[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:08] Speaker B: Who needs very little introduction. Ashley Montgomery is the founder and principal of Ashley Montgomery Design, one of Canada's most publicly recognized interior design studios. Her work is instantly identifiable, layered, warm, deeply collected and anchored in vintage pieces that feel storied and intentional rather than just trendy. But what I'm especially excited to unpack today is not just the aesthetic. It is the operational side of building a firm around vintage. Because sourcing one of a kind pieces at scale is not for the faint of heart. It requires systems, relationships, risk management, pricing strategy and a deep understanding of margin. And doing that from Canada adds an entirely different layer of logistics that many US Designers may not fully comprehend.
Ashley has built a studio that doesn't just use vintage occasionally, it is embedded into her brand identity. And in today's conversation, we're pulling back the curtain on how she sources, how she prices, how she protects profitability, and how she has scaled a taste driven aesthetic across a growing team.
We'll talk about cross border importing, markup strategy on antiques, client education, and whether vintage actually increases project profitability or simply increases complexity. Ashley, I'm so happy to have you here. Welcome to the inter your collective. This season is presented by Laloy, the family owned home textile brand known for its innovative craft and meticulous design. At High Point Market this spring, Laloy just debuted Rain a rug collection with a new and rare construction along with a fresh season of rugs, pillows and wall art in collaboration with Rifle Paper Company. See everything new at loloy rugs.com that's L O L O I rugs.com and follow Laloi Rugs on Instagram and TikTok. Follow. Overwhelmed with software options for interior designers, material brings it all into one intuitive system. Finally, try it
[email protected] and get 50% off your first month as an interior collective listener.
Hello Ashley, and welcome to the show. It feels so full circle having you here because we worked together. We were just talking about it for like almost 10 years back in the day when we did like your first website.
First and second website.
But for anyone newer to your world, how would you describe Ashley Montgomery design today?
[00:02:27] Speaker A: Oh, I get asked this question all the time and it really, it's. I feel like it's still the same today as it was back then, just a little bit more experienced.
But it is, it's creating homes, it's creating soulful spaces that are meant to be lived in. And I think that's the biggest thing on all our projects. And what I love to do the most is Create these homes that families get to experience life in and create these memories and create these stories and, yeah, still bringing in that main feeling through all of our projects.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: So you're not gonna believe this, but I swear on my child's life that you are the most requested interview we have for the show. I kid you not, so. So many people want to hear from you. So I'm so pumped. And I mean, it's so silly because I'm like, we should have done this, like, six seasons ago. But it's obviously because you are arguably Canada's most publicly recognized interior designer at this point.
When do you feel like you started to feel that shift from, like, up and coming studio to, like, established public brand?
[00:03:41] Speaker A: Well, thank you. Because I still am like, don't believe you, but I will believe you a little bit.
I don't know if there was, like, a moment in time where I could say, this is when it took off, or this is when it changed. And I have this conversation often, and it's like, you know, when you're moving that. That goal post is constantly moving, so it's like you kind of. You find yourself at the next level, and then you're comfortable there, so it doesn't feel like you're. You've gone any further.
So it's. It's those check moments for me where I kind of close my eyes and I'm like, wow, is this, like, is this real life? Sometimes.
But I would say, you know, there were big, pivotal moments of publication. Releases. We landed in Architectural Digest online during COVID I feel like that was. That was a big moment. And at the time, I don't think I realized how big that was.
But I think just authentically growing so naturally and not pushing anything has made it just feel so organic that it's been a nice, steady climb.
And I think that that's kind of where I've gone and where we are continuing to grow, which is really nice too.
But I still feel like I'm just, you know, the new kid on the block still a little bit too, at the same time.
[00:05:04] Speaker B: Definitely not. I cannot tell you how many of our clients are like, boom, we want Ashley's. We want Ashley's site. We want Ashley's everything.
And I'm like, right, but you need Ashley's work to get there. You are absolutely idolized by the community, 100%.
I want to talk a little bit real quick about that 80 online feature that came out during COVID because I remember that so clearly. A. That project aesthetic, aesthetically, was a Jump for you. It was so colorful. It was so. It was so cool. It is such a cool project. It is still one of my favorite projects. But I think that the timing of it being, you know, peak Covid when everybody was like, soaking up interiors inspiration because they were like, itching to get out of their house.
What do you think made getting that particular project into ARC Digest one of the pivotal points in your career so far? Was there something unique about it? Like, was it the client? Was it that it was aesthetically a little different than what you had done before? What. What could you coach us on that? You feel like this was kind of the gold star ticket?
[00:06:17] Speaker A: So with that project, it was my client that pushed me out of my comfort zone. And before I had started working with them, I was like, white on white on white. That was just kind of, you know, you walked into his face and it was like, well, we'll paint the walls white and we'll have white baseboard and white ceiling. And even when I was quoting the job, I didn't think there was going to be 45 different paint colors. Like, that's not. Not at all what I was quoting for at the time.
So she really gave me the ability to see color. And that was one of those pivotal change moments that I found in my career was, wow, like, the power of color and textiles and patterns and what they can do and how they can play with each other now. She had an amazing eye. And so we were able to collaborate together, which I love collaborating with clients. And we do that with so many of our projects. And I'm always so grateful to be working with aesthetically.
Aesthetically well endowed clients. Like, they. They just have a vision.
So for this one, it was great because we balanced each other really nicely. So she wanted all of this really bold color.
My job was to figure out, how are we gonna not make this feel like a Chuck E. Cheese clown house, where it's just like color everywhere? Like, yeah, we want pinks and purples and oranges and blues and all of these things, but how do you make them work together?
So it was like basically back to basics of color theory and figuring out the scale of patterns and the saturations of colors and how we can layer those and. And once I learned that, I couldn't go back.
So it's something that we now inject into all of our projects. Different scales of it, different intensities of it.
But it's the one thing that I love is using colors in a unique way and reimagining how Those spaces can be.
