We are excited to share this moment of celebration with you! After months of hard work, Duoma Atelier is officially opened for business. This is a very important moment for us, and we are thrilled to share our story with you!
Because a lot led to today, we would love to tell you the story of how this dream of ours came to be. Imagine you are at the Galella’s dinner table and we have just settled in for after-dinner drinks. The children have gone to play and watch movies in the family room, their favorite part of the house. You casually mention how every time you come; we have done something new in the house. And Norma and I give each other “the look” and laugh. We mention, the work at a designer’s and builder’s home is never done, and we are always planning something new, always.
And it has been like that ever since we met, we always took on new challenges working as a team, whether it was designing and building furniture for Norma’s Design studio and our cabins in South America or fully renovating our 1950’s house in South Miami.
When we started looking for a house, we were not looking for a fixer-upper but the more we looked the more we concluded our dream home did not exist. After seeing so many houses in the market, we finally found this gem which needed a lot of TLC. It had been in the market for a while, apparently, people were scared of taking on the challenge. Well, not us, no sir! We knew it had potential, and lots of it.
As we closed on the house we decided to keep renting where we were while we built and go full steam ahead on the renovation. I immediately called my crews and demolition work began. Norma, who was pregnant with our last child, was a trooper. She did her magic with the design and supported me throughout this new adventure. As always, we worked great together, and the result was everything we envisioned.
As we evolved professionally, our challenges and goals grew to a level where we realized we needed to be part of something bigger; something that not only left a legacy for our children but most importantly would make a profound impact on our lives and our community. This is when we went from casually talking from time to time about really working together to “what in the world are we waiting for?” I mean, our friends were always telling us, but it took us all this time to finally say: “Let’s do it!”
Our skills always complimented each other, and our projects, especially our home renovation, were the catalyst infusing Duoma from the very beginning. We understand firsthand the ins and outs of a home renovation and how frustrating the process can be. We see potential, we create, we build, and we can turn an ordinary house into your dream home. This is the heartbeat of Duoma Atelier: to bring you peace of mind while creating spaces that reflect your family’s lifestyle.
Know that Norma and I already consider you family as we celebrate the launch of Duoma Atelier. We are so glad you’re here with us!
