"Someone approached my husband and said, 'We know what your wife does, would she be willing to help us with this fraternity house?'" Toombs, whoAfter refreshing some rooms in the house, Toombs was approached by a sorority who needed work on their house, too. From there, she got connected to the sorority's national housing officer and property management team, and started building relationships.
Toombs walked Insider through a day in her life, from designing interiors on her computer, to being on-site for installations.Toombs wakes up around 5:30 a.m., and for three days of the week, prepares for a 6 a.m. workout with a trainer who comes to her home. "I work in my home — if there's a lot of mess and chaos, I don't really focus well," Toombs said."I need to know that life is handled in the kitchen."9 a.m. — Starting the workday One day can be working on design plans on her computer for hours, which mostly happens in the winter. Other days, she meets residential clients and local vendors around Lexington.
Toombs mostly works with the national headquarters of the sororities she works with, but the housing department communicates with the local level as well, which includes alumnae and current students. In recent years, Toombs said she started receiving requests for mental wellness spaces intended to allow a resident to comfortably and privately take a therapy appointment, telehealth meeting, or job interview. Toombs has been converting closets, and in older houses, telephone booths, into small rooms for this purpose.Depending on the scope, Toombs can work on between 10 to 20 projects a year. So far, she's worked on over 90 campuses across 25 states, she said.
One recent renovation Toombs worked on cost $6 million, including $400,000 for furniture, fixtures, and equipment, which is under her purview.