One of Extension's Rising Stars

Rita LeBrun

Growing up doesn't mean giving up childhood dreams. With the willingness to risk and the desire for knowledge, childhood dreams can become today's reality.

Meet Rita LeBrun. When LeBrun was a little girl, she designed dollhouses out of shoeboxes. She decorated the cardboard houses with tiny scraps of fabric that became carpets and curtains.

Eventually, LeBrun left her dollhouses behind.

As a young adult, LeBrun entered the field of human resources. For 17 years, she worked for Guidant Corporation, a medical technology company in Temecula. Her few opportunities to dabble in interior design occurred when friends asked her for help in rearranging their furniture or sprucing up their homes.

"My friends would say, 'you just have a knack for this,'" LeBrun said.

In 1989, LeBrun decided to pursue her childhood dream. She enrolled in an interior design course at UCR Extension. That decision changed the direction of her life. She took one class each quarter and completed Introduction to Interior Design, Color Theory and Its Application and Residential Interior Design. The days were long when she went to work and school, but her school assignments were manageable and she gained a lot of hands-on experience.

"It was hard sometimes to go to class after a full day at work—I was tired—but going with a friend helped as we encouraged each other," LeBrun said.

While taking those classes, LeBrun learned what she liked and didn't like about the profession of interior designer. Ultimately, LeBrun chose not to become a traditional interior designer. Instead, she used her UC Riverside education as a foundation to become certified as an Interior Refiner—a one-day redecorator who uses existing furnishings to create a new and fresh look.

LeBrun then started her own company which she calls The Room Arranger. She started slowly, but as business picked up, she made the great leap—she left her day job and became a full-time interior refiner. Since then, LeBrun's work has been featured in newspapers in Southern California and upstate New York, where she recently moved.

LeBrun collaborates with her clients. Together they sit down and review what the client already owns, and then they spend a day together rearranging the room to create a fresh new look. On her way to becoming a designer, LeBrun also became an educator. She makes a point of teaching her clients about the design principles that influenced the changes in the client's home.

"This is something we do together," LeBrun said. "Education is a good part of it."

Last August, LeBrun made another big change. She bought a 100-year-old colonial farmhouse in Fayetteville, New York. The house sits on 2.2 acres of land and features a small pond with fish and frogs. Her 10-year-old son loves it. In addition, there's a two-story carriage house where LeBrun keeps her car. She plans to turn the second floor into her home office. LeBrun is already dreaming up decorating schemes for her new digs.

Today's farmhouse is a far cry from yesterday's shoebox. LeBrun started on her path by taking one class at UCR Extension. That's all you need to change your life—a childhood dream and the yearning for learning.

John F. Azzaretto
Vice Chancellor, Public Service and
International Programs; and
Dean, University Extension and
Summer Sessions, UC Riverside