[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Hey guys. Welcome back to the Interior Collective. I'm your host, Anastasia Casey, and today I'm sitting down with Claire Stasak, founder and principal of Centered by Design, a full service residential interior design studio based in Chicago. Special specializing in design and restoration of historic homes. Claire came from journalism and marketing before she came to interiors, and that background has shaped everything about how she has built her firm, including how she thinks about show houses.
Most designers treat show houses as a client opportunity, but Claire treats it as a brand investment with a measurable return. She has done both local and national show houses and built a team that helps make it all happen. Her work has been featured in ARC Digest, House Beautiful, Domino Luxe, and the Chicago Tribune. She has a studio and showroom in East Lakeview, a second design annex in the North Shore, a wallpaper collection with Isadore Leroy, and a debut book slated for fall 2027. Today we are getting into the real costs of a show house. The brand partnerships that make them financially viable, what local versus national show houses actually produce for a studio, and what every designer should be thinking about before they say yes to the next one.
If you are still the one holding your projects together, there is a better way. Materio is the project delivery system built specifically for interior designers. One connected workflow. From concept to handoff to billing, Interior Collective listeners get 50% off their free month at getmaterio.com hey Claire, welcome to the Interior Collective. I'm so excited to have you on the show for a very hot topic of grand mystery. We are talking show houses today and also a lot of exciting projects. You have the works, but thank you for being here. Thank you for divulging all of this very proprietary information you have on big scary show houses.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: You are welcome and thanks so much for having me. I am such a fan of the show and I thank all the designers who have done episodes before. I enjoy listening all the time, so thanks for having me.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: Thank you for listening. I'm glad to have you answering questions now. Okay, let's dive in with a quick snapshot of the studio where you are now. How is it structured? What does your team look like and sort of what does your role in that look like day to day?
[00:02:38] Speaker A: Sure. So I would call myself creative director and owner and then I have sort of. We've worked. It wasn't always like this, but we've worked over the years to kind of have two design teams where there's more of like a senior designer and a junior designer project manager.
And then I have a Full time sort of business marketing manager and then part time social media and then we also, we work with a wonderful organization who does all of our bookkeeping and procurement but they are out of state so you know, I'm still talking to them quite frequently.
And then we'll have an internal, you know, here and there as well.
[00:03:26] Speaker B: Got it. So how many people is that total? Like actually on staff? Obviously bookkeeping, procurement, that's separate, you know,
[00:03:32] Speaker A: like I'd say seven usually.
[00:03:34] Speaker B: Amazing.
And are you willing to share who your bookkeeper and procurement team is?
[00:03:40] Speaker A: Totally big shout out to business by the book. And they are in Georgia and Sherry and her daughter Morgan I think, you know, co own or run the company together and I have used them since day one and absolutely love them and their team.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: That is amazing that at a team of six or seven you're still outsourcing. That that is like already a very hot tip. And we're on our first question because I don't, I don't hear that a lot. I hear that a lot. For someone who's just starting.
[00:04:10] Speaker A: I've always outsourced bookkeeping. I truly hate QuickBooks so much so but I more recently they added procurement to their services and it me a long time to get there but because I trust their team so much, it was an easy transition and it was really great for my team because it, it's really sort of streamlined how we work and then you know, all that information. Living with one team member is really hard when there's turnover. So I, I do feel like in a way it's like added security for the business.
[00:04:48] Speaker B: Such an interesting point, Claire. Thank you for sharing that.
Okay, and then as a firm, how are you handling billing? Are you flat rate hourly? A combination.
How do you send out your proposals and what does that look like?
[00:05:01] Speaker A: One of my favorite topics on the podcast. I feel like this is always a work in progress but we are hourly and we do proposals up front with a range of hours and an hourly scope.
There are projects that I will consider negotiating flat rate when I'm sort of approached by the client with that.
And I, you know, I kind of look at some calculations like loosely by square foot just to make sure I'm not totally missing the mark on what I feel like is kind of baseline pricing. But yeah, more often than not more hourly. And we do do some flat rate consultation.
[00:05:46] Speaker B: Amazing. Thank you.
Okay, so you have really niched down to historic home renovations specifically in Chicago, which is my favorite architecture city. My two sister in laws live there and I am just obsessed with Chicago. How did you develop that focus and at what point did you really lean into it as the studio's sort of defining expertise?
[00:06:15] Speaker A: Such a great question. I feel like there's a lot of ins and outs to that story, but to kind of try to summarize.
So take it back to the beginning. Part of the reason the company is called Centered by Design is because I was.
I'm always teaching yoga part time in my professional career. I love yoga. It centered me.
You know, I grew up the oldest of four in a kind of crazy chaotic, but loving household. And the feeling that I got going on the yoga mat was the kind of feeling I got when I started working in design. And these really beautiful, well designed, kind of calming spaces.
And so when I first started out, I didn't. I almost felt like being a yoga instructor, like, devalued me being an interior designer. And so it was really hard to know how to market both those things. And I think people sometimes found that confusing.
So over time, I think I've just let that become a little bit of the ethos of how more I relate to people.
And then what sort of started happening was just I always been really passionate about. About cabinets and kitchen design.
And so in the Chicago area in particular, like, people are always investing in renovating their kitchens first. It's such like, a big source of buying these older homes. And like, the kitchen's truly just too outdated to live with. So it sort of started there and then I think just organically as the business grew and I could choose more of the work that I wanted. I am just personally so inspired and drawn to old things and old buildings. And we decided to sort of niche in that direction because it started to really work for us.
