The Chaise Lounge Podcast

Special Edition:  Kips Bay Decorator Show House...What does it take?

On today’s show, we are bringing you the first installment of our 2016 Kip’s Bay Show House series. You’ll hear 5 different designers that were selected to design a space in these year’s decorator show house. Be sure to stay tuned for the second installment of the series, next week, to hear from a few more of the talented designers who are featured in the house.

David Kendall: Entry Space and Stairs

David Kendall was honored with one of the largest spaces in the show house, with a lot of volume and complexities. “Philanthropy is such a big thing over here, we understand how important this work is,” says David. David was excited to receive this space as it is the first and last thing people see while touring the home, and appreciated the opportunity to have a very impactful space to design. Nick and David talk about the inspiration behind the space he designed, through a project that he had done previously, known as the ‘Blue Bar.’ David talks about using techniques he’s used before, although not exact replication, knowing what really worked and using that as a reference in future projects. He goes on to describe the textiles that were designed as a partnership with Baker. To learn more about David Kendall’s work visit www.davidcollins.com

Suzanne Kasler: Family Room

“It’s been an exciting thing; this is my first year doing Kip’s Bay.” Suzanne is an Interior Designer based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Suzanne was recently featured in the Architectural Digest’s top 100 designers, which put Suzanne and her work on the Kip’s Bay radar. Suzanne talks with Nick about the process of shopping for the pieces she’s featured in her room. “I was inspired by the classic tailored building, it’s a new building, and it has a beautiful limestone coloring, and that kind of inspired my direction on the design.” Suzanne utilized a high-gloss white, edited background that really featured the complex layering of her design. “I love mixing modern, new and vintage, “says Suzanne. To learn more about Suzanne, check out her Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter blog posts on her website, www.suzannekasler.com

Alex Papachristidis: Dining Room

Alex describes his space within the 2016 show house, which is a dining room with a seating area. “I live in a big country house with my family that we share, and sometimes getting people to dinner is like herding cats! So I thought how nice would it be to have a dining room with a seating area where everyone can arrive and have a drink and then site down for dinner and a hot meal.” Alex describes the details of the soft pale palette that he utilized in the room. Alex started the design with the dining table. “My decorating is really about a mix of making 18th century furniture feel relevant, and using contemporary artisans to make things for my rooms, so that you get a unique one of a kind couture feeling.” Alex talks about the importance of saving antiques and making them relevant, and the green aspect of reusing furniture. Alex states, “As a designer it is so important to have a knowledge of history of decoration, so that you can tweak it and modernize it.” Nick and Alex talk about the challenges he faced in producing this room. To learn more about Alex and his design aesthetic, visit his website at www.alexpapchristidis.com.

Katie Curtis: Hallway & Stairway

Katie describes the space she was given to design in this year’s show house, with three and half levels to design, “I started with the metaphor of the path to enlightenment, when you are tasked with designing something as important and as high profile as Kip’s Bay, you want to pull out all the stops, so I thought what would be my ultimate resource?” Katie describes the hand-painted wall paper that becomes more intricate as you move up the levels of the house.

Lori Carroll: How to win Awards for your Interior Design Business

“If you don’t enter these awards, you can’t win, and it takes a lot of money and a lot of energy to put those out, but as I look back you know, I’ve been so blessed in winning awards, and now I’ve been doing this for so long, people in the media know if they come to me they’ll get the information, they’ll get it quickly, it will be complete, concise and I have great photos.”

In today’s episode Nick talks with an award winning Interior Designer Lori Carroll of Lori Carroll and Associates to chat all things business. Tune in to hear great content that can help you grow your interior design business and be sure to stay tuned through the end of the episode for an update from Nick May and The Chaise Lounge.

Lori Carroll: Lori Carroll and Associates

Lori Carroll is an award-winning interior designer based out of Tucson, Arizona. Lori says of her background, “my vision and goal was to be an interior designer, every couple of months I’d rearrange my bedroom.” Lori studied interior designer at the University of Tucson and also learned from time spent abroad in Denmark.

