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LuAnn Nigara On The 5 Biggest Business Mistakes Interior Designers Make

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Editor’s note: Small-business guru LuAnn Nigara provides tell-it-like-it-is business education for tens of thousands of designers and creatives the world over via her popular podcast, A Well Designed Business, books, and speaking engagements for the National Kitchen and Bath Association, High Point Market, ASID National, the Design Influencers Conference, and beyond. In her new monthly column for AD PRO, Nigara will share actionable insights—gleaned both from her twice-weekly conversations with design industry pros as well as  her 35-plus years running a custom window treatment business, Window Works—on the most common small-business challenges members of the trade face today.  

In my experience, I have found that both rising entrepreneurs as well as seasoned entrepreneurs will often make one or all of these mistakes when building and growing their

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Design-Build Firm Murray Lampert Strategically Grows During COVID-19

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“We implemented safety protocols for our office and in the field, well before shelter in place went into effect,” said Gregg Cantor, President of Murray Lampert.

Making sure the office and jobsites are safe was the company’s number one priority. At the same time, with new software, Murray Lampert enabled staff to work remotely to maintain productivity and improve the client experience.

“I personally called our trade partners to inform them that we were following all protocols and being recognized as an essential business, so we could all continue to work,” says Cantor. “I then contacted all of our clients to make sure that they were comfortable with us working on their projects.  All of Murray Lampert’s approved and were pleased.

Several media outlets featured Murray Lampert and Gregg Cantor as a business that was continuing under COVID-19 restrictions. https://www.10news.com/news/team-10/local-building-industry-adapting-to-covid-19-restrictions

As a member of the City of San Diego

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This Designer Just Launched an E-comm Site That Lets You Shop Like a Pro Decorator

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Let’s face it: Shopping for the home can be overwhelming. As many may have realized over the course of a year that saw more people buying home goods online than ever before, while there are no shortage of sources for furniture, decor, and home accessories online, sometimes the vast array of options can be daunting. That’s why designer Robin Baron has turned her talents to an e-commerce site, leveraging her expertise as a professional to help you shop for your home.



diagram: Designer Robin Baron has turned her talents to an e-commerce site, leveraging her expertise as a professional to help you shop for your home.

© Robin Baron
Designer Robin Baron has turned her talents to an e-commerce site, leveraging her expertise as a professional to help you shop for your home.

“As a celebrity interior designer who’s been in the business 30 years, it’s all about me curating and vetting the best of the best products and giving the best of the best education, guidance, and knowledge, so clients can make the best

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Cindy Allen Opens Best of Design 2020 With Hall of Fame Roundtable

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Kicking off Interior Design‘s inaugural Best of Design 2020 festival—a two-week virtual extravaganza packed with design conversations, Hall of Fame film screenings, and the Best of Year awards—Editor in Chief Cindy Allen celebrated the spirit of the annual Hall of Fame gala by bringing together a group of design luminaries on screen. “This is the week of Hall of Fame, can we just pine a little bit together?” Allen said with a smile, reminiscing about the joys of in-person events. 

In response, the group of Hall of Fame members—Deborah Berke, founder of Deborah Berke Partners and dean of the Yale School of Architecture; Hagy Belzberg, founding partner of Belzberg Architects; Colin Burry, design director and principal at Gensler; Clodagh, founder of Clodagh Design; Debra Lehman Smith, founding partner at Lehman Smith McLeish; and Clive Wilkinson, president and design director of Clive Wilkinson Architects—echoed Allen’s sentiment, recounting memories of

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Clayton’s New Home Innovation Lab Showcases Commitment to Design, Collaboration, Quality and Affordability

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The new space is a dedicated home-base for architects, engineers, 3D rendering and interior design teams. It provides a unique and versatile place where Clayton teams can collaborate using innovative technology to create and design Clayton Built® homes that keep the buyers needs and lifestyle at the forefront of the building process. 

“The use of innovative technology has added a seamless element to the home building design process,” shared Megan Foster, Interior Design Manager of Clayton’s design team. “We can tweak options within floor plans and design elements to see what the home would look like, all in virtual reality, cutting the expense of building a physical prototype. We have the capability to view different finishes and virtually build features we’ve learned our customers are looking for, such as flexible spaces for home offices or multi-functional storage nooks.”

