Meet Kristi Hickman | Interior designer The Hickman House

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kristi Hickman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristi, why did you pursue a creative career?
Why did you pursue an artistic or creative career? I have followed and explored my creative instincts for as long as I can remember and those artistic inclinations have led me to pursue and experience multiple artistic career paths over the years often with one flowing seamlessly into another. My newest career venture has been partnering with my stylish and talented mother-in-law Adrian Hickman to build the interior design business The Hickman House. We are loving it!

I was that teenager growing up in small town southern America who was equally enthralled with both the lush, landscape of nature around me and the distant, exotic architecture I saw in glossy magazines. I was the teenager awake at 2:00 am on a school night sitting at the kitchen table with my Diet Coke and Doritos, listening to the radio and writing poetry while dreaming of all the marvelous places I would travel to one day. Fast forward to the present and I am now a wife, a mom of two teenage girls, and a business owner still sitting up late at night and currently writing a book entitled Chasing Beauty. To me, that’s what a life following your passions becomes: a life of discovering the depths of the beauty all around you and then sharing it with others.
Growing up I was obsessed with dreamy wallpaper (so thrilled it is trending again!), arranging and re-arranging the menagerie of stuffed animals on my bed, and absentmindedly looking at the chenille bedspreads and ruffled curtains in the Sears catalogue over and over again. (Oh wow I am really showing my age now!) Decades later not much has changed. I am currently obsessed with chinoiserie wall coverings, arranging and rearranging books, art, or dishes on floating shelves, or perusing through my Serena Lily catalogue over and over again. The journey between the now and then however is what really prepared me to do what I do. I go into people’s most sacred space, their home, and help them “find their beautiful.” First however, I had to learn to find my own.
My childhood first love was the Mississippi woodsy trails behind my country house that were spotted with fairytale dogwoods and carpeted by wild ferns. I was deeply affected by the mesmerizing emotion that the glow of a lingering, pink and orange sunset can bring. The warm and rustic colors of the fall seemed to calm the world around me and the vibrant burst of new life in the spring then energized us all again. I noticed how those around me internalized these promptings from nature in all kinds of subtle ways. Today I draw from these color palettes in my design and help people find that “season” they love.
In my teen years, I developed a new interest in the kind of beauty featured within the pages of my teen fashion magazines. Instead of spending my time playing outdoors and riding three wheelers, I stayed indoors experimenting with homemade face masks and self pampering rituals. I decided to give it a go and see if I could make it onto one of those pages myself. It surprisingly worked out! So, after being crowned Miss Mississippi Teen USA at age 16, I went on to be crowned Miss Teen USA on CBS and then flown to California to move into my new home. It turned out it to be a high rise penthouse and my new roomies were Miss USA and Miss Universe. The melting pot of LA was fascinating to me and I embraced new cultures, new foods, new art, new fashion, new architecture, new ideas, and new design. Travel, adventure, and exposure to diversity became my “school of design.” This new world experience gave me exposure to all walks of life whether through meeting new people or traveling around the world to new places.
When the time for college came, I chose to major in Broadcast Journalism at Ole Miss. To learn to chart the avenues through which I could channel my colorful ideas and continue to explore the intriguing lives of others seemed to be the perfect choice when I envisioned my future. Everyone has a story and I wanted to listen to as many as I could. I was bursting at the seams with curiosity and expressive energy. Somehow I managed juggling the travel of a  modeling career and finishing my degree while remaining on the Dean’s Honor Roll. I did not know it then but I was learning how take care of future clients no matter what “style” they wanted. I rotated living between our LA penthouse on Wilshire, my KD sorority house at Ole Miss, to my Mama’s sprawling brick house in the country and I enjoyed every setting just as much as the next.
Back in LA after college graduation, I met and married the man of my dreams Jeff. We began our happy, bi-racial family a few years later. Just 15 months apart, we had two beautiful daughters, Hannah and Ella Grace. We have been married 21 years now and are still going as strong as ever. Our devotion to one another within our home directly affects the devotion with which I feather our nest and take special care of our home. I believe that if the people living within a home are special, (and we all are), then the home itself should be treated just as special as it serves us and protects us. A well-kept and beautifully decorated home is often one full of hospitality, gratitude, and love. I believe with all of my heart that joy and peace within your most sacred space, your home, is the ultimate goal of satisfying interior design.
In the years following my wedding to my soulmate, the desire to express my story and give life to other women’s stories turned into serving in the women’s ministry alongside my husband who has now been a pastor for 25 years. The number of women’s homes I have been welcomed into is countless. The countries we have toured, the myriad of cultures with which we have bonded, and the mission trips we have been a part of have been blessings beyond measure. I have learned to listen not just to people’s words but to their hearts. For me now as an interior designer, finding out what moves people, what calms people, and what brings healing to people is an integral part of what I do.
During these years of being devoted to women’s ministry, I also (quite accidentally) began a fitness business. I prioritize not just taking care of myself spiritually and emotionally, but I have always prioritized taking care of myself physically. I became a Zumba instructor, a Barre instructor, and a yoga instructor. I have been pumping loud world beats with my Zumba tribe in my classes for over a decade at Dance Stop Studios in Marietta. At Compound Fitness in Marietta we unite our minds with our bodies each week on our yoga mats. It began to become quite clear to me that I believed in a wholistic form of creating a beautiful life. I believe that to create the beautiful life I want, I need to design it well and be intentional in doing so. It also became clear that WE need to do this collectively and that my creative talents could best be used guiding others down this path. I believe we need to be intentional about taking care of ourselves, our friends and families, and our homes. I prioritize my spiritual life, my family life, my physical fitness, and my sanctuary…my home. To me it all organically flows together.
As the time drew nearer for my family to enter the empty nest stage and I began to have more time on my hands, I knew it was right for me to officially add that next piece of the puzzle, interior designer, to my career path. As The club soccer trips and the AAU basketball weekends began to end , the dream of putting my “life and style” together as an interior decorator became a reality. The sum of so many of my experiences came together as my business partner Adrian and I created The Hickman House in 2019. The diversity we offer to clients as interracial business partners as well as family that loves and respects each other is also something that makes me extremely proud. I have dreamed of catapulting my love of interior decorating and creative design for decades. For The Hickman House to be thriving and to be experiencing it side by side with my family is a dream! I look forward to knowing more and more clients turned into friends who wake up inspired, contented, and even comforted, through the touch of the creative hands of The Hickman House within their most sacred space…their home.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I was that teenager growing up in small town southern America who was equally enthralled with both the lush, landscape of nature around me and the distant, exotic architecture I saw in glossy magazines. I was the teenager awake at 2:00 am on a school night sitting at the kitchen table with my Diet Coke and Doritos, listening to the radio and writing poetry while dreaming of all the marvelous places I would travel to one day. Fast forward to the present and I am now a wife, a mom of two teenage girls, and a business owner still sitting up late at night and currently writing a book entitled Chasing Beauty. To me, that’s what a life following your passions becomes: a life of discovering the depths of the beauty all around you and then sharing it with others.