[00:08:11] Speaker B: So for those who are listening, we hear a lot on the show that you have to make sure you're saying yes to the right client. They have to be the right vibe. You have to align aesthetically.
And I do believe that it's so interesting to hear you say that this particular client pushed you and kind of helped formulate, like, kind of your next pivot and trajectory.
What, were there flags at the infancy of the project, like, when you were courting each other, when you were like, oh, I know she's really going to love color? Or was it a surprise during the design process? And what made you decide that, yes, I'm going to take on this project, even though I. It doesn't really fit what my projects have been in the past.
[00:08:55] Speaker A: At that point in my career, I was a yes girl. So I was saying yes to basically anything and everything that came across my plate because I wanted to. I wanted to get my hands on it. I wanted to have it. And this was a new build, which isn't very common in the city of Toronto. Very often you're lucky to get those new builds. A lot of it are. Are gut renos of these old historic homes and semi detached and all the rest of this. And this a freestanding new build. We were taking it down to the foundation and building back up again. So the opportunity there was big.
She knew what she wanted. She knew that she wanted color. And when we first started talking, I didn't really realize the extent of what she wanted.
And I remember putting the package together at first and reviewing it. She's like, it's just a little boring for me. And like, I never heard that before. Like, what do you mean it's boring? Like, this is. And so it was like, okay, well, how do we. And so we had spent so many hours, hours of. In office time where we would just fabrics and paint swatches and all of these things.
So it's. She definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. It was a lot of work, way more work than I ever intended.
Definitely didn't quote appropriately on that project for my time and my fees, but everything that comes after that paid for the money that wasn't made.
And that was something that I really looked at when I was starting out, was, okay, maybe I'm not making the most on this project, and maybe financially we weren't aligned then, but what's it going to do for my career down the road? And that was always like, big picture, big picture. And I had to keep that in my mind all the time, because, trust me, there were minutes where I was like, I'm. I. I don't want to do this anymore. Like, I'm good.
But we kept it light and airy and fun, and that was the biggest thing. So that was a great part. And even now, it's a. I had a rep in the other day, and she's like, that kitchen still comes up everywhere. And she's like, it is so wild. But it's. It just. It's that timeless feel.
And that's.
[00:11:07] Speaker B: I can't believe that that was new build. I can't believe that that was new build. I didn't actually know that. And, like, I know your work. I didn't realize that that was from the ground up. So that is. That is.
[00:11:15] Speaker A: And that's what I wanted, is for you to not know it's a new build. And I love carrying that same feel through all of our projects. So majority of what we work on now are new builds. I don't want you to know that this is brand new, brand spanking new. I want you to think that that staircase was there forever, and those details are what we worked with.
And I think that's where you get that soul, that layers, and then that's how we eventually start to learn, like, okay, we need to layer these things in.
[00:11:43] Speaker B: Okay, so I already went on a tangent. So let's circle back around. Let's talk about foundational stuff. I want to get a snapshot of the firm. You kind of just alluded to it, that you didn't estimate accurately the amount of hours you were going to be on on that project, which makes me think that maybe at that point, you were doing flat rate design fees. Are you still flat rate? Y.
[00:12:07] Speaker A: So I've done flat rate. I've done hourly. I've done hybrid. I've done hourly again. I've done flat, flat, flat again. I've been kind of the roller coaster of. And I feel like it's just one of those things in this industry where nobody knows what is right.
And it is kind of true that you don't really know until you figure out what stage and what part your business is in. Because starting out, there's certain rates that work. When you're growing, there's certain rates that work. And now that we've kind of landed where we are, we're back to a flat fee hourly for procurement with a markup on our procurement items. And that's working the best for us. And it keeps it really clean and simple. And that I like. I'M not good at tracking my hours. I'm horrible at it.
And I guarantee you I was leaving lots of money on the table constantly.
So I've learned from that. And yeah, that's where, that's where we've landed.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: Okay, so how many people are on your team now?
[00:13:11] Speaker A: So right now we've got six, including myself.
[00:13:15] Speaker B: Okay, and are those six, would you say that they're all full time or does that include some of your contractors, like your technical artist, if you use one and that sort of thing?
[00:13:23] Speaker A: Nope. So we're all. I've got all full time salary employees.
I have two senior designers, an intermediate designer, office administrator, operations administrator type role, and then a procurement role and myself. So I'm still the creative director on all of the projects.
That's how I want it to be. I don't want my firm to get much larger than what it is.
I really like the size that we are. I like that I get to work on my projects because at the end of the day, that's why I started doing this.
It's design. And so I can't be there hand holding and working with the clients every day. That's what my design team is there for. We do all of our drawings in house.
We do project management in house. We're kind of full circle in that sense.
And then we outsource our bookkeeping and accounting team.
[00:14:16] Speaker B: Okay, fantastic. Okay. I want to get into vintage. It's the focus of our conversation today. Vintage is absolutely synonymous with your work. Always has been. I think back to your barn project and you told me like every single thing was source vintage in there. And I, I love that project so much. That black barn was just so good.
At what point did you consciously decide that vintage was going to be a defining layer of your projects?
[00:14:53] Speaker A: Vintage is the soul of our projects and there is no way to replicate that. You can have things made, you can make them to look old, but there's something.
And it could be like this whole, you know, witchy world, but there's something about those pieces that have such a soul and such a story in depth when you look at them. There's something behind it and you can't get that feeling from a big box store item.
So it's. The other thing is that vintage is priced like the range of price point is so vast that that you can accessorize an entire home for a very small amount of money or you could spend in like these big investment pieces for vintage. So it really allowed me, when I was starting out, especially to Be able to fit these projects with those decor pieces and stretch my dollar as far as I could.
I also loved the hunt of them. When you find something and it's uniquely yours and no one else can copy it, there's something so magical about that. And it's like the thrill of the find.
And clients love it. They love the story. They love hearing where it's from.
