Oh hey! It’s me, Dab!

If you’re new around here, I wanna introduce myself. I’m Dabito and I’m a designer and artist. I have a voracious appetite for infusing color into spaces. I believe color and decorating was how I was able to pacify a lot of my issues growing up as a queer Asian American. Although, I love colorful interiors, it took me a long time to actually wear color because I didn’t like to draw attention to myself cause I was very shy and introverted. But now as a 40 year old I can say that I’m a full on extroverted Aries! It’s been a long journey. Let’s see…what else. I almost always grab a bag of BBQ chips whenever I’m in the chips aisle. I love dirty martinis. Some of my favorite comfort foods are Hainan chicken rice and bún riêu. I split my time between Los Angeles and New Orleans with my husband and three fur babies. I used to have over 30 plants in my home and as of today, I’m down to two! Anywho, I’ll save more of my journey for ya in my new book, Old Brand New.

I’m so excited to be one of the very few AAPI authors to be releasing an interiors book this year. (I might be the only one, actually, LOL). It’s been a long time coming. As someone who struggled with stringing along sentences and failed many college English exams, I never thought in a million years I would be writing a book. English was my second language. Even though I was born in the states, my family are first generation immigrants, so I didn’t learn English until I went to kindergarten. I even had an English tutor my freshman year at UC Santa Cruz. Tests gave me so much anxiety and the pressure to spit out so many words added to that. I honestly was not prepared for those 5-10-page papers for Psychology 101 or History. I would pull all-nighters and end up with 10 sentences, I kid you not. My brain just didn’t work that way. I remember for my Asian Art History class once, instead of writing a 10-page paper, I decided to paint a 22x30 landscape to show what I learned instead of writing. It was a beautiful piece. And I got a B! Honestly, I think my ADHD didn’t help either.

Post college and after a string of random jobs, I turned to blogging in 2010. It was personal and I took my own time writing the posts. It was less pressure and good practice to write on my own terms. Doing what I love and writing about it was much easier for me. It’s still not easy and requires a lot of brain power but at the end of the day, I love sharing and inspiring other people who might be on a similar journey as me to find their creative path, to start decorating, and find their own light (and color confidence).

Fast forward 20 years later, I can’t believe I actually wrote a book. And to be honest, my favorite parts of Old Brand New are actually the intro and conclusion where I share my journey into design and also what I want you all to take away from this book. I can’t wait for August 29 when my book is out in the world and I can share with you the sanctuary and empowerment I found in design and color. I realized that my story is worth telling through spaces, and I promise you that yours is too. Happy AANHPI month!


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