PORT ANGELES — “What you have,” Kevin Tracy said one day to Trisa Chomica, “is a gift.”
Tracy, Chomica’s husband, was marveling at her ability to see rooms, offices and whole homes in a new, more beautiful light.
“This is what I was born to do,” Chomica said of her work as a designer — and redesigner — of living spaces. “I can walk into a space, and see it, complete.”
Born in Port Townsend, she grew up helping to decorate the homes her father, the late Demetrius Katsikapes, built across Jefferson County. Chomica credits him, and his love for people and community, as both inspiration and education for the work she does now.
During the 1980s, Chomica fashioned a glamorous career working for others, first in downtown Seattle at an advertising agency, then for Nordstrom, Eddie Bauer and others on spreads in magazines such as Vogue and GQ.
Then she married a Canadian, and moved to Banff, Alberta, where she decorated condominiums and houses for affluent vacationers.
After 10 years, her marriage ended in divorce, and Chomica decided to come back to the North Olympic Peninsula. It was Sept. 14, 2001, three days after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, when she and her young son, Dmitri, flew away from their old life to start anew here.
Chomica went to work at McCrorie Home Furnishings in Port Angeles, where customers, learning of her design background, soon began seeking her advice. Among them was Coldwell Banker Uptown Realty, which hired her to create the interior of its Front Street building, from the flooring to the front desk to the colors on every wall.
That job “kick-started my career,” Chomica said.
You might think she would find Port Angeles a little provincial after working where she has.
Instead, Chomica calls this a “tremendously supportive” community, where not only her family and friends welcomed her back, but the business community also encouraged her to open her own firm.
Chomica, 45, founded Trisa & Co. Interior Design in 2004, and now shares office space with her husband, who owns Tracy Wealth Management, in the Aldwell Building above The Toggery.
She’s got her desk positioned just right: beside a wide window overlooking downtown Port Angeles.
And today, Chomica’s client base stretches from here across the Peninsula and beyond, from Olympic Medical Center, Peninsula College, Fiesta Jalisco and Camaraderie Cellars to homeowners all over the West.
Laura O’Neal of Port Angeles has hired Chomica a couple of times to revamp parts of her house. Most recently, Chomica used her active imagination to transform O’Neal’s hall-like living room.
“We couldn’t figure out what to do with it,” O’Neal said, but Chomica came in and quickly saw a new look.
She created two seating areas, so O’Neal and her family have two to choose from, with two focal points, the television and the fireplace.
She did this not with a lot of fancy, expensive stuff, but with rearranged furniture and rugs, including one she “stole” from another room.
“She can take what you have and make it look completely different,” O’Neal said. “She reminds me of the people on TV who add a belt to a scuba suit and make it look like a prom dress.”
Chomica starts by asking her clients how they want people to feel when they walk into their place. The most common responses, she says, are “comfortable” and “cozy.”
Then she listens, and listens some more, and does something called “shopping the house.” That’s looking around for other furnishings — a lamp, some linens, art work that’s been put away — and arranging them in a new way.
Mary Hunchberger hired Chomica to redesign her Lake Sutherland house after a flood ruined much of the interior.
“She listened to me, and we went from there,” Hunchberger said, adding that Chomica, with her enthusiasm, has a way of nudging her clients to try on new colors.
Hunchberger, Peninsula College’s executive director of college advancement, also chose Chomica to decorate the Pirate Union Building for the 2009 American Conversations evening with Jeremy Rifkin, whose talk explored environmental sustainability. Using recycled wood, “she created a sustainability wonderland,” Hunchberger said.
For this year’s American Conversations with New Orleans jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis, Chomica did something entirely different and appropriate: She turned the PUB into a Big Easy-style bistro.
Last week, Chomica and Hunchberger did some shopping for Chomica’s contribution to the Festival of Trees, this weekend’s lavish auction fundraiser for the Olympic Medical Center Foundation.
Her “House Beautiful” theme tree is actually a whole living room, with an area rug, sofa, coffee table and end table — and two hours of design consultation by Chomica for the winning bidder.
The Festival of Trees is open to the public and finishes up today, with some 50 trees and 80 wreaths on display from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St.
To Chomica, holiday decorating — and any other decorating to warm a space — starts with simple touches, and with the colors and furnishings that make you feel good.
For a festive wreath, for example, Chomica goes out to her backyard, finds some evergreen boughs and maybe some berry sprigs and ties them all together with a big bow. This decoration can go on a table or mantel, perhaps with a mirror and some lights or those electric candles you don’t have to worry about blowing out.
Turning clutter into neatness is fairly simple, Chomica adds. Use a tray or a basket to collect odds and ends; suddenly your counter looks tidy. And to freshen a room fast, pick a rich color and paint an accent wall. You can always paint it something else again.
Chomica is now working on a redesign of Michael’s Seafood & Steakhouse in downtown Port Angeles. As with other clients, owner Michael Lynch already had the furnishings and pictures she’s using to turn the back room into a European bistro-style hideaway.
Chomica also works with couples — who, naturally, tend to have differing tastes. The key to productive design discussions, she says, is the same as for any exchange. Make sure both people are heard, and that neither speaks over, or for, the other.
Chomica sees it time and again: When a couple listens to each other, they find common ground.
“By the end [of the discussion], they are so excited to move forward,” she says.
In a workplace, Chomica adds, merely rearranging furniture and adding a little something new does a lot to boost morale.
As for Port Angeles, Chomica says she is “thrilled” by the city’s Waterfront and Transportation Improvement Plan, which proposes expansion of Hollywood Beach, a pedestrian plaza on Railroad Avenue and an esplanade along the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Chomica shares the view of many of her clients, who like her have lived in other parts of the continent: There is surpassing beauty in Port Angeles’ natural surroundings.
The future is bright, Chomica believes, for the built environment.
“There is a lot of potential,” for innovative design and decor. “I love that change is coming,” she says.
Chomica’s vision: “to beautify Port Angeles, one building at a time.”