And it just kind of evolved and evolved and evolved to the point where my basement was full of stuff because I always had the mindset that if I loved it, I'll find a place for it, and if I don't find a place for it, I'll keep it. And then my basement was full. And that's actually how I got my first office space, was I needed a space for all my stuff.
It's literally it.
[00:16:31] Speaker B: To find a space in a typical project. Roughly. And I know you're doing a lot of new builds now, roughly what percentage of the furnishings would you say are vintage or one of a kind versus, you know, things you're sourcing from vendors.
[00:16:46] Speaker A: It really depends on the client of the project.
So if your client appreciates the vintage and appreciates that the drawers are going to stick on some pieces and, you know, it's not going to be perfectly level and there's dings and all that stuff. So I'd say we have projects where it's 10% vintage, and then we have projects where it's like 60% vintage. So it's all dependent on how comfortable the client is. And that's something that I find. We have to coach through and figure out which ones are okay with that. Because it's. Unless you have a warehouse to yourself of vintage items, it's very hard to be like, we're proposing this table when you haven't found the table.
So you also have to find clients that are okay with that. Wait, and then go process where it's like, okay, I know we don't have anything yet, but I'm looking for it. I'm looking for it. I'm looking for it. I found it. Do you love it as much as I love it? Usually by that point, you guys are pretty aligned. And it's like, yes, great hit. Go. Let's do it.
So, yeah, I'd say they all range accessories is a different story because a lot of people are way more open to vintage accessories. Vintage art, which is such an amazing use of vintage when you get it up on the walls again to fill spaces, because art is expensive, investment art. Like, it has a time And a place. But you know, when you want to really showcase something and have a wow moment, being able to gather and create a beautiful gallery wall or something like that, or even repurpose those vintage frames, it makes a regular print that you can get online off of Etsy or something. Put that into a vintage frame, you have something special now.
And that's, that's that high, low mix that we do a lot of too.
[00:18:30] Speaker B: Can we talk about that education process at. Towards the beginning of a project or maybe even before you have a contract with someone about getting an understanding of how comfortable they are with vintage. What kind of questions are you asking? Like, are you giving them physical examples of like, this is one of the things I'm talking about, like drawer sticking, for instance.
Can you talk us through how you get to a good point so that it doesn't come up later? And someone is like, this isn't what I expected.
[00:18:58] Speaker A: Yeah. So it's really funny because it's, it's. I find you either have like, I love it or I have one client and he's like, Ashley, I figured out when you say vintage it means old and broken and really expensive.
And I'm like, that is not what it means. Look at the patina.
[00:19:16] Speaker B: It's patina. It's not broken.
[00:19:18] Speaker A: So I use these like magic words.
And some people really appreciate it and others don't. And you may bring in a piece and then realize really quickly like, this is not gonna work for them.
And we've had clients who think they want vintage and then we bring in a vintage chair and they realize pretty quickly like, I love the idea of it, but I don't actually love how it feels and how this chair was made for somebody a hundred years ago. And their size and proportions are so different. So then that's when we kind of turn and we look at vintage reproduction.
So coaching them through making them aware that these things may happen. And a lot of the time I'll have pieces in our office as well that I'll show them, like, see how this sticks a little bit.
Are you okay with that?
And just to have those open conversations about how they live. And usually you can tell right off the bat when you start to have those conversations if they're going to be okay with it or not.
[00:20:18] Speaker B: My sister in law gets so freaked out that stuff in her house is vintage, she thinks everything's haunted. She's like, you have no idea what kind of ghosts are coming in with that piece. And I'm like, I have lived with vintage stuff. My entire life, and I have never thought about any of them haunting me.
But she is like a hard, fast, absolute no. So I definitely see that there are some people that you can tell pretty quickly are, like, not cool with it.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: Yeah, Like, I have a hard time with portraits. I love the idea of portraits, but I do not have a portrait in my house because they. Those eyes, I feel like, are following me, and I can't do the portraits. It's just. I'm like, no, no.
[00:20:56] Speaker B: Or ships. I'm super, super sensitive about ships because I'm like, is that a slave ship? What is that ship carrying? I'm like, that's a. That's a no for me. So I'm like, fishing boats or that's the biggest boat I have in my house on the wall.
But when. When someone's looking to onboard with you and they're like, I don't do vintage, that's not what we're going to do. How do you decipher even if you want that project? Because it just feels like it's such a part of, like, your soul. How do you feel like, okay, we're not going to do vintage in this one, But I still want the job. What makes a job still attractive?
[00:21:35] Speaker A: So if the client is like, their budget's great, their personality is great, what they want to do, like, we just align. And that's what I say to anybody who.
Who fills out an inquiry form with us. I'm like, if we don't jive, and I've gotten to that point, and it's taken me years to get here, but if we don't jive and we have this intro call, and I'm like, oh, hell no. Like, I don't do it anymore. I just can't.
And my biggest question, I ask them is, why me? Why our firm? Why did you reach out to us?
And if their answers are along the lines of, I love your esthetic, the coziness, it feels like home. The layers.
If they don't say that word vintage, that's okay.
I think we. We bring in majority of our projects, we bring in beautiful pieces, A lot of them. We're working with fabrics and stuff that have those vintage qualities to it. They have that feel.
For instance, I love fabrics that are printed on, like, an oatmeal linen versus a white linen, because the white I find too stark and too modern. But when you put it on an oatmeal, it's got that warmth. So. So we add that feeling back in. And then, true to my very First AMD photo shoot, when we go in and we style a project, that is not how the client lives day to day. And, you know, that's for the camera, that's for our portfolio. So if we're working on a project that doesn't have a lot of vintage, we'll probably bring that vintage in for that photo shoot and that will give us our personality. Because it's very hard to find clients that are like, yep, here, hand over the keys and like, nothing moves. We do have some of those, but it's not always like that.
