kitchen design and renovation that Somers worked on.
AMBOY RESIDENT Sophie Somers is pictured here with her husband, Scott Horlacher, and their family of five children. The children (pictured from left to right) are Austin, Amaya, McKenzie, Olivia and Lucas.
AMBOY – For as long as she can remember, Amboy resident Sophie Somers has been in love with interior design and construction.
“I would redo the theme of my bedroom all of the time when I was very young, I always wanted the space around me to be beautiful and mine,” Somers said. “No matter how much money I had at the time, I could always manage to decorate and get the look that I wanted with what I had. Design has always been something that I am great at and enjoy doing, and now I will be able to offer it to clients. I am a huge fan of Pinterest and know that there are a lot of people that are on Pinterest, but just simply don’t know how to accomplish what they want. Well, that is where I come in, I can.”
Because of her love of construction and design, Somers recently decided she would like to start her own construction company and plans to be up and running within the next couple of months. Her business, which will be called Somers Design and Build, will offer full-service design and decor services along with in-home consultations, personal shopping and any other needs of the client.
“I look forward to helping clients find their style, everyone has one, sometimes we just don’t know what it is,” Somers said. “That will be my job to find it.”
For sellers and real estate brokers, Somers plans to offer staging services. When selling a home, Somers pointed out you want to allow a potential buyer to be able to visualize themselves in the home, and these are opportunities that a seller or agent can’t afford to miss. She said she can give suggestions and set the stage for a quick sale.
Somers’ business will also offer kitchen and bathroom design and renovation; house plan consultation (assistance with blueprints); exterior and interior finishes; color consultation and more.
“One of my personal favorites are backsplashes,” Somers said. “I love them and love what a transformation a little tile can do for a space.”
Somers said she would also like to offer facade packages for outside people’s homes, as well as bathroom packages. For the exterior of the home, she said she will focus on packages that can add dimension and texture to the curb appeal of the home. For example, an exterior package will include three features – stone, cedar and paint – that will update the whole look of the home. Somers plans to also put together bathroom packages that will include an in-home consultation. These packages will be new lighting fixtures, mirror, towel and toilet paper holder, sink faucet, countertop, gelcoat on cabinets and paint.
“This will give you a brand new updated bathroom and as a package deal, it will keep the cost down for the homeowner,” she said. “I want to bid on one bathroom for the homeowner, complete it, and turn right around and bid on their other bathroom because they love it so much. Nothing would make me happier than to drive through a neighborhood, and see the homes shining like new in a neighborhood that has been established for some time.”
Somers also said that is a client enjoys reusing and recycling items in their design, she can help bring that aspect to them as well. She said most of her home is decorated with reused or recycled products, and she enjoys seeing things live a second life that is better than the first. She enjoys finding free stuff on Craigslist and then decorating with her “finds.”
“I like thinking outside the box and encourage others to do so as well,” Somers said. “I have an old door that I had refinished for my second house as my headboard in by current house, and I also have fence boards installed on the wall as a backdrop to a large photo gallery.”
Somers moved to the Southwest Washington area from Maine in 1984, mostly living in or around Battle Ground. She and her husband, Scott Horlacher, just built their home in Amboy this year. Together, the couple has five children, ranging in age from 6-18 years old, two boys and three girls. Somers said she hopes to be starting a family business with Somers Design and Build, that is her dream.
“I have a lot of wonderful people surrounding me and hope that they can all get involved,” she said. “My mother has taken on all of the books for the company, my daughter is taking a class on photography so she can my before and after pictures, and the older children will help manage all of the social media and web-based pages.”
Somers will be using subcontractors to help with completing clients’ jobs, including Advanced Electrical, Inc. for electric and Cowlitz Pride Plumbing, LLC for plumbing needs.
After she gets the business going, Somers said she’d like to do a free consult giveaway to encourage living in a beautiful environment no matter what your budget allows. Somers is currently going through the process of becoming insured and bonded, and plans to have her business up and running within the next two months. As soon as the business is official, Somers will have a Facebook page, Somers Design and Build. She will also have a website, www.somersdesignandbuild.com, once the business is established.