Growing up I was obsessed with dreamy wallpaper (so thrilled it is trending again!), arranging and re-arranging the menagerie of stuffed animals on my bed, and absentmindedly looking at the chenille bedspreads and ruffled curtains in the Sears catalogue over and over again. (Oh wow I am really showing my age now!) Decades later not much has changed. I am currently obsessed with chinoiserie wall coverings, arranging and rearranging books, art, or dishes on floating shelves, or perusing through my Serena Lily catalogue over and over again. The journey between the now and then however is what really prepared me to do what I do. I go into people’s most sacred space, their home, and help them “find their beautiful.” First however, I had to learn to find my own.

My childhood first love was the Mississippi woodsy trails behind my country house that were spotted with fairytale dogwoods and carpeted by wild ferns. I was deeply affected by the mesmerizing emotion that the glow of a lingering, pink and orange sunset can bring. The warm and rustic colors of the fall seemed to calm the world around me and the vibrant burst of new life in the spring then energized us all again. I noticed how those around me internalized these promptings from nature in all kinds of subtle ways. Today I draw from these color palettes in my design and help people find that “season” they love.

In my teen years, I developed a new interest in the kind of beauty featured within the pages of my teen fashion magazines. Instead of spending my time playing outdoors and riding three wheelers, I stayed indoors experimenting with homemade face masks and self pampering rituals. I decided to give it a go and see if I could make it onto one of those pages myself. It surprisingly worked out! So, after being crowned Miss Mississippi Teen USA at age 16, I went on to be crowned Miss Teen USA on CBS and then flown to California to move into my new home. It turned out it to be a high rise penthouse and my new roomies were Miss USA and Miss Universe. The melting pot of LA was fascinating to me and I embraced new cultures, new foods, new art, new fashion, new architecture, new ideas, and new design. Travel, adventure, and exposure to diversity became my “school of design.” This new world experience gave me exposure to all walks of life whether through meeting new people or traveling around the world to new places.

When the time for college came, I chose to major in Broadcast Journalism at Ole Miss. To learn to chart the avenues through which I could channel my colorful ideas and continue to explore the intriguing lives of others seemed to be the perfect choice when I envisioned my future. Everyone has a story and I wanted to listen to as many as I could. I was bursting at the seams with curiosity and expressive energy. Somehow I managed juggling the travel of a  modeling career and finishing my degree while remaining on the Dean’s Honor Roll. I did not know it then but I was learning how take care of future clients no matter what “style” they wanted. I rotated living between our LA penthouse on Wilshire, my KD sorority house at Ole Miss, to my Mama’s sprawling brick house in the country and I enjoyed every setting just as much as the next.