So that's our opportunity to bring our style in. And that's what I did from day one when I started doing photo shoots. Like, I don't know, 10 years ago, 12 years ago, whatever it was, was make it my style and bring my personality in. And majority of the time when we do that, the client sees it and is like, you know what? I actually like that. Can I keep that? Can I keep that vase? Can I keep that basket? Can I keep those things? Things.
And especially with vintage accessories, they're not as permanent as vintage furniture. So it's a lot less of a commitment for people to say, okay, I'm going to give it a shot.
And then they usually keep it and love it.
[00:24:01] Speaker B: Do you feel like committing so fully to vintage and your work helped differentiate you within the Canadian market, specifically when you were starting out? Because I feel like it's different now. There's other designers with, you know, similar styles or who also use vintage, maybe in a different style. But do you feel like when you were first on the up and up, that that was more unique in Canada?
[00:24:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I would definitely say vintage has become more popular.
Vintage here is hard to find.
So when we're working in projects in the U.S. it's great because you guys are way older than us. We're just like these young. Canada's a young country. When you look at the age of the US we don't have the population, we don't have the history, we don't have all of that stuff that you guys have. So our vintage is a lot harder to find, especially primitive vintage, which is kind of where I lean more towards. I'm not so much a mid century kind of gal.
I like those handmade qualities that those imperfections.
And I think it was right on the cusp of when vintage started to be appreciated more.
And it's. I don't know if it's a generational thing that's happened or if Covid was a big catalyst of it, but you wanted things to feel like home. And it kind of stopped this clean lined box store, white lacquer feel of stuff and brought in this warmth. And I feel like so much of it resonates with when I was a kid and how, you know, the 90s wallpaper layered with the fabrics and the, these wood pieces of furniture. And you look at the way that our parents lived and they kept their sofas for 40 years or 60 years, they kept their dining tables. We are a generation of like, change it, change it, change it. When you find these really special pieces, you do want to keep them.
And I think that's the magic and the beauty in them is finding those investment pieces that you want to keep and pass down or just cherish over your lifetime.
[00:26:09] Speaker B: You are literally in my brain. You just answered like my next six questions specifically about sourcing. Because I have heard from so many of our Canadian clients and listeners that sourcing vintage in Canada is just so much more challenging. And you gave such a thoughtful, eloquent explanation that I hadn't considered as to specifically why it is more difficult, difficult to find vintage there.
So what are some of the biggest logistical hurdles you face sourcing vintage north of the border? Is it that furniture is in particular really difficult? You can find the smaller accessories, but it's the bigger things or is it opposite? What are some of like the pain points you are coming across?
[00:26:49] Speaker A: It's definitely the bigger things, these smaller accessory stuff. Once you find these little shops, they're easy. You can tell them, this is what I'm looking for, this is what I need. And that's the biggest thing is like, you have to get out from behind your computer screen and you have to put in the effort on foot. You've got to go into these little stores that, these little non paw shops where that's, that's what they do, that's their bread and butter. That's what they know is they collect these pieces and. But you're not going to find it online. And that's the biggest thing. And you know, I'm guilty of it myself. I had a chat with our team the other day about it and I'm like, you know, I feel like I'm getting complacent. I feel like I'm getting comfortable just sitting here and hoping I find something. But I used to be like Facebook Marketplace queen and I was on there all night, every night, just scrolling away until I found what I wanted and I'm like, I haven't bought anything on Facebook Marketplace in so long. In the Last few weeks, I've started getting back into it, into this addiction. I'd call it an addiction now.
And coming across these beautiful pieces like a wood. We found this wood side table, round side table. It has these delicate little wood balls attached to the bottom of this wicker skirt. And I was like, that is brilliant. And it's like, you see these pieces and then it triggers something else. And you're like, well, what if we did that on a cabinet? What if we did that on a bottom of this dresser? What if we made a wicker vanity that had a ball knob detail like. And then it starts. So it's like finding these pieces not only for yourself or for your clients, but then executing that into your new designs and taking what was old and reincarnating it into new.
And so logistically getting those pieces across the border, it's a pain in the butt. We work with a logistics company. We use Dijong. They're great. But again, if you're not there touching and feeling the product, do you know if those drawers really work that well? Is the patina the way that you want it to be?
So there's a lot more of these smaller stores. They're going around top, they're going to Brimfield, they're doing the dirty work for you, but then you pay a price for that.
So that's also something you have to keep in mind are your margins, what do you want to spend?
So it's, it's ultimately just more expensive.
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[00:29:52] Speaker B: This year, Laloy is pushing beyond what's familiar. Each new textile collection starts with an exploration of materials, crafts, textures and pattern and is championed by a passionate family led team. A new season of rugs, pillows and wall art is in stock now, a testament to the loy's belief in the power of original, enduring design. See them all and connect with your local Sales rep@loy rugs.com L O I rugs.com Are you running your design firm with a patchwork of tools? Materio brings it all into one intuitive system. Finally, try it
[email protected] and get 50% off your first month as an interior collective listener. That's G E T M A T T E R I O dot com. What does it look like from, like, a freight duties and customs perspective? And like, you know, at the date of this recording, this is what is happening, but it changes every 30 seconds. And I think you're about to get some. Some duties repaid back to you. Apparently.
[00:30:52] Speaker A: I. I'll believe it when I see the check in my mailbox.
[00:30:55] Speaker B: I don't think I'm getting my money back.
So what are things that, you know, as of today that you're like, okay, when I. Let's say I'm looking at a $600 cabinet, how much kind of kush are you planning in your head of like, okay, to actually get that here? We're probably looking at a $2,000 cabinet. Like, kind of. How are you planning?
20%.
[00:31:17] Speaker A: Okay, yeah, between 20 to 22% cushion.
So we'll convert the exchange rate of whatever that is that day, which is usually 40 points on the dollar right now, which kills me.
So we'll do that conversion, and then we'll add between 20 to 22%, depending on what freight company we're using. That will cover our customs, brokerage duties, taxes, anything that we have to pay to come across.