[00:08:09] Speaker B: So you have, I hope I get this correct. You have a studio and a showroom on Lincoln in the city and a design annex on the North Shore. Can you explain the difference between those spaces, how you use them, and how you think about the physical space as a part of your brand strategy?
[00:08:31] Speaker A: Totally. So, yes, we currently do have two studios. I had always. I'd lived in Chicago for a long time and had had our office in, like, Lakeview, Lincoln park, for those who are familiar with the area. And it's not really a showroom. It's more just a working studio. But it does, you know, obviously we have our clients there and there's a lot for people to see in terms of, you know, cabinet design or kitchen. We have. We have all our meetings there.
And then I moved up to the North Shore. And the, you know, it was partly just personal. Like, the commute is a lot. I have team members in both places. Places. But primarily I just saw this empty storefront. That's where I'm sitting today for those of you who might be watching the video. And it was empty for nine months. And I just kept kind of walking by and saying, you know, why is no one doing anything with this space? We had just moved and I didn't have it in me to take on, you know, something else. But then the months and months later, it just made sense to kind of have our name on the window. It's right downtown. I saw it as more of a marketing investment and a way for me to not have to commute as much. And then there's also a basement here which houses, you know, all of our cool antique finds and things that we were running out of room for in the Chicago location. So I do think eventually, like, we will start to probably move the business up here just because I have little kids and it's kind of too hard to be in two places at once. But for the past two years, it's worked really well for us overall to have both spaces.
[00:10:18] Speaker B: And so with both spaces, is your team remote? And they have the option to come in. Do you have everybody in the office? And when y' all need to be on a call, you guys are just on calls together at both locations. How do you manage having teams in different places without really being a remote team, you know, that's spread across the country.
[00:10:37] Speaker A: That's definitely the most challenging part. But I will say most of my team has been with me for a while, so that for sure helps. Everybody's quite independent and we do have a lot of flexibility to work from home, but we sort of have a schedule where we're all together one day in the city, and then sometimes certain people are up here with me, and then sometimes certain people are together in the city. And so we've kind of made this alternate type of schedule that. That works. I will say we do miss the collaboration of kind of all being together multiple days.
And I am actually opening some additional space here, actually above where I am now, so that we can all be together more frequently.
[00:11:26] Speaker B: Okay, a couple other follow up questions about this, because I think that it's becoming more and more common that a principal is maybe just relocating for more space. Whatever reasons that they're at kind of the next phase in their personal life and they're. They're battling with. Okay, but my team's all based in the city. Like, how do I make that happen? For context, how far of a commute is North Shore into the city for people listening?
[00:11:52] Speaker A: Yeah, well, it's, it's like, I. I'll say a couple things. First of all, this spot is right off the train.
So although probably all my employees could take the train, no one does right now, but it is very convenient.
The, the actual commute in a car could be anywhere from 40 minutes to honestly, like an hour and a half if traffic is bad.
But part of this impetus is that my team, I think as many of them have grown with me, are sort of getting to that next phase in their life as well. And so I don't have a lot of younger team members living in the city.
A lot of my team sort of lives on the way here.
[00:12:34] Speaker B: Got it. And then last question. When someone's thinking about potentially a second location, even if it's still in like, generally the same geographic area, do you have like double sample libraries or you're pulling all samples from the city office because that's where most of the design work is happening and you're mostly reviewing where you are. Like, how does that work and should someone be planning that? Like, yep, I literally have to double everything.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: I think you have to plan to double everything. We have a very, like, we have a much smaller collection of samples here at the annex.
For me, this was much more about becoming a part of this community A, that I live in, B, you know, for sort of the marketing angle, for the storage angle. And also we do do some pop up sales. So like we're part of the summer sidewalk sale and we do a holiday, like a month at the holidays just to meet people. And that's been a great source of lead. So it's not really functioning as like a full second studio.
[00:13:34] Speaker B: Okay, thank you for the perfect pivot to our next question. You came from journalism and marketing before design, which I've already heard so much of in this conversation. As you're thinking about how to best utilize your space, how to leverage it, how to correctly categorize it in the budget that it's not strictly just rent for an office, it can be marketing budget as well. How much of that background has shaped the way you've built centered by design as a brand rather than just a biz, a service business?
[00:14:05] Speaker A: I think it's kind of influenced every decision I've made. I think it's just naturally who I am, and so my brain just works like that. It's just always sort of what's the angle on this, like, what's the opportunity here? You know, I love that part of running a business. And so I'm always sort of thinking about collaborations and marketing and not just design. I don't know, it's just how I'm wired.
And so I think early on I transitioned careers. I did go back to design school and, and studied at a local community college. And I started a blog at the same time.
And it wasn't super strategic. It was more that I enjoyed it. But I also realized, like, there was some SEO stuff that would probably help. And I, you know, I knew from reading other blogs because, you know, this was way after the heyday of like, all the OG bloggers, right, that like, these were a good business tool. And I think it's just always been at the forefront of, you know, starting installing to Graham maybe sooner than the average Chicago interior designer. So originally, you know, I would talk on design panels about how to grow your social media instead of, like, how great my design projects were. And, and so it kind of this just, I think, inherent to who I am, how the business built. And because I love connecting with people, I felt like Instagram was, you know, and still is a great tool for people to get to know who you are.
