Full-Stack Development · 2026
Gillionaire Decor
The Problem
A friend's curtain and blinds business had no online presence. Potential clients had no way to see the range of services or reach the business outside of word of mouth.
The Approach
I built a complete site from the ground up: a multi-page marketing site, a real contact form connected to a live database, and an admin dashboard to review inquiries securely.
Implementation
The frontend is built in Next.js with a component-based architecture and a custom typography and color system. The backend is a Node.js and Express API deployed on Render, connected to a PostgreSQL database on the same platform. Client inquiries are stored with a proper relational structure (clients linked to inquiries via foreign key), and the business owner receives an SMS notification the moment a new inquiry comes in. The admin dashboard is protected with hashed passwords and JWT-based authentication.
Result
The site is live and in active use, storing real client inquiries and sending real SMS notifications. It replaced the business's previous lack of any online presence.
Lessons Learned
Working through real deployment issues, such as case-sensitive file paths in production and environment variable mismatches between local and live databases, taught me more about how production systems actually behave than any tutorial could.