Usually that covers everything and gives us a little bit of buffer. So we tell our clients when we're doing this, they're obviously, it's all an estimate because we don't know something could change tomorrow. Now all of a sudden, things are way more expensive, way cheaper, whatever it is.
So we give it as an estimate to the client.
They sign off on that, we order it. When we get those actual numbers in, we do an adjustment of accounts. And then if there's anything owed back to them that goes onto a credit for them, if there's anything that needs to be paid more on top of that, then we invoice them for that additional amount. And it's just having that open conversation like, you know, we do the best that we can to estimate these costs, but with the state of the world and everything else, when you.
[00:32:28] Speaker B: I think you got it all figured
[00:32:29] Speaker A: out, we never really know on that day when it decides to cross the border what we're dealing with.
[00:32:35] Speaker B: Since you are a fellow Facebook marketplace junk junkie reignited recently for you, is it safe to assume that you're the one who's sourcing vintage then or because you said you have two senior designers
[00:32:52] Speaker A: and a
[00:32:54] Speaker B: intermediate designer. I think that's what their title was. Are you doing the vintage sourcing? Are you just vintage sourcing and like you have kind of this filed away of options that someone else could pull from.
It is such a time suck. It is so fun and it's such an endorphin rush. But I mean like you said you will doom scroll on Facebook for it can be two hours at night when you should have been sleeping. And so when you really break it down, you're like, was this, I found the perfect piece, I had fun doing it. But like I'm not billing those two hours back to my client because you're flat rate. It's you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, who's doing it and how are you kind of accounting for that time even though you don't track your time?
[00:33:35] Speaker A: Well, don't tell anybody. I don't track my time.
At the end of the month I'm like, oh, so there's a part of this profession called passion.
So there's a lot of those hours that don't go counted for and that doom scrolling driving on a Sunday afternoon to a garage sale, those are passion hours. They don't go to anybody except myself because at the end of the day they make me happy.
They fulfill that little bit inside of me and give me that endorphin rush.
So I have those. And then I'm really lucky to have a team that we're all really aligned on style and vintage and unique things.
So we have a group chat and one of us will, you know, throw something in there. Somebody's oh my God, look at this table I found. Should we buy it? Yeah, let's buy it. Like, who's going to get it? I'm not going to get it. Do you want to go get it?
Because that's the other part. I'm great at finding stuff, but then I'm inherently lazy to be like, I'm not driving two hours to go pick that up.
So sometimes we'll depending on the price of a piece, if it's a really good price and it makes more sense for a courier to go pick it up. I arrange for couriers to go pick stuff up or Uber delivery things to go pick them up. Or one of our staff will be like, you know what, I'm headed there on Tuesday. I'll go like in that area, I'll go pick it up. So we have a really great Great team. That's. They want to find these pieces too because inherently it's, it's their projects that they're working on. So when they find something really cool, what do you think about this for them? Great.
[00:35:12] Speaker B: Love it.
[00:35:12] Speaker A: Let's do it.
So we, it's really collaborative.
[00:35:16] Speaker B: Do you, if a piece is specific for a project, you and your team are like, yes, let's do it. And you know, someone's like, oh, there's three bids on it already, or like, you have to pick it up by tomorrow. Do you ever go ahead and make a purchase before you get it signed off from a client? Or will you always get a sign off from a client? No, I always purchase it.
[00:35:35] Speaker A: Okay.
No, it's very rarely that I'll get a sign off from a client first because if, if that piece is that good, I will find a home for it. I don't know when, I don't know where might be my own home, but I will find a spot for it. So if it's something where you're like, oh, that is just so good, like, I'm not passing that up, then we go ahead and buy it.
[00:36:00] Speaker B: Okay, so talk to me about the internal process once you have secured a piece, especially if it's fantastic, but it doesn't necessarily have a home yet.
What is storage restoration, if any, refinishing, like quality checks, what does that look like, both for your hoarding purposes and also for like a very specific client purpose.
[00:36:23] Speaker A: So when we get those pieces in, we'll inventory them and add them into an internal inventory system.
So we'll document it with photographs, measurements, and file it away.
So then we can go back to that.
It's just like a Google Drive folder that we have all this stuff in. So then we can go through, see the price we paid for it, what our ideal MSRP would be for it. So that, that's kind of upfront. And then that way if the designers are sourcing for anything, they can go and select from that.
If it's a piece that needs to be altered, then we would.
You have to make that decision if you want to do it now, not knowing where it's going or wa.
So sometimes we'll wait and then once it's like, okay, this would be beautiful, sprayed a lacquered blue or whatever it is, or hand painted, then we figure out which supplier, which artisan is best for that to go to.
We have certain trades that we work with that are really great at refinishing furniture, really great at reupholstering stuff.
Others do our vintage doors a lot. So do we need to replace the glass? Do we need to. Is it the hinges? Do we need to shave a couple inches off here and there so then we find who's the best for the job?
And then if we decide to do that before it's chosen for a client, then that all that information just goes into that file. So we know, okay, we've spent the piece cost. This. We spent this to fix it. This for the fabric, this for the reupholstery. Our total cost is now this. We now want to sell it for this. Mm.
[00:37:59] Speaker B: How are you again? He answered my next question. So how are you tracking vintage internally when it comes to accessories, do you do that just for your big pieces, or do you have all of your accessories inventoried as well?
[00:38:11] Speaker A: We do it for all of our accessories as well.
Yeah, because it's like. And it's one of those things where I have a great operations manager who is super, super organized, which is the complete opposite of me, because when it was just me doing it, it was just shelves and shelves of stuff, and I had no idea what I paid for it, no idea what I was selling it for, no idea what I even owned. And there's a line item on my inc or my business tax at the year end being like, here's your inventory amount that you claim you have. And I'm like, I have no idea what that's for.