Back in LA after college graduation, I met and married the man of my dreams Jeff. We began our happy, bi-racial family a few years later. Just 15 months apart, we had two beautiful daughters, Hannah and Ella Grace. We have been married 21 years now and are still going as strong as ever. Our devotion to one another within our home directly affects the devotion with which I feather our nest and take special care of our home. I believe that if the people living within a home are special, (and we all are), then the home itself should be treated just as special as it serves us and protects us. A well-kept and beautifully decorated home is often one full of hospitality, gratitude, and love. I believe with all of my heart that joy and peace within your most sacred space, your home, is the ultimate goal of satisfying interior design.

In the years following my wedding to my soulmate, the desire to express my story and give life to other women’s stories turned into serving in the women’s ministry alongside my husband who has now been a pastor for 25 years. The number of women’s homes I have been welcomed into is countless. The countries we have toured, the myriad of cultures with which we have bonded, and the mission trips we have been a part of have been blessings beyond measure. I have learned to listen not just to people’s words but to their hearts. For me now as an interior designer, finding out what moves people, what calms people, and what brings healing to people is an integral part of what I do.
During these years of being devoted to women’s ministry, I also (quite accidentally) began a fitness business. I prioritize not just taking care of myself spiritually and emotionally, but I have always prioritized taking care of myself physically. I became a Zumba instructor, a Barre instructor, and a yoga instructor. I have been pumping loud world beats with my Zumba tribe in my classes for over a decade at Dance Stop Studios in Marietta. At Compound Fitness in Marietta we unite our minds with our bodies each week on our yoga mats. It began to become quite clear to me that I believed in a wholistic form of creating a beautiful life. I believe that to create the beautiful life I want, I need to design it well and be intentional in doing so. It also became clear that WE need to do this collectively and that my creative talents could best be used guiding others down this path. I believe we need to be intentional about taking care of ourselves, our friends and families, and our homes. I prioritize my spiritual life, my family life, my physical fitness, and my sanctuary…my home. To me it all organically flows together.

As the time drew nearer for my family to enter the empty nest stage and I began to have more time on my hands, I knew it was right for me to officially add that next piece of the puzzle, interior designer, to my career path. As The club soccer trips and the AAU basketball weekends began to end , the dream of putting my “life and style” together as an interior decorator became a reality. The sum of so many of my experiences came together as my business partner Adrian and I created The Hickman House in 2019.

The diversity we offer to clients as interracial business partners as well as family that loves and respects each other is also something that makes me extremely proud. I have dreamed of catapulting my love of interior decorating and creative design for decades. For The Hickman House to be thriving and to be experiencing it side by side with my family is a dream! I look forward to knowing more and more clients turned into friends who wake up inspired, contented, and even comforted, through the touch of the creative hands of The Hickman House within their most sacred space…their home.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Living in East Cobb, Marietta I am nestled in the perfect spot to enjoy both downtown Roswell and the Marietta square. Both areas are the perfect place to spend an afternoon that lasts through the evening with the feeling of being in stylish yet quaint setting. In downtown Roswell I love the New Orleans cuisine of Adele’s. The beignets are to die for! (I ask for extra powdered sugar!) You can stroll down tree lined Canton street and find yourself at Deep Roots Wine Market and Tasting Room for a glass of wine or at Le Bistro at Roswell Provisions for a coffee. Right across the street Salt is an all time favorite of mine for dinner.
At the Marietta Square I like to relax by the fountain and take in the fresh air. There are so many cute shops and yummy restaurants with outdoor seating to choose from. Mac’s chophouse and Silla del Toro tapas restaurant are my current favorite places for drinks and dining.
When it’s time to go into the city for nightlife The Garden Room is the place to go! My friends and I celebrated there for my last birthday and it was absolutely gorgeous with both amazing drinks and food. Of course to me brunch at the Swan Coach House is a must for anyone visiting ATl for the first time. I never get tired of their menu no matter how many times I go.
For my outdoorsy fixes I like the easy hiking at Red Top Mountain and making day trips to the North GA wineries like. Crane Creek and Wolf Mountain Vineyards. Henson Cove Bed and Breakfast was a great little tucked away gem my husband and I found a few years ago. Then last but not least, if it was the right season, a Braves game would complete the whole experience!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My talented and creative business partner is not only someone I collaborate with and work with but she is also my mother-n-law. She raised her son, my husband of 21 years, as a single mom and has become not just family to me but a friend and confidante as well. She has been both a savvy business woman and a mother/grandmother who is devoted to her family at the same time. She inspires us all!

Website: Thehickmanhouse.com

Instagram: @thehickmanhouse.com

Facebook: The Hickman House

Other: Kristi@thehickmanhouse.com

Image Credits
Barbara Benville at benvil.photography Nichole Crosier Photography