Nick asks Lori how she got to where she iS today, Lori explains the influence her first job had, being only 8 or 10 years old, working with her dad in his lumber yard. Beyond that, Lori worked in a paint and wallpaper shop throughout high school and in a furniture store from 1981-1986, while studying at the University of Tucson. Lori says of her time at the furniture store, “the furniture store was good for me, I did all kinds of things, doing deposits, inventory, meeting with clients, doing design, so working there was a pretty good background to have.” Lori even got her very first interior design client through the store, a customer she had worked with.

Nick and Lori talk about her successful design firm, Lori Carroll and Associates. “I’m only as good as the people I surround myself with,” Lori explains. The firm is comprised currently of ten staff members, including a receptionist, an accounting team member, an AutoCAD team, a site supervisor and associates. Listen in to hear more from Lori about what these positions are responsible for within the business.

Lori’s work has won several awards, which has been a fantastic outlet for PR for the firm. Nick asks Lori how she has been so successful in getting recognition, to which Lori answers, “First, constantly sending information out to magazines, just constantly putting content out there, and second, winning awards, especially national awards. That has been my recipe for success, not necessarily great design, but following up and answering questions, it has not hurt me.”

Nick asks why more people don’t enter awards, as you read above Lori’s philosophy is “if you don’t enter, you can’t win. Keep putting it out there and eventually, it all comes around. Lori talks about how many contests she’s entered over the years, and how many times she actually entered before winning one. “You win an award, but you never arrive, you have to keep moving forward, there’s always someone designing beautiful things to compete with.” Tune in to hear Lori talk about her proudest accomplishment in terms of awards.

Lori and Nick talk about the design associations Lori is a part of and how those associations have helped her grow her network and business. The two talk more details about the organization of her firm and how she grew her staff over the years. Lori talks about the type of work her firm does, stating approximately 80% residential with some boutique medical and hotel spaces. When asked what her favorite type of project is, Lori says, “My favorite project is working with a client who can make decision and move on, a client that can say ‘I like this, I don’t like that.’”

On the topic of leadership within her firm, Lori says,

2016 Kips Bay Designer Show House

This year I had the opportunity to visit designers at the Kips Bay Decorator Show House in New York City.  The house features the work of 21 interior designers from around the world.  I believe it usually only features designers from across the country, but with the team at David Collins Studio, the show house has gone international.  Each room is designed by a different design firm and features a completely fresh perspective.

Each year, a committee of volunteers help to identify and decorate a home in Manhattan.  Then, a team of designers or design firms are selected to decorate each room in the home; where they must provide the floor covering, wall and window treatments, furniture, and sometimes moldings for the space.   The Kips Bay Show House is one of (if not the) most prestigious show houses in the country, which provides great exposure for the participating designers, as well as helps to provide significate funds for the Kips Bay Boys and Girls club in New York.

 

To learn more about this year’s show house be sure to listen in for upcoming podcast’s from the show house directly and visit the website at kipsbaydecoratorshowhouse.org.  If you can, we urge you to go see the most well known and prestigious show home in the country.  The house is open from May 12 to June 9th.

Hospitality designer Kim Daoust from Las Vegas

“I like to be hands-on, I don’t ever get the deal and walk away and let my team take over, from inception of the project through the complete design of the project, I’m there-I’m involved; I think that’s what makes me and my firm different” Today on the Chaise Lounge, your host Nick May interviews hospitality designer, Kim Dauost, who has achieved significant success in the boutique hotels and casinos.

Kim Daoust: Tandem

Based out of Austin, Texas, designer Kim Daoust, of Tandem Design, is a highly successful interior designer who works primarily in hospitality and retail design. As a weekly commuter to Las Vegas, Kim’s portfolio includes several prestigious projects in the Hotel and Casino realm. A mom of two, she completes the two hour and thirty-minute flight to and from Las Vegas every week.