So I kind of had to put my big girl pants on and find somebody who's like, okay, I'm gonna make this your priority. Whenever I walk through that door with something in my hand, take it out of my hand, take a photo of it, a measurement of it, and write down what I paid it so that we can properly allocate for it. Because a lot of the stuff is like, oh, I picked it up cash as I value village. I was wherever. So, yeah, it's definitely been a bit of a. Learning to track all of that properly, but is just staying on it. When it walks through the door, it gets tagged. And we have it all on display in our office, too. A lot of it, because I love looking at it. And so it's on there. And that way, yeah, we. We know that it's been logged
[00:39:31] Speaker B: because condition can be unpredictable.
How do you protect the firm from, like, risk when you're specifying antiques? And this is more like, you know, the bigger pieces, you wanted a vintage island brought in or something like that.
[00:39:46] Speaker A: Is there anything.
[00:39:47] Speaker B: Do you have any clauses in your contract? Or, like, is it just conversations. Is there any, is there any like legal protections you have when you are working with vintage to be like, yes, we know that this is wobbly or, you know, maybe, maybe you're correct, wobbles. But is there any safeguard that you put into place or does it not really come up that much? And that's just like part of the.
[00:40:11] Speaker A: It doesn't, it doesn't come up that much. But what we do is for vintage and custom pieces, you sign off on a, basically a cut sheet.
If it's custom, it's got the fabrics of the, the photos, the dimensions, all of that, the price. And that is 100% non returnable, no questions asked. Once you pay for it, it's yours. I don't care what you do with it at the end if you don't like it. But I'm not responsible for it anymore.
Same with those large investment vintage pieces. Now there is an essence of humanity in me where I'm like, okay, we got something and it's really not what we thought it was going to be. We'll deal with that internally on our end. If it's getting it fixed, I'll cover that cost. Which is why we mark things up. We have that ability to make the client have a great experience.
And even if I lose a couple bucks, at the end of the day, a positive review is, does a thousand good things for you than a negative review. So it's back to like, that Architectural Digest project might not make money on this one piece, but how much money will I make from one referral or one positive comment to somebody else? So that's always in the back of my mind too. So it's really, I'm very lenient on it. If client really doesn't love something, I don't want them to be stuck with it.
So I just like be human in those decisions.
[00:41:40] Speaker B: Can we talk numbers a little bit? How are you charging for vintage pieces right now? Like, do you have a flat, you know, 2, 3x rate? Is it a flat 30%?
Does it kind of depend on like the category of the vintage?
[00:41:53] Speaker A: Yeah, we're 30% technically on paper.
But again, we're all in the business to make money. You have to, we all need to eat. And I like to buy things.
So you have to use your best judgment is what I say. So at the end of the day, the client's not going to know if you got a brass candlestick at a garage sale for a dollar and 25 cents or if you paid $15 for it. You don't want to cheapen the value of these items either. So it doesn't really make sense for you to say, well, I got these two brass candlesticks for $8 is what I'm charging you, and these two brass candlesticks for$68.
And they're like, well, why, why, why? Explain the difference.
[00:42:36] Speaker B: You don't want to be like, well,
[00:42:37] Speaker A: I picked it up at Sally's garage sale on Tuesday. It's like, well, I came, you know, I was at this country boutique and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So add value to.
To items to make them feel more valuable because they are. Just because you got a really good deal on it means you have the opportunity to skew how you then show it to your clients.
[00:42:58] Speaker B: Yeah, that's so true. Also, sourcing for the vintage often is going to take a lot more human hours than sourcing something new. So my next question is, does your 30% vintage markup, you know, I'm saying that in quotes, align as an exact match with, you know, your retail or vendor trade markup as well, or is it 30% across the board? Or do you mark up vintage naturally a little bit higher? Because like you said, you guys are kind of doing the digging. And so, you know, the, the $50 is really, you know that its retail value is $45.
[00:43:39] Speaker A: Yeah. So vintage and custom pieces is a 30% markup.
And then big box stores, we give a 5% discount.
And then our wholesale accounts, we are MSRP less 15%.
[00:43:58] Speaker B: Okay, got it. So you do have a different tier for how everything comes out.
[00:44:03] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, it is different.
It's still something that I'm like, do we just go back to, like, 25% across the board? Do we go back. But it's one of those things that I feel like is ever changing and ever evolving based off of where we're purchasing from a lot of the time and what our vendors rules and regulations are coming into and the cost of things and everything else.
[00:44:25] Speaker B: How do you.
How have you found to be the most successful.
Successful in articulating those different tiers to your clients? Like in the contract phase, when you're. You're talking about, okay, this is how we're going to bill you when it comes to actually procuring. And now you're saying, okay, like, here's three or four different tiers, and someone is like, okay, well, I definitely don't want vintage because that's going to cost me 30% more. Like, how do you, A, how do you present this information? And then B, kind Of how do you explain. Well, vintage is going to in general cost less than a brand new piece, you know, which is what I would assume.
[00:44:59] Speaker A: Yeah. So a lot of the times we're having the conversation now, vintage and custom, I'd put both in the same category. Is that what we're finding is sure, you could go to a large box store and buy a sofa or dining table, side table, whatever it may be. Say it's a side table you're going to be paying. What's the pricing now? 400 at minimum for, you know, a little 28, 30 inch side table.
It's not made of real wood. It's made of whatever this composite material is that all of these companies keep using. It has some sort of weird veneer on it. The color is eh. And everybody and Joe's mom, brother and sister can go buy one. So where. Where there's nothing special about that. So what we propose is either a vintage piece which we've found and sourced and special to you, or a custom piece that we're going to design and have made by local craftsmen with their hands out of real wood pieces that are going to last you a lifetime.
There's worth in that and there's value in that. So you might be paying $400 at the box store, you may be in $600 with us or $700 for us, but you're getting a real piece of wood furniture. And how do you put a price on something that was built by a craftsman by hand rather than coming out of a machine and highly processed and coming from overseas? Overseas has a time and a place. We all need it at some point in our lives for certain things. But if you have the budget, then I say spend the extra couple hundred bucks and get something you're going to love forever.