[00:15:49] Speaker B: If you've been running your firm for a few years now, you've probably got a system in place, and I do use that term loosely. It's going to be a mix of apps, some spreadsheets, maybe a project management tool that was close but never quite right. And you are still the one holding it all together. But here's the thing. Most tools were not built for the way interior designers actually deliver projects. Materio was concept to handoff approvals to procurement to billing. With QuickBooks Sync built right in one connected workflow Interior Collective listeners get 50% off their first month at getmaterial.com free for 14 days. No credit card required. That's M A T r I o get material.com I'm so fascinated by the lived experience you have of those early days. Panels were talking to other designers about how to grow your Instagram.
In hindsight, do you feel like speaking to other designers helped grow your following and helped, like, really cement your name in the industry?
Or do you feel like that those efforts didn't reap rewards of more inquiries from clients? And how did you leverage that? Like, how do you leverage or how do you weigh the importance of community building within the industry? Like, sharing your knowledge within the industry and like, what's actually going to get people who are paying you to design their spaces?
[00:17:25] Speaker A: Such a good question. I think I look at it in two totally separate buckets because you taking the time to do these presentations or, you know, help fellow designers or. There was even a time, I think I sold a PDF on my website of like, you know, how to do your Instagram, which feels like so long ago.
But that didn't really take a ton of time away from my business and I don't think it really impacted perspective clients at all. Like, they didn't really see that or know what was going on. That's all kind of stuff that happened in the industry.
And I felt like that was really beneficial because my name got out there. Probably more designers followed me.
Brands at the Merchandise Mart or other places that I was giving these presentations saw me as a credible business person.
So I, I feel like that was all really worth it. I. I do think there was probably a little bit of focus that I lost on, you know, some other things that I think it's taken me a little longer to get to in my career and my firm. Like what really is our aesthetic or. Yeah, what do I really want to niche down to? I mean, certainly I think in the beginning while I was building, getting out there felt more important to me than, hey, I want to be known for exactly X, Y and Z.
But you know, I don't know. I don't know if one, you know, was really. If I would have done it a different way.
[00:19:01] Speaker B: So having such an incredible marketing brain, I find it interesting that you have a dedicated social media manager and a business and marketing manager on your team. When did you make those hires and what did they change about how the business operates and. And even more specifically, how did it change your day to day?
[00:19:22] Speaker A: Yes, totally. And I guess the one other thing I didn't mention is that I also have like a PR firm on retainer, which shout out to Julia Duke and company, who also helped get me on this podcast. But they. So around the time that I had my first product collection coming out, I felt like I really needed help. Like there was no way I was going to be able to do the lift that it was going to take to like launch a product into the world. And so at that point I really was looking for more help within the team. Like I needed someone who wasn't a designer to come into the business. And I don't really have an operations person. So Grace, who runs sort of our marketing and business side, she's also, I'd say she's half marketing and sort of half operational.
And so she's helping a lot with client onboarding and kind of any special projects we have. And then she's also just taking a lot of brand partnership and all that kind of stuff off my plate. So the time that I have, I can focus on working with the design team and then the social media thing, I think I just got really lucky. I did it myself for a long time. And I know so many people have had ups and downs with hiring people trying to outsource it. We had a client who took the best pictures of her own reno when we were working with her. And I just kept thinking, wow, these are like just as good as what I'm doing.
And it turned out that she had a background in social and marketing and she had left her job to stay at home with her kids. And she came on and has forever been a part of what we do at cbd. And it just worked out really well for us because we know each other and she can, you know, kind of help make it happen. So that I think was a little bit of. Of luck really finding the right person.
[00:21:25] Speaker B: Okay, fantastic. I want to dig into that a little bit further because I just hear from so many of our clients that they're like, I've brought on a social media manager onto the team and you know, there's someone's. There are clients, kid who just graduated or someone who has had experience for a couple of years somewhere else and they just want to do all these trending things and like, it doesn't feel like me. How have you been able to maintain your voice and like the level of aesthetic that you're known for while investing, you know, even if it's part time of a salary onto someone without having to feel like you. Nothing gets published without you having to have sat there and like held their hand and been like, okay, this is what we're posting next.
[00:22:12] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean it, it definitely takes time. I would say it wasn't this easy in the beginning.
I do still look at every single thing that gets posted before it gets posted. But I am not hand holding.
I do still write every caption or rewrite every caption. So there's certainly still a, a great amount of involvement, but there is a level of trust that just builds over time when your person knows the business and, you know, Whitney comes to photo shoot, she. She experienced what it was like to be a client of ours, which I know is rare probably for most, but I think just bringing that person kind of into the fold as much as you can is super helpful.
And I think just like as a designer, we all have such a creative vision for our projects. You know, you have to have a creative vision for your brand. And so I think that's just something that I try to go with my gut and what feels good to me and if it's not resonating with me, then like, I'm not gonna do it. So I think, you know, it's not, it's not the best, I feel like advice because it's just sort of, you gotta work hard at it and you gotta stay true to your vision. And I don't think there's any other magic bullet.
[00:23:36] Speaker B: Yeah. For a designer who has so far been growing primarily through word of mouth and referrals, what is the case for approaching visibility more strategically from the beginning? What advice do you have to someone to be seeking out, actively seeking out opportunities instead of just waiting for them to come to you?
