Interior Design with Kandrac and Kole

We have been wanting to attend this show for years and could never work it out either because of our workload or because both shows, Spring and Fall, are right before High Point Market.  That is one of the reasons we are not in High Point right now.  We made the decision, and with the help of design friend Sarah Eilers, that now was the time to go.

There is so much to talk about regarding High Point Furniture Market that we broke up our discussion into 2 parts. If you didn’t listen to part 1, you might want to go back to Episode 58 and listen to that one first.

We met Ray and Joanne Hallare at the Design Influencers Conference in Atlanta in February.  We were introduced to them by Mally Skok, a South African born designer, textile/wallcovering artist and friend who lives in Boston.  She was working with them on a furniture collection.

We recently attended our 2nd immersion event with Designers Today Magazine and PBM Events – this time in Asheville, NC. We want to share with you all about our experience because if you are a designer at any level – right out of school or very seasoned – the value is tremendous. If you aren’t a designer and are listening to this episode, it will be interesting to you because we will talk about all the knowledge we have as professional interior designers and the crazy ways we learn about our trade!

We are very excited to announce that we are re-branding here at Kandrac & Kole.  What that means is that we are shaking it up and creating a new logo, different brand colors, a completely new website and some new design offerings.  One of them is referred to as e-design, which we will explain in depth.

It takes a village as they say and we couldn’t agree more. In last week’s episode on Partnerships, we discussed the importance of agreeing on what outsourcing expenses to incur as a company such as bookkeeping, tax prep, social media etc. Today we are going to talk about all the other people we rely on (and why) to make our business successful.

August 15th marks our 14th year together as Kandrac & Kole.   It has been quite a journey and similar to that of a marriage and raising a child!  We’ve learned and grown so much in these 14 years and even though there have been some ups and downs, seriously we are luck to say there have been very few downs, it has been a great adventure.

We owe much of our success as Designers to the fact that we make a commitment every year (and many times twice a year) to invest our time and travel funds to the High Point Furniture Market. It is here that we have created literally hundreds of relationships with manufacturers, artisans, a long list of leaders in our industry and of course our peers.

In our last episode, #56, we talked about the amazing Designer Experience event we attended that was put together by PBM Brands and Designers Today Magazine.   We were invited along with several interior designers from across the country to Greensboro and High Point North Carolina for a 3 day immersion of the Triad area where we visited some key furniture manufacturers and toured the Sunbrella offices.   One of our favorite events was a visit to The Philips Collection in High Point North Carolina. 

We were honored to receive another special invitation to a trade event this time in Greensboro & Highpoint, NC. Called The Designer Experience. The Designer Experience is a two-and-a-half day symposium exclusively for the design trade.

There was a time when all we sourced were bold paint colors for walls using various shades of white for trim and ceilings.  That has truly changed, although sometimes we’ll specify an accent color and, if our clients will let us, wallpaper on ceilings. The trend for white walls has been strong and for being “color” girls, we have really embraced this.

We are just back from Napa Valley, CA where we were invited as special guests of Design Hounds and Signature Kitchen Suite to be a part of a three-day brand immersion trip to learn all about the new SKS showroom and their luxury lien of appliances.

We are thrilled to have Gray Malin as a guest on the podcast today.  Gray is an amazing fine art photographer and author.  He is best known for holding a camera out of a helicopter and shooting the world’s most exotic beach locations all over the world.  You get a bird’s eye view of the colorful umbrellas, towels and sunbathing bodies.

This morning we are excited to chat with a designer friend of ours, Mitzi Beach who is not only an award-winning designer but also an author and lifestyle specialist. She has a new book out called “Design Smarts, Inspiration for Home & Life” and so we are pleased to welcome her to the show to talk all about her new book.

We are so excited to be back from High Point, North Carolina where we spent 3 days at the International Home Furnishings Market, the the largest home furnishings trade show in the world.