[00:46:38] Speaker B: Have you found that vintage increases or decreases overall profitability on projects or does the additional sourcing time kind of offset that margin?
[00:46:55] Speaker A: I don't know if it really has an increase or a decrease on profit. It's. And this is kind of where my thinking really diverts from a lot of the industry is there is a passion and a love that I have for this at the end of the day, as long as my costs are covered and we're making some money to keep operating and salaries are being paid and everything else, I don't really care what it is and I'm sure that makes a lot of business people cringe, but it's the love of it.
So if it's. If vintage is losing a little bit of Profitability, profit on a project. I'm okay with that because my heart is full and happy, and I love what we did. And I. I'm a big believer of, you know, you put it out there and you get it back, and those are the things that keep cycling and happening. And so I would say as long as it's the right piece, as long as you're not losing money and you're finding those right pieces, keep doing it, because those are the special things.
[00:48:05] Speaker B: Do you feel that incorporating vintage has elevated the perceived value of your projects overall from an editorial perspective? Do you feel like you would still be getting published as often as you are if you were just using new items?
[00:48:28] Speaker A: I don't know, like it. It comes back to that uniqueness again.
And when you see something that's just so different and not a piece that you could pick out of a catalog or a website and be like, oh, yeah, yeah, that's so and so's collection from X.
Because it's like, we all know it's there, and it's great. And again, it has a time and place. But to add those special moments, I think editors are looking for that. They're looking for just that little bit of different how? What separates this room from the 8,000 other living rooms that we received this month?
What separates it? And when you can see just those little distinctions, I think it's there. And then the juxtaposition that a vintage piece can add into a contemporary, clean line space is just like the perfect mold because it just. It gives it that little unexpected, like, oomph, and I love that.
[00:49:30] Speaker B: From a marketing standpoint, do you think your consistent use of vintage has strengthened your brand recognition and visibility over the last 10, 12 years?
[00:49:44] Speaker A: Yes and no.
I'd say yes. For the people who want that look. Yes. For the people who want that soul and that coziness, which is a market that's not that easy here. Like, my Toronto market is not large, and a lot of people feel that I'm a little too cottagey. Is some feedback that I've gotten in the past.
I don't find my work cottagey. I find it homey, but I don't find it cottagey.
But our market here is a lot more contemporary, a lot more black and white.
Canadians in general feel they're way more conservative, and they don't like to kind of color outside the lines.
I like to color outside the lines a little bit. So a lot of our work is translated into the US because we have people who want to bring in the color and the pattern and the textures and it's slowly, slowly, slowly starting to happen here.
But it's, it's not nearly as easy as it is south of the border.
[00:50:46] Speaker B: Interesting.
So as you explain, that does.
I mean, would you prefer for your projects to be local? I mean, obviously it's fantastic to be getting projects in the States, but, like, in a perfect world, are you, like, I would rather people down the street want what I'm giving them because it's down the street, or like just kind of. Where does that put you?
[00:51:10] Speaker A: It ebbs and flows. There's sometimes where I feel like I live in an airport.
And then there's other times where the creativity that you get when you go to these new places, you're traveling, you're seeing things, you're in restaurants and hotels and you're like, wow, this is amazing. So the inspiration that you're getting from that is so great. The other thing is working with clients abroad has allowed me to develop a product process that we now implement with clients that are local as well as, like, these are our five major milestones. This is when you're going to see me. This is when you're going like, your main point of contact is your senior designer. I'm going to be here for meetings 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. This is what we're going to go through. This is roughly the timelines we're going to go through it. Other than that, Sarah's Lauren, she's your contact. That's who you're going to. And so that's allowed me to separate myself from being that main point of contact person, because I just can't. I can't answer all the emails and the phone calls and the text messages. It just isn't realistic.
So we implement that with our local projects as well. So because sometimes you get people like, well, can we have a weekly on site meeting? I'm like, no, I can't be here every week for two hours. It's. We don't need to be, we shouldn't be. So why are we doing this?
And it's a lot easier for people when they're local to be like, can you just come to site?
Especially contractors, I find they get so lazy. They're like, well, can you just come here and walk through with the electrician? I'm like, no, that's not my job. You have the drawings go through, I'll come check it when he's done and if there's something out of place, we'll fix it at that point. But, like, I'm not there to let your appliance guy in. That's your job. So it's been. I've been able to kind of put my foot down and say, like, this is how we work, and this is why we work this way, and this is why we found it so successful.
And I'm. I'm really appreciative of that. So it's. It really doesn't matter where our projects are.
[00:53:08] Speaker B: That is such a fascinating aspect that I hadn't really considered. It's like the distance design projects. You. I realize you would have had to, like, really lock in your process, but the way that can also bleed over and improve your processes locally, too. That's such valuable insight, Ashley.
[00:53:24] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:53:27] Speaker B: How have you been able to curate and grow that vintage aesthetic? Ability to spot great vintage across your team? That, as you said, is kind of about as big as you really want it to be, but especially in a place where you're like, Canadians, like, black and white. They like newer things. And so, like, how have you found the right talent to join your team that can get it, that can understand and spot things the way that you would as well?
[00:53:58] Speaker A: Time. Lots of time. Lots of patience.
I had a big employee turnover last year, which, at the point, I. I think that was one of my. I think that was, like, my first real big mental breakdown.
I had a complete employee turnover, and I had to hire quickly but thoughtfully.
And luckily, the way that it happened, I was able to do that and find a really core group. I've got. I still have one.
One team member who's been with me for the longest, like, five years now. So I feel like she's the other side of my brain, which is great when it comes to design, but it's really taking the time to find the right people. And I had to tread water a little bit in order to do that.
But we did. We made it through the. Through the show of what it was, but I think it came out better on the other side, to be honest. And it was a really reflective time for me. But when you find people that get you and understand the style and appreciate that, it's. It makes everything just so much easier. It's that whole, like, you know that saying, like, higher, quick, fire, quick.