Kim’s background formed her love for design from an early age, “I grew up around my dad who was a fabric salesman and my stepfather was an architect, so between the two of them, I was thinking I was destined to be an interior designer.” Kim studied interior design at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Upon graduating, Kim worked in retail as a lighting consultant for a local lamp and lighting store. After marrying and moving to Las Vegas, Kim worked for several local design firms including the Paul Steelman Design group for 5 years and Morris and Brown for a short period. Kim returned to Paul Steelman and was working on the Hard Rock Hotel project in Biloxi, Mississippi when Hurricane Katrina hit. After that event, which left her feeling drained, Kim was ready for something different and started up her own business, now known as Tandem, with a friend and co-worker that she has known from her time at Paul Steelman, Architect Brad Friedmutter.

Kim says of her partnership with Jordan Banares, “It was just natural, we worked well together; I’m the peanut butter to his jelly.” Nick and Kim talk about how the business originally was broken down, she states “we both knew nothing about the business side, we were both designers.” Of Jordan, she says, “he is good with his hand, so he can articulate the design in my mind.” For 5 years prior to the great recession, Fred was a partner with the firm, but after decided to make a move to a position with a more dependable income and benefits. Prior to the recession, Tandem employed 15-17 people, and during the worst of the recession, it was down to just Kim and Fred. The firm was able to withstand the recession and eventually have rebuilt the company to currently include 12 employees.

Tandem’s specialty is hotels, casinos, night clubs and restaurants -strictly hospitality. Kim says, “I can’t imagine doing anything else, we get to create these really cool environments that people don’t have to live in, they’re only in it for a moment, it’s what we’re passionate about.” Nick and Kim talk about the budgets on the very large projects she works on and the pros and cons of having large budgets.

Kim discusses business development in Tandem and the RFP, or Request for Proposal process – “if you win, you kick off the project, generally the property has an idea of what they want the design to be from a style and budget perspective.” Nick and Kim talk about the proposal process and the details that are included in procuring a project.

Nick and Kim discuss the way Tandem has been able to stay involved with the “big players” in the hospitality field, and how that turns into more work as casino’s in particular typically renovate every 5-6 years. Kim talks about being present at any and all hospitality design shows, gaming conferences and conventions to keep her name and business out there. As a business owner, Nick asks which hat Kim likes the least and which she likes the best, to which Kim answers, “The human resources hat is not my favorite,

Industry:  Talking the business of Interior Design

On today’s episode of The Chaise Lounge, we are talking Industry and specifically are talking about the task of Time Management. Nick May, your host, interviews his friend and designer Phyllis Harbinger, and the Creative Director of one of our favorite Sponsors of the show, Ellen O’Neil of Benjamin Moore. Tune in to learn more about organizing your business and your time!

Phyllis Harbinger: DCI Interiors

On the week's show, I first talk to our good friend Phyllis Harbinger from Harbinger Design Consulting and designer at Design Concepts/Interiors, LLC.  In this episode of Industry, we talk about time management, and how to determine when it’s time to hire someone to help. Phyllis speaks from recent experience regarding the loss of a team member to which she says, “I was presented with my own time management dilemma, but also a dilemma on many different levels, because we bring people in, we spend a lot of time training them, and then we start giving away a lot of the tasks and areas of expertise that we might have owned previously and then we finally have trust and someone who can take that over so we can pursue other parts of the business, and then all of a sudden you are like ‘uh-oh’ because someone can’t come in in two weeks and take that person’s place.

Phyllis talks about how her business has changed, and how her interest within the business has changed. Phyllis is much more intrigued by other parts of her business, other than the design aspect. “I decided to take a step back and think about a course correction, I want to look back at what really worked for me in the past and I made a list of all the pros and cons of building my team with a different methodology.”

“I want people who are listening to understand that just because something works for a certain period of time, doesn’t mean that’s the only way things can work, and to be open to exploring things and course correcting, looking and taking a pulse of our business.” Phyllis talks about the importance of having reserves, and being able to weather the storms that can be typical to the interior design field. Nick runs with what Phyllis is speaking about, and speaks about how he has gone about organizing his business.

Phyllis talks about hiring a social media expert, and how quickly her presence on social media has grown in just a short period of time. With social media, Phyllis talks about the importance of keeping your voice in your content that is being posting. Nick and Phyllis talk about the different ways they go about archiving content, whether it be an internal Facebook page or a shared photo stream.