[00:24:03] Speaker A: I think, I think there's so many ways to do it these days and I don't think Instagram is the only answer. So I think you need to investigate what you're truly passionate about. Like, would you be better in doing long form and starting a sub stack? Do you like, love giving people shopping links and like, you're a little more naturally like always shopping? Like, I never give links and I never did like to know it or that not because of a principle of like, I don't give away information. It was just, I didn't have really time for that. It was like, I'm much better to just like give some advice or like a little more of like a how to girl than hey, here's like 10 things that I bought. But like, I follow so many people and click on their links all day long. So I think you just have to really look inward and, and think like, what can I be passionate about? I was just happen to be passionate about Instagram because I was such a visual person.
And also for those listening, I mean, I by no means have like a massive following. There's so many people who I feel like, you know, just blow up or I don't know what magic they're working with the algorithm. But, you know, this was just a steady sort of. This is what I like. This is how I like to connect with people.
And you know, at some point, once I had more help, then we would coordinate like, okay, we're gonna do a blog post and we're going to connect that to the newsletter and then we're going to think about that with how our Instagram goes and then we're going to pin the blog post. I mean, it's all pretty elementary in terms of strategy. It's just actually getting it done, you know?
[00:25:47] Speaker B: Totally. It's just the execution level for sure.
Okay, Claire, let's get into the meat of today's episode. I want to talk show houses. Before we get into the super specifics, can you share which show houses you have participated in, both on a local and a national level, and what made you say yes?
[00:26:07] Speaker A: Totally. So I wanted to just preface this whole conversation about show houses by saying show houses are always for amazing causes. And I truly feel like if you have the opportunity to give back, you should.
I think there are a lot of times when we're starting our businesses that we don't necessarily have the capital to just jump into these very big projects. And so everything that I'm saying sort of comes from the place of someone growing their business who needed to do it strategically and didn't necessarily set aside 50,000 or $100,000 to do a show house. But I love supporting them from the charitable point of view.
And I was lucky enough.
So up here there's a well known regional show house that's called the Lake Forest Show House. And I've done that twice. And then I was asked to do House Beautiful's whole home and got extremely lucky because it just happened to be in my backyard at the time. So that was in Hinsdale, Illinois, but often designers are doing that out of sight state.
And then I have been asked to apply for Kips Bay, Dallas and Palm beach, but I have not done those yet. And we can kind of get into why.
But that's my show house experience thus far.
[00:27:31] Speaker B: Okay, fantastic. That's a nice range that you can walk us through. How do those locals. So I think you said the Lake Forest show House versus the national ones, like House Beautiful. How did those experiences. Experiences differ in terms of cost, your financial investment, visibility, and what they actually produced for the studio? Because I feel like this is a whole conversation I've had on the show many times of like, people weighing, oh, do I wait for the national press or do I keep sitting? Like, do I keep sitting on this project to show the images or do I just go local? And nine times out of 10 people tell us it's amazing to have that feather in your cap for that national press. But. But I actually got the inquiries from the local press. So does that theory translate into show houses? How did that look for you? Let's start with the first question of terms of cost, the investment that your studio is making into them, from the local to the national show house perspective.
[00:28:29] Speaker A: Sure.
So I would say, like, at minimum, you want to have $50,000 to do a show house and do it well, I think it can really vary based on the size of the room you get and sort of the brand partners that you have.
My understanding is that Kips Bay costs well more than that. So I think that sort of being, you know, the top echelon in the industry and, you know, if you're going to sponsor the whole kitchen, of course that's going to cost more than 50 grand.
Both times I did the Lake Forest show house, I did, you know, a manageable size room with multiple brand partners. And I'd say I still spent, you know, probably close to 50,000. So you need to be quite savvy and strategic. And I think many brands are excited about show houses and want to work with you. So it's a great way to start a relationship with a brand.
[00:29:33] Speaker B: Visibility. When we're talking national scale versus local scale. Scale.
I'm sorry, Scale. Local scale. What did you experience?
The. The reach and visibility of the local versus national for your particular studio?
[00:29:50] Speaker A: Yeah. So I think this conversation's always really interesting too. And I sort of approach show houses in this way that it's not really about getting clients. Like, if you get clients from it, that's great. If people know your name around town, like, that's wonderful. But, you know, it's a. It's something charitable that I feel is important and that I'm like, wanting to give back to. And then two, I don't know. You can't know for sure if this is going to translate into clients. So what can you do to maximize the experience? Experience in every way possible to get the most out of it for your business and your brand. So I think that's like looking at who are brands I would die to work with, but maybe my clients haven't bought before. Or, you know, what, how do I want to design this room? Not just for the aesthetic that we want to show, but, like, obviously to wow people, but like, maybe picking one hero thing.
So, for instance, in the Lake Forest show house, we had the opportunity to work with a French wallpaper company, and I had a friend who just happened to know the owner and said, hey, they want to give designers wallpaper.
I didn't necessarily need to use their wallpaper in the show house, but I saw it as a great opportunity to show them what I could do with their product.
And this particular company. And this is just kind of an example of thinking a little differently. Like this company, which is called Isadore Leroy, which was who I have a wallpaper line with, they customize printed paper. And so one thing that I learned while working with them, and this was back maybe three years ago when we were starting to work on this project, was a lot of people in France only wallpaper one wall, like a panoramic wall. But in the US we almost never do an accent wall anymore. And you want to wallpaper the whole room, but that kind of looks funny when you've got like the same panorama on four different walls. And so with their team, I kind of really got in there and I was like, hey, well, could you like add an Eiffel Tower? And can you, you know, like shift some of this so that, like, each wall looks different? And it ended up, you know, becoming this design collaboration. And, and because of the type of company they are, they were able to do that. They had the artists come back in and like, add something. And it just got such a fantastic response. And I don't think when I entered that did I think, like, I'm gonna get a wallpaper line out of this experience.