It really is true. Like, when you're just hiring to fill a spot, to have somebody work on something, and you're not waiting to find that person that you just connect so well with, it doesn't work. And then you end up frustrating. You let them go and I, I want my team to be like my little family forever. I spend so much time with these people.
So it's. Yeah, it's really just taking your time to find. Now I feel like we all dress the same. Like, I walk into the office, I'm like, oh, really, guys? Like, we're all wearing white jeans and a button up today. Like, come on.
But I love it. It's like, you know, you spend more time with the people you work with in your own family, so you may as well spend time with people that you really like and that you have similar interests with.
[00:55:58] Speaker B: I know there are people listening who totally agree with that sentiment. I'd love some specifics if you're comfortable sharing of, like, how do you go about hiring people? Like, where did you find these people? Because, like, yes, understand the concept. I need to jive with them. They need to be a good fit. But I think sometimes people are like, how do I find someone who has maybe not the perfect experience, but like some experience or, you know, that can be a good fit that I'm not completely starting from scratch with, but that's also not taking it from my best friend, other designer across the street. Like, how do you start your hiring process to find that work family?
[00:56:40] Speaker A: We put a lot of it on Instagram, social media.
Because if you follow, if you already follow that person, they follow you. There's got to be some connection there or a reason.
So it's then digging through that and figuring out, okay, we start to get applications, we start to get resumes. And I mean, when you're in school and you're doing these portfolio things, they're not a showcase of what you want to do.
It's, you know, when are you going to design a hospitality center or like an old age home? Like, which is all another subject about design schools. But that's for another day of like, when are they going to come into this, this new world? But, you know, when you find these people and you can see you really have to sit and go through them and meet them. And it's the same kind of process as when we're onboarding a client or a prospective client. So going through, like, why us? Why me? What is it about you? Who do you follow? What do you love to do? Do you like, do you love doing crafts? Do you love antiquing? Do you have. We have one employee, she's an amazing oil painter. Like, I wish I could do that, but she's got that creativity.
And then, so you need to find a balance of that and Then a balance of the hunger, the want, the desire to work and to build.
And how do you. It's that you can't teach somebody, you can't teach them to fall in love with what you're doing or to. To really have that want to work for you.
I, our operations manager, she applied four times before I hired her, and that was simply because I didn't have a role for her. It was like every role we were hiring was for a designer. And I was like, I love you. You have a great social media presence, you have great aesthetic, you're bubbly, you're like, very super organized and all of these things. But, like, I don't have a job for you.
So finally, the fourth time she applied, I was like, okay, screw it.
[00:58:34] Speaker B: You know what?
[00:58:35] Speaker A: You've applied four times. I'm hiring. I'll figure out a role. And I did. And she started out helping me with social media, and then I realized how much potential she had and I was like, okay, I've got to squeeze this because you're. You've got it and you're hungry for it and you want to see this business grow and succeed. And that's what I tell all of my staff is we are. I'm doing this not just for myself, but for all of us. If. If AMD is successful, we're all successful. Whether that means we're traveling, we're going. When we go to clients out of town, like, I am happy to take you to some amazing restaurants and let's go get a cocktail and walk on the beach. Or let's. I love those treat yourself moments with them because I couldn't do this without them and they can't do it without me. So I'm like, we're in this together, so let's share our rewards together. Let's share our shitty times together.
If something goes wrong in a project, it's not your fault, it's not my fault. We're in it together. We're going to figure it out. And so it's building that team and that family and that second group of core friends essentially that you want to spend time with.
[00:59:42] Speaker B: Ashley, as we come to a close, I'd love to hear explain exciting, behind the scenes things you have going on that you are allowed to share. Because I know everything in this industry is so secretive when anybody's working on anything. Are there any upcoming projects specifically or collaborations that you can share with us?
[01:00:01] Speaker A: We have our first coffee table book coming out, so yeah, we're working with Roli on a book, which is amazing.
[01:00:11] Speaker B: So super excited shooting it for you.
[01:00:13] Speaker A: And Lauren Miller is shooting it for me because she is, she is the queen and I. So Lauren and I, she shot my very first project and her and I were just these two little newbies. Not really any idea what we were doing. She shot my very first abroad project. Again, no clue what we were doing, but I'm a little bit of a fly by the seat of my pants.
And she loves the energy. So she's, she's been with me in all of the steps from the very first moment to now. So there is no one else that could shoot this other than her.
So we are doing that together, which is amazing. So hopefully 2028, we'll have that out.
And then we've got our ceramics line that we've just relaunched again, which I absolutely adore. And that was kind of a little creative moment in a time of my life where I just really needed something for me.
So we created pendant lights and these wine buckets, flower buckets type things, and I just love them. They're near and dear to my heart.
Manifesting some product lines in the future, you know, throwing it out there.
But yeah, we'll. We'll see, we'll see. But I just. Day by day.
[01:01:32] Speaker B: Well, this was so helpful and informative. I learned a ton about things that I haven't considered when it comes to vintage specifically. And I am a profound vintage lover. So thank you for spelling it all out. It was so good to have you on the show, Ashley, and it's just been the most incredible honor and pleasure to just watch your career just skyrocket. It's the coolest thing to be able to say.
I know her, she's my friend, she's a great person and look at what she's doing and well, you have to get there.
[01:02:07] Speaker A: You made me a brand way back in the day.
[01:02:10] Speaker B: No, it's always been your work, Ashley, and it really is so incredible to witness.
Thank you so much. And I will talk to you very
[01:02:18] Speaker C: soon 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, 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 guys 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 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.
[01:03:19] Speaker B: A very special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Leloy, the makers of beautifully crafted rugs, pillows and wall art, and to our episode sponsor and seasoned partner, Materia, the design platform, helping interior designers source materials, manage specifications and streamline project workflows.