“I think that we all effort too much, about too many things, you just said it perfectly, you’re trying to put a square peg in a round hole, we effort, and when you don’t effort and you just say I’m going to do what I need to do and put it out there and the right people are going to show up, and they always do, if you worry about it, nothing good happens.” Phyllis talks about missing things that are right in front of you, and how easy it can be to get caught up in the minutia. Nick, as well as Phyllis, gives advice on how to get started, taking that first step, to save your time for higher value tasks that you are actually passionate about. Phyllis also talks about how fulfilling it can be to hire someone just starting out, who can save you time, and also learn so much from you and your business.

To learn more about Phyllis, connect with her [email protected], or follow us on Instagram @DCIstudio, Phyllis offers strategy sessions and full coaching programs available. Reach out!

Ellen O’Neil: Creative Director of Benjamin Moore

Nick gets to know  Ellen O'Neill, who is responsible for picking the color of the year, and this year proved to be quite controversial.

 

Bunny Williams: 2016 Kip’s Bay Decorator Show House

This year, there is an exciting list of interior designers that have been selected to work on the Kips Bay Show House.  Designers include:

Alex Papachristidis Interiors, Benjamin Vandiver Interiors + Lifestyle, LLC, Clive Christian Interiors, Daniel Richards Design, David Collins Studio, David Kleinberg Design Associates, Drake/Anderson, Eve Robinson Associates, Garrow Kedigian Interior Design, Gil Walsh Interiors, Groves & Co., Harry Heissmann Inc., Hollander Design|Landscape Architects, Kati Curtis Design, Les Ensembliers, Olasky & Sinsteden, Phillip Thomas Inc., Sawyer | Berson, Suzanne Kasler Interiors, Timothy Whealon Interiors, and Victoria Hagan Interiors.

 “Doing a Kip’s Bay room is a lot of fun because you don’t have a client and you don’t have to worry about a budget, you can do anything you can think of, I always learn from Kip’s Bay, I always see something I haven’t seen before,” says Bunny Williams, Chairman of the Kip’s Bay Show House for the past five years. Today we will be talking to Bunny about the prestigious show house that raises funds for the Kip’s Bay Boys and Girls Club, specifically benefitting kids from the South Bronx area of New York.

Bunny got her start working in an antique shop at just 20 years old, doing anything she could find to be around all things interior design. Bunny started as a  secretary for the established design firm of Parish Hadley, after paying her dues she moved up in the firm, although she states, “You have be willing to carry shopping bags and make beds to get your foot in the door.” Bunny has had her own design business since 1984, has a successful furniture line and has had extensive licensing opportunities with several major home décor and furnishing brands.

“As a young designer I was just in awe, I can remember some of the great rooms I’ve seen over the years.” Kip’s Bay is celebrating the 44th annual show house this year; listen in to hear Bunny discuss the history behind the show house and how it has changed over the years. We are excited to be talking to Bunny today as she has direct experience with the show house, as she has designed rooms in the show house on a few occasions.

Nick and Bunny talk about the process involved in procuring a space for the annual show house and about this year’s new townhouse that was selected. Bunny talks about the benefits of the clean palette of a brand new space for the designer to work with, and why this year’s show house will be so interesting. The show house has approximately 25,000 visitors each year, “Everyone gets promotion from the show house, for young designers, it’s often how they get their start,” says Bunny.

Nick asks how designers are selected for the space, and Bunny talks about the balance they try to achieve between established firms and up and coming talent in the interior design field. Bunny talks about the timeframe the lucky designers have to create their space, “The designer has a very short window of opportunity, you have 20 designers all moving furniture in right now, this year they had 5 weeks to do their room start to finish.” Of the design process, Bunny states, “they don’t submit what they are going to do ahead of time, there’s no theme, sometimes there is a flow to the house and sometimes there isn’t and that’s ok, that’s what makes it exciting!”

Nick and Bunny talk about the tremendous amount of funds the event raises and also a design shop that is associated with the Kip’s Bay show house, where any designer can donate items, consumers can get a great deal, and all for a good cause.