But I think when you are like just really looking for ways to be creative and make these partnerships work, then something really cool usually kind of percolates out of it.
[00:33:01] Speaker B: Wow, what an incredible story. When you compare Lake Forest with House Beautiful, do you feel like finding partners, finding sponsors was easier with one of them? Because it's my understanding that there's certain show houses that you have to work with. The partners that they are providing you with.
[00:33:24] Speaker A: Correct. And House Beautiful, I mean, honestly, they made the process incredibly easy. And I was again, very lucky to be local. I think it's just easier when you're local.
I knew the builder who they had brought on for the project, and then they had a whole list of people that you had to work with. So it was very streamlined in that regard. It was also, you know, somewhat limiting, but not in a bad way. It definitely made for a faster process and there was still a good amount of creative freedom. So that show house really, in my opinion, did not cost a designer very much to do. It's obviously much more of like a hand picked experience. And so I think you're, you're very lucky to get the opportunity.
[00:34:13] Speaker B: Fantastic.
So, okay, I've heard, I think we've talked about show houses here on the show, like one other time and then we've talked about it twice at Design Camp, and I'VE heard in all three of those conversations that it happens really fast. It's like a really fast moving thing. How far in advance do you start planning a show house and how do you balance that workload with your client projects?
[00:34:40] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, it's a little. They're always kind of a sprint. And I think if you're going to commit, you just have to be ready to know that you kind of need a team member or at least half a team member, like fully on that project.
So that's what I would recommend. I think if you're slammed and crazy busy, like you probably can't take on a show house. I mean, you've got to carve out a little bit of the time for it or you maybe need to bring someone on temp to help you.
I think it definitely depends how big. Again, I've heard from my friends who have done Kips Bay, you know, they needed like a full time employee to manage that process out of state, so certainly got a plan for it.
[00:35:27] Speaker B: Who on your team specifically owns that show house work? Can you walk us through the creative division? When you're working on a show house, how.
How much are you spearheading all of the design versus someone else? Is just executing the drawings or is this something that you're like, I really need to focus on our client projects and so I'm going to delegate, you know, the bulk of the ideation to the team and I will help refine. How have you found a good working relationship when it comes to just kind of fitting that into the schedule?
[00:36:02] Speaker A: Well, I've definitely found the show houses to be like, really fun creatively for me.
So I think, and I'm lucky, like my team, we really like to kind of get together and collaborate. So I will say, like, I try to involve everybody because I want it to feel like a special thing that everybody is a part of. And so we definitely start with like the full team and like a full concept meeting. I'm like, what's this going to be? And let's throw around all these ideas. But then I would say, really, me and Grace, like, who is more to operations, marketing, own that project and I have different team members stepping in where their skill sets are best. So like someone's going to do all the cabinet drawings, Someone's going to help me really refine the fabrics and the finishes. But because so much of it can be partner focused, Grace and I are really working on like, okay, I'm kind of like, this is the overarching concept that I love based on what the team came up with altogether. And now we got to go out and figure out, like, what's going to actually work out to, like, make this happen, you know, so.
[00:37:13] Speaker B: So show houses require designing a space that's going to perform well for an audience rather than a client. And most of the time, it's not usually designed for a specific person in mind.
How does that change your creative process? How far are you pushing it? Are you finding you take more risks or are you like, hey, this is my opportunity to have a very wide net, and so I'm actually going to scale back on some of the risk because I need it to be more mass appeal.
[00:37:47] Speaker A: So funny. I laugh because we pretended like we designed our last dressing room for Harry Styles, and we were like, he was our muse.
I would say we definitely try to push it. I personally feel like this is not the time to play it safe.
What gets photographed gets scene. And just what gets photographed is often so entirely different than, like, how people experience a room.
Now, I think it's still really important because a show house, like the Lake Forest show house, like, thousands and thousands of people walk through that, whereas the house beautiful show house, was really more about the photography and not as much about people coming through.
So I think it also depends, you know, kind of what type of show house you're doing. But for.
For local show houses, I think where, you know, people are going to be walking through, you know, I think you want to give, like, the most elevated version of yourself, because I think people are expecting to be wowed and they are expecting to see something a little different. And when you're going through all these different rooms, if. If yours really falls flat, it just. It almost like falls worse, you know, but don't go so crazy that you don't feel like yourself.
[00:39:11] Speaker B: So I want to back up a little bit. You were so generous to share. Like, I think 50,000 is, like, the minimum you need to have set aside to be able to say yes to this.
Can we talk about what, for instance, $50,000 actually goes towards in a show house? What are you paying for? Are you paying for the contractors? Are you paying for the trades? Are you paying for the product in it? I thought there was sponsors. So why am I buying all of these things? Where are your dollars actually going to? Obviously, outside of the fact that no one's paying you for your design time.
[00:39:43] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. So I would say, for instance, you're definitely. Even if you know your GC is giving you a lot of help. There's probably, like, still some costs there, you know, or maybe you're paying at cost. So I would say, you know, maybe for me, 10 to 15 went towards getting. Just getting the room physically done and installed.
I would say there are just some pieces that you can't get donated, you know, or things that we wanted that I ended up just buying or buying vintage and recovering, or it's getting down to the wire and you just don't want to ask for one more favor. So you're like, I'm just gonna buy this.
