Interior Design with Kandrac and Kole

We have been participating in Dwell with Dignity for several years but this is our first time being asked to design a vignette for Thrift Studio here in Atlanta.

Every home in America needs some kind of window coverings and we are very honored to be an approved Hunter Douglas dealer. The choices are endless and very overwhelming for our clients so this is a great service we provide. With every design project we do with Hunter Douglas, we learn something new. So that we can all learn together, we thought we’d have Anne King who is our District Sales Manager come on the show. To us, she is the guru of HD! Welcome Anne!

We are big admirers of original art. Our goal is to incorporate at least one special piece in each of our projects as it really completes a custom design. To own an original piece of art is really an honor. We are going to talk about the misconceptions, benefits and what it means to own an original piece. We’ll also fill you in on our favorite artists.

I’d be surprised to meet someone not familiar with HGTV in some way. HGTV has become quite a force in our American culture kicking off the DIY phenomenon, the urban farmhouse movement with Chip and Joanna Gaines, and the young, colorful, whimsical design aesthetic that HGTV is known for. Honestly, HGTV probably doesn’t have a lot of high end designer fans because of their not-so-realistic design transformations as it relates to the budget but we still appreciate HGTV for a lot of ways.

We put it out there. Ask us ANY (appropriate) design or non-design related questions.

We just returned from spending three days at our exciting new construction project on Kiawah Island, South Carolina which is 45 minutes from Charleston. We first met with the architect a year ago and are finally making considerable progress. We thought we’d share our journey so far. For those of you familiar with Kiawah, this house is thru the 2nd gate down by River Course. It is situated on the marsh with large oak trees draped in Spanish moss and incredible breezes.

We are in the midst of coaching sessions and a lot of our discussions are centered around the importance of branding. Branding is a way of identifying your business. It is how your customers recognize and experience your business. A strong brand is more than just a logo; it's reflected in everything from your customer service, business cards, website, social media, marketing materials and advertising. As our coach Phil Pallen says “A personal brand isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity”.

We are big advocates for staying ahead of the design curve as it relates to product, our skills as designers and our business acumen as entrepreneurs. To do this, we invest quite a bit of money, time and brain energy attending national conferences, conferences and hiring business coaches. For all of you new and old designers out there who don’t venture outside of your bubble for one reason or another, you might find this podcast very inspiring.

When we design for our clients and commercial projects we source about 85% of products that we purchase wholesale. For the other 15% we are going to share with you a few of the catalogs we purchase from and our favorites from those catalogs.

Today I’m running solo so I have a guest speaker I’m very excited about. Carrie Peeples is the Chief Organizing officer of NeatSmart.  I am a self confessed Type A, OCD person who totally gets a kick out of this type of stuff. My house is organized and neat as a pin but I am always interested in improving.

We’ve worked hard to have our design projects published nationally and regionally many times over. To us, it’s a stamp of approval from the highest level of our peers – the editors of the magazines we covet. Our first national publication was a 6 page spread in Southern Lady Magazine. We were (and still are) so proud of that feature! Our next feature is coming up in August/September issue of Southern Cottage which is published by Engaged Media, Inc.

We’ve just returned from a week in Guatemala. We are exhausted and exhilarated all at the same time. Everywhere we go people inquire about our work in Guatemala and how we got started so we thought this was the perfect time to share.

Kelly is on vacation visiting family in New York so Caren Danneman, an amazing certified and bath kitchen designer is joining Joann in the studio.

An estimated 3 million Americans work from home. Many people who work from home claim to be more productive because they're not in a loud environment or distracted by co-workers.  There are some obvious advantages of working from home: avoiding a nightmare commute and getting to work in your PJs. Employers see working from home as  fewer sick days, employee retention, and less money spent on office space.

We have always been big sharers of information, life and business lessons, sources, advice, etc. One day when we are tired of designing residential and commercial spaces, you will probably find us on the speaking/coaching circuit or writing a book.