Fall has always been my favorite time of year. While things have drastically changed since I was a kid, September used to be the month that we went back to school-new shoes, a new lunch box and new paper products and pencils to kick off nine months of creativity and education. For some a new year begins in January, for me, September was signal for new beginnings.
I have been in the interior design industry for over 23 years. During that time we have had three Design Lab locations and happily worked with multiple brands and clients, traveling the world to bring back fresh ideas. Additionally, we have had 48 employees and interns over those 23 years – a new fresh face every six months to share what design is all about while we hired others who stayed for six years or more to build a career.
So when it came time to renew our lease at the Design Lab in East Sacramento we had a lot to consider. Do we continue on business as usual, juggling multiple elements of the design world? Do we work remotely since we all travel so much for our job? Do we simply focus on our product development with the brands we know and love? Do we focus on our philanthropic work with ASID and the American Red Cross? Picking just one facet of the industry and doing it well was yet to be considered for our team, because, well, Everyone Deserves Great Design, right?
As we presented this question to ourselves we also saw the industry begin to evolve. Not only has HGTV shown everyone how to “do it themselves”, platforms like Wayfair, Amazon Home and Heavenly caused our firm to prove our value more than ever while compromising profitability. So how can we continue to be of value to our customers while still making a living (while having joy) in the interiors world?
To me, the answer came from doing a deeper dive with our licensed partners, Coyote Outdoor Living, Feizy Rugs and GO Home, LTD. We could continue to serve our clients in the new way they have come to shop and procure products for their homes; through online platforms. Our products are found on our website at KerrieKelly.com but also Target.com, Nebraska Furniture, Living Spaces and Jerome’s, not to mention our licensed partner vendor websites.
This new vision allows us to expect and experience freedom from the limiting reach of our brick-and-mortar shop in East Sacramento and to kick up the product development creativity, travel to markets to share our new products while still designing and creating content and working with our builders to outfit models, showing visitors and online followers how to get the look in their own homes.
So while the KKDL stores have closed in Sacramento, they have truly just opened to a whole new world of design that we can’t wait to share with you! Ready for our next chapter – let’s go!