The Lab provides a workspace and acts as a think

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Houston decorator uses her talents to ‘Design for Peace’

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HOUSTON – Having a peaceful, comfortable home your family can come home to at the end of the day is out of reach for many, but one Houston interior designer is doing her part to help.

LeTricia Wilbanks of Wilbanks Mackay is decorating one home at a time to spread hope and healing.

“Design for Peace” started four years ago when Wilbanks noticed so much division and hostility among her own neighbors and community.

“It just made me sad,” Wilbanks said. “And so I just wanted to do something to show that we could all work together and respect each other and love each other.”

Some people feed and clothe those in need, but Wilbanks decided to use her own talents and decorate.

“I’m a firm believer that love is a verb, and it all depends on our actions and how we treat other people,” she said.

Every year, Wilbanks

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5 interior design trends from Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit that will inspire a retro makeover

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A myriad of color and pattern, Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit is a coming of age story that starts in the stylish 1950’s. We watch a young Beth Harmon blossom from being orphaned at a young age and meeting Mr. Shaibel who taught her chess to how she copes with growing up feeling different to everyone else and fascinating matches she plays in the male dominated world of chess.



a person sitting on a chair in front of a window: The Queen's Gambit interiors

© Provided by Real Homes
The Queen’s Gambit interiors

Oh it’s just a fab story with a fab cast, and on around our 5th time viewing we started to notice, fab interiors inspiration! We see loads of gorgeous and interesting interiors  through out the show and we thought we would round up some of our fave looks and the clear trends that you can you bring into your home…

For plenty more interior design ideas and trends head over to our gallery

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Collective Design’s Founder Wants to Bring Makers and Interior Designers Together

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Collective Design, the annual design fair founded in 2013 by architect Steven Learner, announced today the launch of its new platform, Source. The site is positioned to meet the sourcing needs of members of the trade by bringing vetted studios, artists, and makers together with interior designers and other industry professionals. What is more, Source’s invite-only model is poised to harness Learner’s substantial Rolodex to help foster propitious connections and deepen relationships—while helping to diversify countless projects in the process.

“There’s nothing else like this out there,” Learner says to AD PRO. “It’s about bespoke objects and helping design firms understand the capacity of someone to create 36 chairs in a different finish, or putting them in touch with a designer who has his own factory of impeccable quality.”

Inside the studio of Cody Hoyt, who is selling his wares through the platform. 

Photo: Courtesy of Cody Hoyt

Like so

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Tihany Design Ushers in a New Chapter

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A rendering of Victoria Place, a residential development by Tihany Design at Ward Village in Honolulu.

Tihany Design

Star chefs and luxury hospitality brands have long turned to Adam D. Tihany to devise refined interiors that feel worthy of their celebrated names, from the Beverly Hills Hotel to the Four Seasons. After 42 years in the biz, change is now afoot at the celebrated interiors firm, where Tihany has recently named his first-ever partner. Alessia Genova, who started at the studio after graduating from Politecnico di Milano, has risen within the ranks to managing partner, a title she quietly assumed earlier this year. Tihany and Genova spoke to AD PRO about their plans, why they make a great team, and what they see as the future of the hospitality business.

Alessia Genova and Adam Tihany.

Peter Murphy

AD PRO: Adam, what made you decide to name your first-ever partner?

Adam

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How Success Happened for Designer Eileen Fisher

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In my many years of speaking to executives, founders and CEOs, I have always enjoyed learning how they built the businesses they did, the impetus for the choices they made and overall what makes them tick. I really love finding out what it was that made them successful. It’s why I enjoy hosting Entrepreneur’s How Success Happens podcast.     





© Ole Jensen | Getty Images


I had the pleasure of interviewing Eileen Fisher, the founder of EILEEN FISHER, Inc. this past week. I think we can all imagine the iconic EILEEN FISHER outfit – simple lines and clean design. What I found most intriguing was the series of intuitive decisions that Eileen made that resulted in the classic minimal design concept. With only $350, Eileen started her business in 1984 from the ground up – literally step-by-step – from a fifth-floor Tribeca walkup. It was there that Eileen concepted the early

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