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How I Got Seriously Happy
Lessons on getting schooled by business.
Divorce ended my marriage but launched a remarkable career
My design career started with a divorce. Maybe yours did, too? Once upon a time, I lived in a cute townhome in Seattle with my (now ex) hubby. Newly married, we blissfully picked out paint colors and made the most of our hand-me-down furniture. A few years later, cue the plot twist – our marriage…
What advice do you have for new interior designers about internships?
I LOVE mentoring emerging designers. They’re so eager and excited to launch their design biz, and bring wonderful fresh energy to our industry! If you’re an about-to-graduate designer you probably have the same questions as many other new designers. I’m here today to answer 1 of the top 3 questions I get: Should I get…
Good-bye Seattle, hello Paris!
Have you heard the news? Seriously Happy Homes is going on sabbatical for two years starting August 31, 2023! Yep, after 15 years in the biz, I’m shutting things down and moving to Paris with my hubby! He’s pursuing his dream of becoming a chef at Le Cordon Bleu, while I launch v2.0 of my…
Yes, you need professional interior design photography, and here’s a way to save money!
If you’re an interior designer you know how expensive it can be to get good professional interior design photography. Depending on what you charge and the size of the project, the photography can cost as much as, or even more than, the profits from your project. 😳 What if there were a way to save…
How to protect your clients from decision fatigue
Decision fatigue doesn’t just affect your clients during that meeting where you asked them to make too many decisions. It also affects the success of all your following meetings, and hits your bottom line by making your projects less profitable. 😳 Think about it. When your clients feel overwhelmed, even if they make choices, they…
10 Big Presentation Mistakes Designers Make
Over my years of coaching and training interior designers I’ve noticed the same 10 Big Presentation Mistakes being made over and over again. Since I want you to succeed, so let’s look at what those ten mistakes are, and what you should do instead! 10 Big Design-Presentation Mistakes(that make decision-making harder for clients) So, what…
Are you overwhelming your clients?
As if design wasn’t overwhelming enough – did you know that there is something that a lot of designers do that creates more overwhelm for their clients? Of course, they don’t do it on purpose. It’s just that design school taught them how to design, not how to successfully communicate their designs to a client.…
Are you doing initial consults all wrong?
Are you doing discovery calls and initial consults all wrong? No judgement – I used to do them wrong too! I would get a great sense of my client’s project scope and wishlist, give them some great ideas, write a great design agreement, and then… not get the project. 😩 Why? Because I missed a…
How to Say “No” To An Interior Design Client
One of the keys to having a design practice full of ideal clients is learning to say “no.” I don’t just mean during the initial consult when you feel like the client might not be a good fit (I cover that in this blog post) but also when they *are* your client. Over the last…
Five Reasons To Say “No” To A Potential Client
If I’ve learned one thing from running my interior design firm for the past 14 years it’s that I *always* regret it when I don’t listen to that little voice that says “don’t take this project.” Ugh! 😩 If you’ve ignored that voice, then you know what I’m talking about! It doesn’t necessarily mean that…
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