Mixing Great Style Better Health
Yésley Love creates beautiful spaces with sustainable healthy materials.
Article by Diane Cowen
Photography by Samantha Sanchez
Originally published in River Oaks Lifestyle
When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, mother-of-two Yésely Love, sprang into action. An interior designer and construction project manager, she knew exactly how to get her children organized to keep learning.
She and other neighborhood moms worked together, setting up a school-day schedule that shared the supervision of video school and homework and found ways to keep books and school supplies always on hand.
For all of its upheaval, the pandemic also had silver linings, including many people finding a new appreciation for entertaining at home and others learning how easy it could be to work from home.
Yésely helped clients make home offices more beautiful and practical and, in turn, helped commercial clients make office workspaces feel more residential.
She’s still busy helping clients create great outdoor spaces such as patios, outdoor kitchens and bars and other play spaces. One client asked for an outdoor spa, and she created an above-ground endless pool with an outdoor shower. Another wanted an expansive backyard space to include seating areas, a kitchen/bar and a huge in-ground pool with a spa.
A native of Venezuela who has a good deal of family in Spain, Yésely grew up coming to Houston often as her dad worked in the energy industry. She moved here 14 years ago, first working at National Oilwell Varco before shifting to a career in interior design and founding Canaima Design 9 years ago.
Now married to husband Justin Love, the founder and CEO of Blackbuck Resources, a midstream water solutions firm in the energy sector, the couple’s children are Justin Alexander Love, 11, and Caroline Marie Love, 10. Yésely’s volunteer work includes serving on the PTO board at her children’s school, West U Elementary, and recently joining the board of Camp For All.
Kitchens and master bedrooms are two of her favorite residential spaces to work on.
“Dekton (slabs) are family friendly and vinyl flooring is great for homes with pets and kids,” Yésely said. “Now, if we’re going toward high-end finishes and there are no kids or pets, I love oak herringbone flooring, lacquered or diamond plaster walls, wallpaper, custom ceiling treatments and motorized draperies and shades.”
In commercial jobs, she is inspired by each company’s work and, sometimes, the location of a project. For example, they recently had a project in the Mellie Esperson building, a historic, Art Deco-style building in downtown Houston. For this project, she used concrete and brick, two important materials in the Depression-era building’s construction and exterior.
While both residential and commercial projects need to be beautiful and functional, Yésely and her team pay attention to the health of those who live and work in them. Using organic and eco-friendly materials goes a long way.
An easy option for everyone is low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints, since traditional paints have chemicals that can off-gas for several months, she said.
Instead of vinyl tile, a product called Marmoleum is CO2 neutral and phthalate free and there are carpet options that use recycled materials and little to no chemicals. Cork is 100 percent recyclable and organic and can be used as wall covering for acoustics, she added.
“If we’re going toward high-end finishes and there are no kids or pets, I love oak herringbone flooring, lacquered or diamond plaster walls, wallpaper, custom ceiling treatments and motorized draperies and shades.”
