Chestnut Interiors is Three Years Old – How I started my Interior Design Business
It feels strange writing that Chestnut Interiors is three years old, perhaps it’s imposter syndrome that makes it feel that way. When my great friend encouraged me to start helping other people with their interior design decisions, I firstly said it wasn’t possible as I didn’t have the money to start a business. Soon after I thought that was a stupid reason and decided I would give it a good go anyway! I had zero business knowledge and zero formal education in interior design but a desire to do something I enjoyed so much that I would do it for free. I’d like to share in this blog the story of the evolvement of my business for those of you who are invested and here for the squirrelly moments, and those of you who are wondering if you can start your own interior design business (the answer is YES).
I started, January 2020, with a cast on my ankle, spare time, tramadol brain and somehow made a website (the very website you go on today…I might need to edit this blog when I ask an expert to sort it out for me). It was more painful building a website than having a broken ankle, but as a start up without funding I needed a place to share my venture. My first blog shares a little bit of the process before I came to this point. I eagerly made an Instagram account and started taking photos of things I wanted to share, which could easily be a full-time job in itself and comes with lots of pressure, algorithms, and a challenge to be seen.
With lockdown in full swing, I completed a whistle-stop tour of interior design online, admittedly whilst the depth of knowledge wasn’t vast, I found myself feeling proud that I already knew what the course was teaching me. That isn’t to brag, purely it gave me a little confidence that I could do this. I’ve probably offended designers who went to university to study Interior Design, and that isn’t my intention, I would have loved to do that but aged 30 with a mortgage it wasn’t a choice I had. Access to Education/Training is a common barrier for many people seeking a career change later in life, it’s very difficult to step away from a salary when you have financial responsibilities, but I believed I could use my skills gained at university to learn as much as I could; time management, organisation, research and knowing how to learn something new. I was a teacher for goodness’ sake, I still am (once a teacher, always a teacher), I could teach myself if I put my mind to it. I set to it finding as much free knowledge as I could through online blogs, free workshops, books, podcasts, and downloadable workbooks. I’ll share a list of recommendations at the end of this blog.
As well as knowledge of fabrics, tiles, paint, suppliers, types of lighting and an understanding of construction, I also needed experience. By telling my friends what I was doing I soon had a couple of kind friends who were willing to let me help them with their homes and practice my services. They started telling their friends, I started sharing in local Facebook groups, and soon after in Spring 2020 I had a real enquiry from someone who didn’t know me! Then in the summer we moved to Cornwall, and I needed to find my feet somewhere new, and also where to go to buy cushions and candles.
Still teaching, and loving my job, I eased my itch for interior design by house hunting and drawing proposed floor plans whilst continuing to learn as much as I could. At this point we were moving between holiday let properties and getting to know the county so my plans for Chestnut Interiors were on pause. However, inspired by Michelle Lynnes (Designed for the Creative Mind) statement that “rising tides raises all ships”, I started to make connections with interior designers in Cornwall and formed a small community of helpful people who are all supportive of each other. This community has helped me make incredible friends, hello to my good friend, (and king of sustainable design), Stephen of Boaz Studio.
Then in Summer 2021 I had my femur broken and thought during my recovery I’d be watching every house renovation programme available, listening to more inspirational business wisdom and ‘up-skilling’ myself. Instead, I have very little idea what happened in the first three morphine months, thank goodness for physio videos! My recovery wasn’t without its hiccups (screws tearing the quad thank you very much) and ultimately the recovery was a catalyst for change. When I was back on my feet I was working reduced days in school and delving into books and short courses whilst resting my leg on others. Encouraged by posts by coach Charlotte Lody I started to evaluate my life, I was working in a job that was very physically demanding whilst trying to recover from two operations and hoping to establish myself in the county as an Interior Designer. It was tough and I had to be very disciplined, but finally in 2022 I started to see the benefits and started working with three clients. This felt like a breakthrough, and whilst the needs for my services weren’t full time it allowed me to refine my processes and with the security of employment also check if this was a career I wanted full time.
During a zoom with Charlotte, who also had a previous career teaching, we unpicked the identity I associated with my job. It was daunting to admit that I wanted to step away from teaching, partly because I still enjoyed it, but I recognised I enjoyed the world of interiors too, and most importantly it was better for my health at that moment in time. Additional to this realisation I took away something so valuable in this zoom; Charlotte said, “a job is who you are not what you do”. I finished the hour and started writing down who I am, what my values are and what I enjoy, I wrote down: helpful, creative and a problem solver. Qualities that I most believe about myself and actually they fit into many different roles and professions.
Shortly after this I heard about a course called Outset, which intended to teach people the basics of business and self-employment. I enrolled and began an eight-week course which above everything else gave me a dedicated three hours a week to create a business plan, still at this point unsure when or if it would be financially possible to employ myself. My focus at this time was on learning about a range of areas: marketing, finances, ideal customers, branding, my unique selling point, the list goes on! There is always something to learn. I also used this time to contact people who I wanted to work with, simply introducing myself and finding out if we could work together in the future which pleasantly led to styling a gorgeous property ready to go up for sale with Cornish estate agent Rhors & Rowe and writing a few interior features in a Cornwall magazine, My Cornwall.
In early summer 2022, quite unexpectedly, I saw an advert for a freelance refurbishment project co-ordinator of luxury hotels (quite a mouthful). After reading what work was involved I closed my laptop thinking it was a bogus advert, then thought better of it! I secured the freelance work as part of a design team responsible for refurbishing hotels and soon after was able to take a huge leap away from employment as a teacher and employ myself full time. Six months later I’m working with talented designers, fully immersed in beautiful design schemes for luxury hotels and enjoying the process of bringing them to completion, renovating and extending my own home Alpine, hosting workshops to help people find their creativity and apply this to their own homes, and sharing my interior design services with home owners across Cornwall.
I’m still learning (every day is a school day even when you step out of the classroom), and for 2023 I’m dedicating three hours a week to self-development; particularly to complete sketchup hub courses which by the way are brilliant! If you’re curious and considering a career in interior design it isn’t all pretty cushions and accessories; there’s a lot of admin, regulations to understand, hoovering (so much hoovering) and you may even find yourself with a paintbrush in your hand! That being said, right now I eat, sleep, and breath interiors and it fills me with SO much joy. If after reading you’re keen to learn more about interior design I’ve listed my go-to places to soak up knowledge below, and if you’ve read because you’re interested in Chestnut Interiors….thank you for your kindness and support.
Podcasts
Designed for the Creative Mind – Michelle Lynne
Get it right with Undercover Architect – Amelia Lee
Building with BuildHer – BuildHer Collective
The Interior Design Business – Wildwood
Designers Getting Coffee – Lesley Myrick & Kate Bendewald
The Great Indoors – Sophie Robinson & Kate Watson-Smyth
Websites/Newsletters
www.interiordesignershub.co.uk
Books
Designology: How to Find Your Placetype & Align Your Life with Design
The Interior Design Handbook – Freda Ramstedt
How to Decorate: Farrow & Ball
Happy Inside: How to Harness the Power of Home for Health & Happiness – Michelle Ogundehin