To learn more about this year’s show house be sure to listen in for upcoming podcast’s from the show house directly and visit the website at kipsbaydecoratorshowhouse.org.  If you can,

Hello Chaise Lounge Listeners! Today we have a final wrap-up episode of the 2016 Spring High Point Market. If you listened to the episodes from the High Point series you probably noticed that some of audio was not of the greatest quality, so we reached out to a couple of the designers we interviewed at High Point for a second interview. On today’s show you’ll hear completely new content from Amy Flurry, updated audio from Cheryl Kees Clendenon and Farah Merhi and a special interview with the CEO of the High Point Market Authority, Tom Conley.

Amy Flurry : Recipe For Press 

Amy Flurry spoke at this year’s High Point Market, with a session called “The Press Release is Dead.” Her background is in publishing and Amy shares her expertise in the subject with people who are trying to get their work published. Amy talks specifically about the relation of publication of work to interior designers and how important that can be to success. Amy’s experience in the publishing world came from editorial work spanning almost 20 years for nationwide publications. She would essentially be pitching stories to the publications, and was very successful at doing so. Her success was not unnoticed, and Amy began receiving requests to “grab a coffee” with people who wanted to know what exactly it took to get their work published.

That said, Amy published a book entitled “Recipe for Press” that provided as she puts it “everything all editor’s want you to know” in order to get your work published. In the book and on today’s show, Amy dispenses advice to those working to get published, including where and where not to invest your money and the three key things an editor is looking for in your initial pitch. Amy and Nick also discuss the biggest mistake people make when reaching out to editors and publishers and the importance of doing your homework on the publication up front.

Farah Merhi: @Inspire_Me_Home_Decor

The next interview on today’s show is with Farah Merhi, a prominent persona in the Instagram world with her page @Inspire_Me_Home_Decor. You may have heard Farah in the Chaise Lounge previously as Nick interviewed her live at the High Point Market. We were so impressed with Farah we wanted to have her back again, to make sure our listeners were able to glean as much advice from her as possible. Farah says of her time at High Point, “Everyone in this industry needs to experience this at least once!” Farah and Nick speak further about their time at High Point.

Farah’s road to her massive success in social media as it relates design really started with a remodeling project of her own home. After searching for inspiration photos on the web, and finding the content to be lacking, Farah decided to start her own Instagram account to collect imagery that inspired her. She would find images from professional designers to design enthusiasts or simply snap photos of things or places that inspired her. Her Instagram page has grown to a platform now where professionals and non-professional alike can find inspiration. Farah’s Instagram following is topping out at over 3.2 million followers!

Nick and Farah talk about the process of tagging your posts to get the most exposure and impact and how to best reach your audience. They also discuss the time frame it took for Farah to get to her level and the exponential growth her page has encountered through the use of re-posts. Tune in to hear more about Farah’s aesthetic, her goals for the future and the obstacles she’s faced in getting to where she is today.

Cheryl Kees Clendenon

Next up, Nick re-joins designer and retail store operator Cheryl Kees Clendenon from Pensacola, Florida with a follow-up interview to the one recorded at High Point Market.

Cheryl holds a background in sales and marketing, and eventually transitioned to a successful career in interior desig...

The Chaise Lounge is kicking off some fresh ideas for the weekly podcast including a format change.  This week you get not one interview, but two different interviews with two very different design firms. We want to try to get you, as a listener, the absolute most content to you as possible, and with so many interviews coming up we’ve made sure to include the most important advice from each interviewee, and to edit out any unnecessary tangents that we can easily find ourselves on when speaking with successful designers! That said, we have two fantastic interviews for you today, Gil Walsh of Gil Walsh Interiors and Architect Chip von Weise of von Weise Associates. Listen in for some great advice from varying perspectives in today’s podcast!

 

Gil Walsh, founder of Gil Walsh Interiors is based out of West Palm Beach, Florida though she also has a second office and home out of Martha’s Vineyard. Interior design has been in Gil’s bloodline for many generations, her interest as a child was piqued by her families large collection of antique furniture, from there Gil took pursued many forms of design as a career from a fashion designer to a theatrical stage set designer. Gil has found that the basic principles she learned through those careers have helped her interior design business immensely.

