HEATHER YORK
FOUNDER + CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Heather was born in the Midwest, raised in the South, and moved to New York City in 1998 to study writing at Columbia where she was a Fulbright Scholar — so she's a New Yorker by now.
After grabbing her MFA, she worked as a creative director in the independent film industry, where colleagues who loved how she designed the company's offices began asking for her help with their apartments. This grew into a part-time passion, then a full-time company, where her first real client in Westport, CT was the inventor of the hair scrunchie. Now that's a story!
Ten years later, when a realtor friend asked for her help styling a hard-to-sell property, Heather fell in love with the process and asked him to drop her name to colleagues. Today, multiple realtors and companies call on Home Story for Heather's careful attention and personal approach to property positioning — discovering and telling each home's true story through design.
Because she entered the staging realm as an interior designer first, she brings an understanding of the distinct differences between the two pursuits to her projects, plus a Rolodex of contractors, painters, landscapers, and other trade pros — and the know-how to partner with them, whether it's paint touch-ups in a studio or a full-scale reno of a family home.
SERDAR GIZER
DESIGN + OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
Serdar’s design path began in Adana, Turkey when his kindergarten teacher showed his mother a detailed model of a fly he'd sculpted in clay. His mother recalled Serdar watching a fly intently in their kitchen the day before — and there it was, larger than life and perfectly formed. Twelve years later, Serdar’s instinct to observe and render beauty in all forms led him to New York City and Parsons, where he received a BFA in Industrial and Product Design...and fell in love with the city.
Installing himself as a true New Yorker, Serdar spent the next decade designing eyewear for Marchon, Coach, and Calvin Klein before popping up to Vermont to grab his MS in Emergent Media at Champlain College. When he returned three years later, he joined Twelve as a design lead specializing in product design, influencer packaging, and event merchandise. Here, he was able to explore his interest in the space around a product — its packaging, display, and interactions with humans. In short, its home.
Before long, Serdar wondered what it might be like to design an actual home. Would his years of experience balancing function and beauty — his expertise in materials, proportion, color, and scale — translate to home design?
Serdar found his answer when a realtor introduced him to Heather. Their partnership developed quickly. His first challenge: repair the neck of a gooseneck lamp with 30 minutes before the photo shoot — go! A quick jog to a hardware store for a roll of duct tape, some crazy glue, and a box of toothpicks did the trick. When he followed up quickly developing floor plans, sourcing furniture, and styling rooms like a pro, a new chapter in Home Story history began.
HOME STORY
STAGING + DESIGN
Home Story was launched in September 2020 as a staging arm of Heather York Interiors, a full service interior design firm with clientele in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
In the beginning, Heather rented furniture from other companies. Before long, she was gathering her own inventory — enough to fill an 8 x 10 mini storage unit. Today, Home Story operates out of a large Chelsea warehouse (also home to the Whitney Museum archive). While Heather York Interiors continues to accept clients, Home Story has taken over the narrative!
The name Home Story was created as an homage to Heather's background as a writer — but it also refers to her favorite aspect of interior design: understanding her client's stories and reflecting them thoroughly in their homes. Heather's first client in 2001 was an entrepreneur who lived in Westport (and invented the hair scrunchie!). He had a guest cottage full of family heirlooms and cherished mementos in boxes. Heather catalogued everything and incorporated pieces in the design. Her client told her: "I fired two designers before you. You're the only one who asked about my family's history, my life. It wasn't about your Architectural Digest spread. It was about me."
Though interior design and staging are very different — one is highly personal, and the other is about neutralizing and beautifying with a marketing strategy in mind — even staged homes have stories.
Revealing those stories through design helps buyers connect more viscerally with a property. Beyond seeing where the furniture might go, or how lovely the space looks — they start to feel at home, to imagine their own story there.
And that is what we call a very happy beginning.
;)