About Us

 

It’s always been a dream of ours to own our own business where we make things. We’re both very creative people and really enjoy making things. Toms background is in TV production and Amber works in marketing. When we made the move to Seattle with my job, we decided that this would be the opportunity we’d been waiting for to start our business. We didn’t know what that would be or how we would make it work, but Tom left his career in TV to help us make this dream come true. Amber studied fashion at the Academy of Art in San Francisco and Tom has the most beautifully creative mind and skills to make almost anything with the right tools, so we knew that we could combine our powers and come up with something great.

After making bow ties for one of our best friend’s wedding, Tom mentioned that there weren’t a lot of bespoke bow tie options available, especially in Seattle. And the ones that were available weren’t exciting and were usually made of a fabric that may not be suitable for everyday wear. This was totally unacceptable! So we decided that we would design the perfect bow tie and use fabric that is light, breathable and on trend. A bow tie that would be perfect for the casual bow tie wearer and bow tie devotee at an affordable price point. I love to hunt for trendy fabric and Tom is devoted to up-cycling as much as possible. So there’s always a little something for everyone. And that’s how Ugly Yellow House was born!

Dream job? Owning a dog ranch where we rescue all the dogs and love them on a ranch in a fishing village along the water. But until then, we try to surround ourselves with dogs as much as possible. And that’s how the idea of dog bow ties was born. It also helps us reduce our fabric waste! We have 2 elderly chihuahua mutts, The Hulk and Chloe Danger, who we love very much. But they HATE wearing clothes, which isn’t great when you make dog bow ties. So we love all the pictures our wonderful customers share with us of how stinking cute their dogs and cats are in bow ties. Yes cats will wear bow ties and we have the Instagram photos to prove it!

So why is it called Ugly Yellow House? Before moving here from Albuquerque, NM in 2014 Seattle was our favorite vacation destination for years. In fact, we got engaged here in 2010! We immediately fell in love with West Seattle and knew that one day we would need to make our dream a reality and buy a house in West Seattle, which we did in 2015. Now we run our little business out of our Ugly Yellow House basement. We love our Ugly Yellow House, we love what we make, so it made sense to pay homage to the house where we get to do what we love, make things!

Let us know if you have any questions or need a custom order, they’re our favorite!

XO,

Tom and Amber