So I would say, you know, maybe you're able to get by with, like, 10 to 20 on furnishings and drapery and other things you maybe can't get donated.
And then, you know, there's just even paying a photographer to capture your space. There's paying a stylist to do flowers. There's travel. There's, you know, there's different things. So I think even if you get so much donated, you have to think about just all the little stuff, like, are you gonna have a food budget? Are you gonna have a travel budget? Are you gonna photograph it?
All those additional costs, too.
[00:41:08] Speaker B: Okay, let's talk photography. Because I definitely, and I'm sure I'm not alone, I'm under the impression that, like, oh, House Beautiful shoots their show house. So, like, why would I have to pay for photography? What. What do we need to know about, like, photography licensing rights when it comes to the show house? And why would someone say it still makes sense for you to shoot it yourself?
[00:41:31] Speaker A: Totally. I mean, with House Beautiful specifically, they did shoot it for the magazine, but, you know, you had no control over the photography or the styling. So they hired fantastic people. But I don't think I was ever even really fully informed of, like, if I got those photos and when. And so I felt really strongly that I wanted to go in and style it with our esthetic, our exact vision, our exact, you know, lighting temperatures, and all the things that can look a little different when a magazine shoots it.
So I just wanted to know that I had the images that I wanted out of the experience.
[00:42:18] Speaker B: Do you feel like there is a dollar amount or a visibility threshold below which you would say a show house is not worth doing? Like, how do you draw the line of, like, this is going to cost us too much or it's not going to bring the same ROI as I would hope? Or maybe it's even. I don't know how many of these dollars are actually going to that charitable cause that I am wanting to, like, I would rather just write a check. How. How do you weigh those?
[00:42:52] Speaker A: For myself, last year or so, our local show house happens every two years. And so it's coming up again, so it'll be 27. So I didn't do 2025. I did 2023.
And so 2025, I didn't do it because I was undertaking my own home renovation. I knew it was going to stretch us too thin. I felt like we had had such a good response from the year prior.
I think it's almost.
It's really kind of you get in your head, like, how am I going to top myself? Like, how am I going to make it better than before?
So I think it's partly an energy thing. Just like, do you have the energy? Do you have the capacity?
And then what's. Like, what are maybe your three top things you want to get out of it? Like, I know that the women and men who do the show house, there's often, like, a really awesome camaraderie that builds. Where I noticed, like, some of my friends who did it in 2025, like, form these little groups that I wasn't a part of, not in a bad way, but just like, hey, these were the people who did it. And we all got so close. And I think that's really valuable to some designers, especially if you're more up and coming. Like, you sort of build this cohort that all understands each other and can share, and that might be evaluable enough to your business. I also think if you can be there with really your feet on the ground and talking to people, you will get more from it because you're going to meet more people. More people will know your name. I think what you can't expect is that you do a beautiful room and never show up, and people are going to be knocking on your door.
[00:44:38] Speaker B: As a good. A good truth to be told.
Okay, a couple follow up questions.
When someone pitches you or invites you to be a part of the show house, there's obviously different scales or sizes of rooms. And so what is that selection process, like, when you're like, okay, well, like, for instance, Harry Styles dressing room versus, you know, Princess Diana's kitchen.
And so are. Are they offering you one specific room? And they're like, this is what we have room for. Or it's like, what would you be interested in? How does that come into play? Because that definitely changes the budget.
[00:45:18] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think this is really different, I would say, depending a little bit on where you are in your career and also just like, truly, what connections you have, like, locally, nationally, whatever. I mean, the local show house has a pretty strict policy where, like, everybody comes in on the same two days, and every designer has to pitch three spaces, and then there's a committee that reviews that and kind of tries to, you know, mix and match everybody, and hopefully you get at least one of the spaces that you were hoping for. But a lot of times, especially if you're a designer who's never done it before, you might. They might just say, hey, like, these are two spaces that are left. Would you like one of these? And if you don't want it, then you can, you know, delightfully say no and say, you know, I'll try again.
There's a little bit, I think, of an expectation of a bit of, like, working your way up and putting your time in and sort of, you know, doing a smaller space. So when I did my very first one, which I think was back in 2017, I did a hallway. You know, you're not going to come in as a new designer and get the living room. It's just you kind of. You got to know that.
So I think as you do it, as you put in your time, as you know, more people, then you can. If you really want something, I think you're in a better position to go in and say, this is really what I'm gunning for. I want everyone to know. I know I might not get it, but I'm going to be pretty vocal about saying, like, this is the room that I want, and I'm really hoping that you give it to me.
[00:47:01] Speaker B: I want to also talk about photography one more time before we officially move on, because when you are bringing in these partners, these vendors who are providing product, and you are choosing to bring in your own photographer, what should you be discussing with your photographer with the assumption that you have to give these images to your partners?
[00:47:26] Speaker A: Yeah. So definitely good to have an upfront conversation and contract with your photographer. Often, photographers. Photographers will charge you additional fees to basically, you know, be able to.
So you can own those image rights. And, you know, I think photographers understand show houses. And so, you know, I think if you're working with someone who's done this before, they understand that these are going to need to go to brands, and so I think they're going to be willing to work with you on those rates. I also say just, I've gotten my best portraits at a show house, so it's always really nice if you can kind of work in a portrait or two into your deal. Because usually the rooms are just, you know, so pretty and they're not in a client's house. And you can, you know, get a nice picture of yourself that you feel good about.