Nick questions Gil about the most important things she learned through her design education, to which she answers, “The use of color, the use of fabric and texture, the use of scale and the use of layering.” Gil continues to highlight layering as the most important key to a dimensional room. Nick and Gil discuss the long educational road she took before becoming a licensed professional interior designer and the difficulties she faced through that process. Upon graduation, Gil apprenticed for some great designers based out of Ohio and before starting her own business, she worked primarily for large firms for more than 25 years. Gil talks to Nick about the tremendous amount of on the job training she received while in those positions.

When Gil started her own business, she had a total of three people including herself who “wore many hats.” Within a year, Gil recognized how fast her company was growing and the need to hire more staff and find a larger space. Today the business has 16 employees and is growing. Her staff is comprised of a variety of roles including project managers, project assistants, interior architects and marketing and PR personnel. At any given time Gil Walsh Interiors will have 10 large jobs going on, with many waiting in the pipeline.

Nick and Gil discuss how her business handles their marketing through social media. Gil discusses how hiring a professional to handle the social media aspect has been very successful for her company. Gil is excited about a very prestigious opportunity that her firm has recently received, designing a room at The Kips Bay Decorator Show House, which benefits the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, a NYC organization that serves over 10,000 children in the Bronx, which Gil equates to receiving an Oscar in the design world. Gil is also proud to announce the arrival of her very first book, which will be available in September of this year!

 

 

In the second segment of our show, Nick has the privilege of interviewing Chip von Weise out of Chicago, Illinois. Chip is a professionally trained architect who grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Chip’s early interest in architecture was through family members who worked in architecture and also carpentry and boat building. Studying Fine Arts in college at a small liberal arts school in Massachusetts, Chip was not originally intending to pursue a career in Architecture. After his schooling, Chip moved to Chicago and took a job in Advertising for a well-known firm. After about three years working for the firm,

In this week’s episode you will get to know the ultimate design power couple, Phyllis and Bill Taylor of Taylor and Taylor Partnership. Based out of the heart of Miami Beach, Florida, your host Nick May interviews this designer duo from their home as they gaze out into their rose gardens in beautiful South Beach.

A Perfect Pair

Phyllis and Bill met each other at the University of Florida’s School of Architecture; however each of their backgrounds led them to the design field in very different ways. Growing up in Sarasota, Florida, Bill was always aware of the architecture around him, as Sarasota is a very architecturally oriented town, in fact his grade school and high school were designed by the well-known American architects Victor Lundy and Paul Rudolph respectively. However until a visit to Chicago, Bill never really understood what a career in architecture could be. Leave it to none other than Frank Lloyd Wright’s Oak Park architecture to flip that switch in Bill that led him to his successful career in architecture today.

Phyllis’s entrance into the design world took a less direct approach. Growing up she remembers decorating anything and everything she could, including her bedroom door for each holiday and new season. However, due to her upbringing and other factors it never occurred to Phyllis that her creative side could turn into a career. So Mrs. Taylor started a degree program in Criminal Psychology. After one school trip led to a prison, Phyllis knew that she this was not her destiny and quickly enlisted into an art program. Ultimately, Phyllis was led to the University of Florida’s School of Architecture where she branched off into an Interior Design focused curriculum. It was then that she finally believed that she could take her creativity and make a living, but it would require starting from square one.

After the Taylor’s graduated, they both took jobs in corporate interior design and architectural professions. It wasn’t long before the pair decided that working for themselves, although less abundant financially, was a choice that was much more satisfying creatively. Bill notes that because the two started out on their own at such an early point in their careers, they did miss out on learning the management and marketing side of the business that typically comes as you move up in the corporate world. “It would have been advantageous for sure to have known some of that earlier on,” states Bill. Phyllis offers similar advice in that, “Your own hard work and talent isn’t always necessarily enough.” She states bringing someone onto the team early on who understands branding and marketing is very important, as is hiring a diverse group of people who know things you may not.

