About the Team
Casey Howard, Principal
Casey founded her namesake design studio in 2012 to explore, evolve, and serve clients who desire a fresh and edgy twist on traditional style. Whether renovating a family home, furnishing a bachelor’s pad in the city, or collaborating on a special product collection, Casey’s values are grounded in kindness and the synchronicity of form and function.
Casey’s passion for design was ignited during her studies abroad at the University of London where she had the opportunity to travel to sixteen countries, discovering new sources of inspiration with each destination. She earned a degree in Business Administration from California Polytechnic State University before formally pursuing her passion with a degree in Interior Architecture and Design from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.
Prior to founding Casey Howard Interior Design, Casey spent 8 years with a top east bay interior design firm.
Casey is an interior design expert contributor on NBC’s California Live television show. She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, LUXE magazine, Diablo Magazine, Homes & Gardens UK, CA Home + Design magazine, and California Homes magazine. She also designed a room at the Napa Valley Showhouse. Casey collaborated with Amanda Wright Pottery to create a collection of edgy ceramic objects, and completed a special collaboration with Revitaliste to transform ordinary pieces into one-of-a-kind creations.
Sam McInnes, SENIOR Interior Designer
“Perspective drawing is so much fun! How can I make this my career?” Sam posed this question to the art teacher as she sketched her first 3D room interior. Little did Sam know that this evening class at the local community center would be the catalyst for an entire career change just a few years later.
In 2007, Sam enrolled at the New England School of Art and Design. The small art school garnered respect as it frequently appeared on Design Intelligence Magazine’s ‘Top 10’ list of "America's Best Architecture and Design Schools”. It was here that Sam’s creativity blossomed and at the suggestion of one of her professors, became tempted by a career in book illustration. Staying true to her intention as her passion for Interior Design was unveiled, Sam graduated with honors at the top of the program.
Sam specialized in kitchen and bath design for many years. With over 90 kitchen remodels under her belt, Sam brought a unique combination of analytics and design to her plans.
At CHID, Sam continues to enjoy working on custom cabinetry designs and leveraging her penchant for perspectives in many of the projects she works on.
SAMANTHA MERCADO, SENIOR INTERIOR DESIGNER
Samantha is a creative person who has always liked making things. Her awareness of design was sparked in childhood while accompanying her mother to work at a local custom cabinetry studio.
After graduating from FIDM, Samantha pursued a career in the arts and realized her calling to interior design. She founded her own design studio in Boise, Idaho before making the decision to return home to Danville.
Samantha is thrilled to do what she loves with the great team at CHID. Some of her favorite things include: picking furnishings, seeing a vision come to fruition, mixing old & new with textures and colors, and adding moody and unique pieces to a space. She is driven by the opportunity to express herself creatively while curating homes that clients love.
Samantha brings knowledge and experience with the technical and construction side of the industry – she loves being in the field and seeing new builds and renovations come to life, and highly values preserving integrity of structures and the historic roots of spaces.
Jessica Fox, Office & Procurement ManageR
Jessica is passionate about the details that make a house, a home. This sentiment drew her to a career in interiors and homebuilding and it’s the same feeling that brought her to CHID.
After beginning her career on the administrative side working in a design studio for a luxury home builder, Jessica joined a start-up company also in the homebuilding space. She learned the in’s and out’s of building through her role in procurement where she bid and contracted materials and labor. Armed with this knowledge and experience, she went on to work with one of the ‘big 3’ national builders where she further honed her skills.
She knew something was missing, it was the element she was so passionate about from the very beginning. What makes a house, a home? Interior design.
She found the perfect fit for her skills and passion when she joined the talented and creative team at CHID.