[00:48:18] Speaker B: Yeah. And I imagine in the show house as well, like, that is your biggest, brightest, not necessarily largest, but like your brightest, boldest ideas. And so that can really align with where you want to see your brand going. And so to be able to have your portrait taken in that space can also help propel your business and hopefully shape the type of inquiries that are coming in next time. Okay, Claire. So for a designer who has been offered a show house opportunity and is trying to decide if they are capable of saying yes, what questions should they be asking before they commit?
[00:48:54] Speaker A: I think definitely you should be asking, you know, kind of what's the onboarding process like? You know, is there sort of like, when is this, When's the official start date where I can start work, and when is the official end date when we need to be wrapped up so that you really know what the time window is that you're going to have to work within. And if that feels reasonable for you, I think you should be asking if there are any sponsors that are willing to give free product, free labor, like you're interested in knowing kind of all of the above. With our local show house, they give a list of sources where these aren't people who necessarily have said, like, I'll sponsor the whole show house, but they are interested in designers contacting them directly so they can decide who they feel is the best partner for them.
So think, you know, asking for a list like that, even helping a local show house develop a list like that would be so valuable, I think, for them and future designers.
You know, I would ask if they do any photography often. If you're not sure who could photograph it, they'll have people who have photographed before that I've seen a lot of times with show houses. Certain photographers, you know, they'll come in and do like 10 designers rooms, so everybody gets a better rate because this person's gonna be there for three whole days. And so you can kind of jump on the photography chain and without just totally bringing in a separate person.
I mean, I think those are all really important along with my experience. With most local show houses, you're kind of doing the work yourself. I think with some national ones, you know, there's a contractor and you need to be prepared to pay whatever they say the rate is for X, Y or Z.
So that's very important when budgeting for Those really big national show houses.
[00:51:04] Speaker B: Okay, speaking of national show houses, before we move on, you told us we'd get into it. Why have you not yet said yes to Kips Bay, Dallas or Palm Beach?
[00:51:14] Speaker A: Okay, so this has been. This has been a journey. I think it's so hard, like you said. I mean, everybody wants the feather in their cap. Everyone wants to feel, you know, wanted and important, and it's definitely hard to say no, especially when, you know, someone like Steel asks you if you might be interested.
I think for me, I don't have currently any projects in Texas or Florida, and I don't even know if I could fully handle projects in Texas and Florida if I got two or three inquiries off the bat. Like, I have young kids, I don't travel that much.
I hope at some point to be ready for that. And of course, like, I. I do, we do have out of state projects, but it's not like my firm is set up to be going all over the country.
And so I just felt strategically for the business, it would be a big miss to put all this time, money, and effort into something that I don't have the infrastructure to capitalize on.
And so that's my main reason. And I hope to be, you know, asked back someday. But I think from my good friends who have done it, like, you just really need to be ready because there is a lot of press, and if you have one of the rooms that really blows up, I mean, you could be working in that state, you know, very short.
[00:52:50] Speaker B: Wow. Okay. So smart, so candid. Thank you for that. I want to talk a little bit about your creative process with all projects, not even necessarily just show houses. You described developing a really specific creative direction for each project before the design work actually begins. Can you walk us through what that process actually looks like from that first client conversation?
[00:53:12] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, so just to clarify, we're talking about our creed, how we do kind of creative direction at the studio.
[00:53:18] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:53:19] Speaker A: Okay.
Yes. So we've definitely worked on this. Because what happened? Just to backtrack for a second, like I used to kind of, you know, we get inquiries and I would almost more like, match them with the designers on my team that I felt were a better fit for that esthetic. And it would be like, oh, this is a little more mid century modern. Like, this team member is better with that, or this is a little more traditional. This team member's better with that. And what one of my team members, Sarah, like, helped me realize was this was just like creating further and further division of what Our projects looked like versus, hey, like this is the CBD aesthetic.
Everybody design like this. Which seems kind of elementary, but honestly it took really a while to figure that out. And so what we have kind of instituted within the business is that Sarah, who's my senior designer, and I, we meet at every large scale project and we create a creative direction document for whichever team we're handing it off to that has color palettes, imagery, information about the client.
We do a series of surveys that we include. And so it's kind of just this more robust way to introduce the team to the project.
With me having a moment to really step back and then have my creative collaborator to be like, okay, looking at our portfolio, looking at this client's wants and hopes and dreams, like, where do we see this project falling? Like, is it a little more like this end of our portfolio or that end of our portfolio? Like taking more time to set that up in the beginning instead of just like thinking it's going to evolve along the way. I think has been a really good use of, of time and energy because a lot of times I think we were just flying too fast through the beginning onboarding and then sort of I was trying to edit on the back end to like bring it all together. And as we continue to grow, you know, that was just getting harder and harder to do.
[00:55:42] Speaker B: Yeah.
Okay, so let's talk about your personal project work that you've been working on right now. Your own home, a 1920s Mediterranean just outside of Chicago. It's a project that you have been working on. It's, as you said, helped dictate whether the 2025 local show house made sense for you or not.
What has designing your own space on a more permanent level clarified about both your aesthetic but also your process?
[00:56:14] Speaker A: Well, I think it's definitely clarified. So this project, you know, I think like, like all projects as of course grown in scope. We, we bought a very old home that needed a lot of work. I don't think we anticipated fully gutting this house, which is basically what happened.
So I think a, it's just a great lesson in compassion for your clients when you know the budgets and the scope grow and you're maybe not totally prepared and maybe it takes longer than you're hoping and, and all of those things. So, like, that's been a great lesson because we're definitely six months behind and couple hundred thousand dollars over budget and, you know, all of those things.