Lean and Mean

The Taylor and Taylor partnership has been one of Florida’s most established local firm for decades, the size of the firm has ranged from anywhere from 8-25 people. After the great recession, Phyllis says, “we learned we needed to be lean and mean, and not fat and sassy.” Their company typically has about 20 projects in different phases, either gearing up or winding down, and of that about 5 jobs that are the “big ones” requiring daily attention.

Nick asks the team what it’s like to work together every day and be married at the same time, to which the two answer, “you’d think we’d have a straightforward answer to that question by now!” Essentially the two know that disagreeing professionally doesn’t equal a personal attack. Also, they’ve found that having two perspectives on every project is not only beneficial to their business but helps their clients make highly informed decisions.

When asked what the team finds the most difficult in their career, Phyllis states “It’s often hard to remember to stay positive with the team and to let them know that you are grateful for their contribution each an...

It’s our last day in the Lounge at the 2016 High Point Spring Market. We are again recording out of our favorite show spot, the Norwalk furniture showroom. If you haven’t connected with your host Nick May on Instagram, you have to check it out, for some great coverage of this year’s Market.

Mitchell Hill : Michael and Tyler

To start us off today, Nick interviews a duo team of designers, Michael Mitchell and Tyler Hill based out of Charleston, South Carolina. Nick gets to know the married pair of designers with a few personal questions and the three of them discuss the best things they’ve found at market this year. Both Michael and Tyler have had a passion for interior design since they were children. Michael’s grandmother had a slipcover production business in the 70’s, so Michael grew up playing with fabrics and even had his own sewing machine at age 5, he states, “I’ve always been artistic, and loved to draw so that is where the love came from.” Tyler showed a very early interest in architecture, asking his realtor father to bring home graph paper for him to draw on and building all sorts of things out of Legos and blocks.

Tyler majored in graphic design at the art institute and both Michael and Tyler have business backgrounds. Michael has worked for retailers and interior design firms and learned as he went; the pair is shocked to say that they’ve been in the business for 19 years now!

Tyler’s first gig was working for an architect, shortly after college they started working together in Charleston in ID. Michael’s first paying gig, was his PA at his doctor’s office and wanted his help to rearrange and redecorate her place at $25.00 an hour- that’s when he knew that was his passion. Nick talks to the designers about how they’ve grown there business in a destination city.

Fannie Gutton: A Newcomer to Interior Design and High Point Market

In the second segment of today’s show, Nick is honored to interview a real life fan of our podcast, The Chaise Lounge. Fannie reached out to Nick to just say a quick hello and we decided to learn just a little bit more about this new designer. Fannie’s been in the business in Austin, TX for just over 4 months now, leaving behind a career in video game producing. Making the shift to interior design for Fannie was due to the urge to really make an impact on people’s lives and was also about following a passion she’s had for a while. Fannie is completely self-taught in interior design; she’s had experience with renovations of her own homes as well as work for her friends and family. Fannie is proud to talk to Nick about her very first paying client, and a living room that will have its final piece of furniture delivered this week.

Nick and Fannie talk about what’s been the hardest part of her transition to the interior design world. Fannie thanks Nick for the podcast as she has been an avid listener for 5-6 months now, Fannie says of the show “The best part is hearing the experience of other designer’s and knowing that they have had the same struggles when they were first starting out as she is facing now.”

Bobby Berk and Lack of Sleep

Our last interview from High Point Market is with Bobby Berk, a very well-known and talented designer and TV personality. Although Nick’s interview with Bobby is brief, The Chaise Lounge hopes to have him back on the show soon for a more in-depth interview. Bobby talks with Nick about his start in the design field, with an entry level position with Restoration Hardware in the early 2000’s, where he eventually moved up to become a creative director with the well know home collection company. Nick and Bobby talk about the many veins his business has grown into, when asked by Nick “How do you sleep?!” Bobby replies, “I try not to!”

Bobby talks about the trends he is seeing in home building and a shift from a cookie cutter type product to an increase in more custom designe...