Open Book: 3 Designers on Business, Branding and Breakthroughs
Three interior designers, six questions – discover the challenges, turning points and must-have tools for these pros
In this monthly story series, Houzz goes behind the scenes with three notable interior designers to hear about their greatest business challenges, breakthroughs and the best professional advice they’ve received. This month, we talk to three interior designers who founded their own studios – Lydia Maskiell of Lydia Maskiell Interiors, Maria Cerne of Studio Black Interiors, and Christopher Elliott of Christopher Elliott Design.
Maria Cerne, director of Studio Black Interiors
- Maria Cerne: The first two years were the most challenging, it was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.
Christopher Elliott, principal designer at Christopher Elliott Design
- Christopher Elliott: There have been many challenging moments in my business: the first few years of establishing, expanding to take on staff, and evolving our service delivery in a depressed market. Each day presents challenges.
2. How did you trade out of it?
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- Lydia Maskiell: I invested a lot of time early on in my business into building my referral sources through builders, architects, building designers, joiners, local suppliers and real estate agents, whom I continue working with and building on these relationships as my career progresses. These working relationships have been huge in the development of my business.
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- Maria Cerne: When in doubt, I always made the point of reminding myself why I had started my business in the first place. If you are going to be in business, you need to be comfortable with uncertainty and there needs to be a certain level of risk that you’re willing to take.
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- Christopher Elliott: You have to know when to react to the market; to see the long-term trends of the business. You can have a knee-jerk reaction to an isolated situation but miss the bigger picture. It takes wisdom to know the difference between when the landscape is changing, or if it’s a passing phase.
3. What brought about a major turning point in your company?
- Lydia Maskiell: In my first year of business, I entered my work in a magazine award and had a bedroom design shortlisted. This was a turning point for me to have one of my interior spaces featured in a magazine. In the three years that I have been in business, I’ve had over 10 interior projects featured in editorial, and have been shortlisted for design awards. These have been huge moments and highlights in my career.
- Maria Cerne: I realised early on that I needed to promote my business to the type of clientele I wanted. My website, social media and Houzz account have been pivotal in being a platform for me to express my design style and subsequently attract clients I want to work with.
- Christopher Elliott: There hasn’t been a significant turning point, it was more of an evolution. However, there have been landmark projects that helped establish me in the industry and become recognised as a designer.
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4. What’s the best tool your business uses?
- Lydia Maskiell: Vectorworks and Photoshop.
- Maria Cerne: For me there is no greater business tool than people. Those who mentor and share their knowledge and experience is invaluable when you are just starting out.
From a technical aspect, social media and online platforms such as Houzz have given me the opportunity to showcase my work, promote the design styles I love and keep on top of current trends and products. These platforms have been important in generating new work.
Daily, I use business tools such as AutoCAD for spatial planning and joinery design and basic visual tools, such as PowerPoint, to create concept boards to communicate my design ideas to clients.
- Christopher Elliott: There are different tools for each aspect of the business. For business admin, we use Office 360, Xero and ActiveCollab.
For our creative design work we use InDesign, Photoshop, and there’s one that we couldn’t live without, Revit. Migrating over from AutoCAD was the best decision we made.
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5. What do you think are the challenges ahead for the industry?
- Lydia Maskiell: Unfortunately, there are no governing bodies to protect the title or profession of interior designers, so there are more and more people popping up in the industry who call themselves interior designers without any qualification or experience.
- Maria Cerne: Traditionally, interior designers primarily focused on meeting a client’s aesthetic and functional needs. I think there will be a greater emphasis on sustainable design with a focus on environmental considerations and humans’ wellbeing.
- Christopher Elliott: It’s not good enough to just be a great designer. You also have to be an excellent communicator, a marketing expert, a social-media influencer, an educator and maintain a good work-life balance. The list goes on!
6. What’s the best professional advice you’ve been given?
- Lydia Maskiell: Never burn your bridges, you never know who you’re going to need to call on in life.
- Maria Cerne: I come from a marketing background, so the best professional advice I received was to cement what my brand was about. Every client who chooses to hire you will only do so when you make an emotional connection with them.
- Christopher Elliott: My dad’s advice: work hard, be honest so you can sleep at night, and treat others as you would have them treat you. Speaking more on a professional level, the best advice I received was learning to trust my own voice as a designer.
Your turn
Which insights in these interviews resonate with your own professional experience? Tell us in the Comments below, like this story, save the images, and join the conversation.
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Missed last month’s interview with Houzz professionals? Catch up here with Open Book: 3 Builders on Their Biggest Breakthroughs
1. What was the most challenging time in your business?
- Lydia Maskiell: The start of my business was definitely the most challenging. It’s always concerning with any start-up business how you are going to get work, where the work will come from and how you will sustain it.
It’s also tricky to showcase evidence of your work. In my case, the interior work I had done was owned by an architectural firm that I worked for, which made it difficult to showcase my portfolio and be able to leverage it.