Aaron Laine
Founder/President
Design Visionary | Creative | Meticulous | Life Enthusiast
Born in Carmel, California, Aaron Laine was destined for a career involving bespoke and resplendent living spaces. Early influences of the spectacular Pacific coastline, surrounding nature, modernist architecture and the area’s maker community played a seminal role in his upbringing.
While his artist grandmother instilled an appreciation of color, texture, and the importance of good tailoring, his parents imparted more practical traits of responsibility and a strong work ethic. Entrepreneurship was evident even in childhood, when he chose to sell eggs and flowers door to door. His tireless spirit, dedication and ease in connecting with people would prove to be invaluable characteristics.
As a teenager, his family moved to Texas where he embraced his new home in Houston. Aaron showed a talent for making things and a fascination with process and material. The self-starter funded his own college education, working several jobs while attending class. An opportunity volunteering for ASID formalized his career choice and a design internship followed. This led to sales positions at leading bath showrooms. Adept with customers and showing a flair for style, he soon became immersed in plumbing. This revealed a thorough understanding of product specifics, mechanics and installation and an ability to communicate with tradesmen and contractors.
Utilizing his business acumen and design expertise, he established Fixtures & Fittings in 2009. Despite opening the showroom during a recession, he remained committed to core beliefs, prioritizing people over products and delivering seamless and uncompromising work. He also emphasized designing for the complete luxury home beyond kitchens and baths. The business thrived and, in 2011, he moved to a larger location and began building a team with Mindy Carter Martin as Vice President.
Aaron expertly guides the curation and displays at Fixtures & Fittings. The hope is that visitors will be transported to another place and leave inspired similar to visiting a gallery or museum. He gleans inspiration from myriad sources--art, travel, architecture, antiques and all things modern. An avid collector, he loves vintage glass, match strikers, lighters, Lucite and has a penchant for suits. When not at work or at the gym, he can be found escaping to the sanctity of his home or ranch. He and his partner and their adorable Golden Doodle Flora Mae spend weekends at the ranch raising cows and chickens. Driving a tractor is a spiritual cleanser of sorts, allowing him the time and space to think about the business, his next trip or simply enjoying old-time country western music.
Today, Fixtures & Fittings remains an asset to the Houston design community. Laine has prided the company in not only offering exquisitely-made products, but, more important, in providing the inspiration, dedicated service and steadfast capability that results in a bespoke and beloved environment, one space at a time.
Mindy Carter Martin
Vice President
Collaborator in Chief | Prodigious | Multi-Tasker | Mood Adjuster
Mindy Carter Martin is a native Texan. As a child, she and her family moved to Michigan before realizing that the Lone Star State was home and returned to Houston. Her mother surrounded the family with a love of art and antiques, infusing imagination to every space and using their home as a canvas of expression and color.
The eldest of four children, being responsible and caring for her siblings was ingrained in Mindy at an early age. Realizing that the future was in her hands, she held jobs outside the home from the age of 10 onward. This not only served as a source of freedom and stability, but also independence and a means toward achieving goals. Working at a craft store was instrumental in not only being exposed to pottery, paper and textiles, but also in seeing how a small business was run and how a space can serve a need for community and interaction.
After completing her education, Mindy went on to work in various in high-end sales and customer service positions. Regardless of the industry, she thrived in rigorous settings and fully immersed herself in tasks, expertly managing details, individuals and challenging situations.
Meeting and working with Aaron Laine nearly 20 years ago proved to be an enriching and long-lasting working relationship. Together, they were both employed at a high-end retailer and Houston kitchen and bath showroom. For Mindy, this not only reinforced her talents, but also revealed skills in project management, curating product, devising solutions and overseeing budgets.
She joined Fixtures & Fittings in 2011 as Vice President. She is beloved by her clients and is excited by the prospect of creating interiors r for homeowners that she has known and worked with for as many as 10 or 15 years. She shares in the same philosophy of the company about the importance of engagement and envisioning a flawless result that exceeds expectations.
Mindy is passionate about her work but adores her four children, husband and two black Labrador retrievers. When not at the office, she can be found at her lakeside cabin, cooking, grilling and spending time outdoors. Inspired by travel and art, she also loves horses and dreams of owning one in the near future.