But our, our firm almost always starts with the architecture and the cabinetry.
And so I use that Same principle on my project. It was, like, getting all the architectural details right. What are we going to save? What are we going to reuse? You know, what is not representative of the Mediterranean aesthetic that, you know, we're going to eliminate? And then we really spend a lot of time working on kitchen design, cabinetry design. And then I really layer in fabric, wallpaper, all those other things, like, very much secondary to that shell, because I think you can do anything with a good shell. And so that's very much how our projects operate. And I think it's definitely solidified being comfortable with that and knowing, like, it is hard to make decisions and, like, I might move into this house and not have decided what my living room wallpaper is. And I'm totally cool with that because I know I love my baseboard and I love my fireplace, and I'll figure out the wallpaper, like, when it speaks to me.
[00:58:14] Speaker B: Okay, let's talk about the book.
Your first book is slated for fall 2027.
Where are you in that process now, and what has it required of you that you did not expect?
[00:58:29] Speaker A: This process has been really, really wonderful.
I'm. I'm super excited. I was approached by Gibbs Smith, which has published some really wonderful books. Some of their bestsellers are, like, Patina Farm and James Farmer. And it just takes me all the way back to the beginning to my journalism and marketing days. So it's truly a dream come true. And I was quite, you know, taken aback. And also, like, you know, it's very hard, I think, to feel.
I don't. I don't love the word, like, worthy, but just like, okay, who am I to be ready for this in my career? But again, my marketing brain is like, look, you're. You might not be ready, but this book's gonna get you to the next level, so just go with it. And I was really excited. It's been a wonderful process. I have an amazing person helping me write it, who's Sophie Donaldson, the former editor of House Beautiful. And we just finished all the photography this week, so you submit all your. The way that this publisher works is you submit all your photography and your manuscript, like, ahead of ever seeing anything. Then you work on what the book looks like.
You know, there's some obvious back and forth. There's deciding on a cover and a title, and then it'll go to print, and then, yeah, we'll get to plan a book tour. So definitely be coming to Austin.
[00:59:52] Speaker B: Yes, please. If not, I'll come to Chicago. I'll visit the family while I'm there. What are you learning about your point of view as a designer by having to put it down into words.
[01:00:06] Speaker A: It's been really fun to revisit all the projects because, like, half of them are old work and half of them are newer.
Honestly, what's been most, like, wonderful for me is kind of exploring this. Like, you kind of do have to distill who you are into something quite small to get the point across. And so, you know, I don't want to give away too much because, like, a little bit might have to do with what I'm hoping the title will be. But it's really interesting just you get to kind of think back of your whole trajectory as a person and what led you to this point. And I found that the most personally satisfying and kind of revealing in terms of what it says about our work. I'm trying to make the book something where, you know, each chapter is beautiful, but there's. There's some really great takeaways at the end about how you can work on both new builds and historic homes and bring this charm and character and old world appeal.
So it's been fun to try to distill that into something that hopefully readers can easily incorporate into their home.
[01:01:23] Speaker B: Okay, Claire. And then my final question on the show is always, what do you have up and coming for center by Design that you are allowed to share? We heard about the book. You're working on your own house. Is there anything else we can hear about?
[01:01:39] Speaker A: Yeah, I would say we. So we have this beautiful wallpaper collection with Isadore Leroy, and we're working on a few new launches with them. So they're one of the most popular papers. Has been a beautiful, like, marbleized, inspired paper. So I think we're coming out with some new colorways of that and maybe a couple additional papers and some edits and new colorways. So definitely look for that. Isadore paper is like, available direct to consumer, so anyone can go on their website and order or get help customizing. And then because we love kitchen so much, I'm really excited. We are doing a hardware collaboration with the brand called Art and Forge, which is a husband and wife team who are. Who are fantastic and really passionate about what they do. So I think by next year we'll have a little beautiful hardware collection with them.
[01:02:33] Speaker B: So exciting. And somewhere in there you're having client projects as well.
[01:02:36] Speaker A: Yeah, always. Always fun, always exciting. And yeah, we. We have a. A really cool build in Indiana that's a super old house that I've posted a lot of befores on Instagram and I think that one's going to be pretty like epic when it's all done.
[01:02:54] Speaker B: So exciting. Thank you so much for your time today. I cannot wait to see what is next. Please let me know when you do have a show house that you decide to sign up for again so that I can come see it. Thank you for your time. This was super, super valuable and incredibly helpful.
[01:03:08] Speaker A: Claire, thank you so much. Have a wonderful day.
[01:03:20] Speaker B: For more in depth analysis of this interview, including exclusive downloads, examples and more, don't forget to subscribe to the Interior Collective on Patreon. We are building an amazing private community of interior designers and industry experts open to candid conversations and answering questions. Join us on Patreon in the show notes
[email protected] the Interior Collective thank you so much so much for tuning into this episode. Producing this show has truly been the honor of my career and I cannot believe I get to have these conversations.
A big huge thank you to our production team at IDCO Studio and Quinn made. Your contribution literally makes this podcast feasible and the biggest thank you to you our listeners. Your sweet notes, DMs and reviews mean so much to us as we work to keep our show fresh, free and always accessible. Until next time. I'm Anastasia Casey and this is the Interior Collective, a podcast for the business of beautiful living specifically for interior designers. Visit Materio Co to get started.
