It was a typical Wednesday morning, and Marta Layton was visiting with a friend at a local coffee shop when a young man approached them. He immediately apologized for interrupting but said he couldn’t help but notice Marta’s Polish accent. He proceeded to gush over all the wonderful people he and his wife had met while they were there a few years earlier and boasted that Polish people are not only incredibly nice but also great at everything.
Marta was unsurprisingly blushing by this point and thanked the man for his kind words. In the same breath, she turned to her friend at the table and hesitated to agree about the “are great at everything” part of what he said.
“When I first moved to the United States, I didn’t know how many inches were in a foot,” she said with a laugh.
“I also stink at using power tools.”
Despite those supposed flaws, anyone who knows Marta is quick to argue there’s a lot of truth to the man’s genuine sentiment and that Marta may be the perfect example. Yes, she is known mainly as the proud owner and certified, award-winning designer at Sunday Morning Kitchen and Bath, where she prides herself on being the ultimate remodeling guide for homeowners who have never attempted a major remodel but have a ton of ideas and need help visualizing the possibilities. Basically, if you can dream it, Marta can design it — with a level of professionalism and a keen eye for detail and customization you can’t just find anywhere.
What people may not know is that Marta also has a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics. She worked as a translator and high-level events coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Poland. This included coordinating visits from the U.S. Secretary of State, Congressional visitors, various dignitaries and ambassadors, and even former President Donald Trump.
She’s taught Business English and dabbled in designing websites. She makes custom jewelry in her spare time and even took up competitive pole dancing to stay in shape. Somewhere in between all of that — and reinventing herself to start a new business — she prides herself on being a devoted wife to her husband, Mike, and doting mother to their children, Dominic and Natalie.
“My parents are classically trained musicians — my mother teaches piano, and my father plays in the orchestra back home in Poland. So I guess you can say I come from a creative family,” Marta said. “I didn’t have a good idea of what I wanted to do coming out of high school; all I knew was that I was good at many different things. And even though I became a designer later in life, I always had an affinity for designing, art, and making pretty things. I always had an eye for that.”
Interestingly, it wasn’t until Marta immigrated to the U.S. after meeting her husband at the Embassy in 2012 that her dream career began to materialize. And in many ways, she said it happened by accident. She and Mike had just moved to Virginia, and Marta decided to work at a local custom stone showroom — even though she still didn’t know how many inches were in a foot. But she threw herself into the profession, first learning about stone and tile and then working one-on-one with clients.
Clients immediately found Marta’s positive energy and raw excitement captivating. Her advice on color selections and putting together seemingly complex space designs was oddly on-point for someone so new to the industry.
As she said, she had an eye for it and began looking for ways to work with more clients as an independent designer.
She spent the next several years on self-education and strategically changing jobs to learn as much as possible. That dedication helped her secure her certification through the National Kitchen and Bath Association and five Contractor of the Year awards.
“Even after we moved to Texas, I continued working remotely for the company I was at. It’s a job you can do remotely, but I was miserable,” Marta said. “I wanted to be in front of people, so I started looking into starting my own business.”
She added, “I remember putting together a basic Facebook post and putting it on the Flower Mound Moms and More page … I asked if anyone might be interested in my services, and I can’t tell you how many people reached out almost immediately. They kept saying, ‘I have this complicated kitchen. Can you help me design a new one?’ Everything took off from there.”
She’s not wrong about that. Sunday Morning Kitchen and Bath has quickly become the go-to independent designer for homeowners throughout Denton County, particularly in Flower Mound and Argyle, who want to go beyond a few surface changes here and there to truly reimagine their kitchen or bathroom. With Marta, they get an independent designer (versus someone assigned to them by a big-box firm) with the skills to create technical floor plans, 3D renderings, and video walk-throughs that bring each project to life.
Marta takes care of every little detail. Then, everything is handed over to the construction crews on a silver platter.
“There are so many homes in Flower Mound right now that are 20, 30, and 40 years old, and they’ve never been through a remodel before. My specialty is the ones that are difficult to envision without renderings. And once we have those, I have quality contractors who only have to worry about one thing — executing on the plans,” Marta said. “My first client appointment can last two or three hours, and it should. This is where we talk about everything, and I help them see the possibilities. Everything is to scale, and if the customer wants to make changes, I can do those on the spot so that they can visualize everything as it’s happening.
“It’s all about designing a space that’s perfect for you. I can do many things, but I don’t do cookie-cutter.”
To learn more about Sunday Morning Kitchen and Bath and schedule a free consultation, visit www.sundaymorningkb.com.
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