1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:05,040 Hello and welcome to episode 148 of Design Curious Podcast. 2 00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:07,480 I'm your host and mentor, Rebecca Ward. 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:12,360 Today on the podcast, we have a great interview with Steve Saeed 4 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,520 of Furnished Quarters. It's a really interesting 5 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:19,080 conversation. I was quite curious about the 6 00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:21,160 topic and let me tell you a little bit more about him. 7 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:25,680 With a successful 30 year career as a lawyer before making a bold 8 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:28,520 pivot into interior design, Steve brings a unique 9 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:32,560 perspective on the intersection of hospitality, creativity and 10 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:35,360 functionality. Since joining Furnished 11 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:38,280 Quarters, he has played a pivotal role in defining the 12 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:41,520 company's signature design aesthetic, ensuring that each 13 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:45,120 residence provides A stylish, comfortable and genuinely 14 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:48,040 elevated stay for corporate travellers. 15 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:53,000 Furnished Quarters does a lot of furnished apartments for 16 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:55,520 travelers. But really interesting talking 17 00:00:55,520 --> 00:01:00,440 to him about multifamily, just the difference of doing design 18 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:04,480 for a single family and doing it more on a corporate level, 19 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:07,920 hospitality level, and I think you're going to really like the 20 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:09,720 conversation. So let's get into it. 21 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,840 You're now listening to Design Curious, the place where you, 22 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:18,800 Creative One, are here to learn about what it really is like to 23 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:23,000 be an interior designer, and I'm your host and mentor, Rebecca 24 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,560 Ward. If you're worried about how to 25 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:29,640 succeed in a creative career, if you're ready to learn your next 26 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,760 steps to become an interior designer, and if you want the 27 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:37,840 satisfaction of doing something you love every day, you are in 28 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:41,040 the right place. Grab a coffee, a notebook, and 29 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,520 let's dig into today's episode. Hey Steve, welcome to Design 30 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:46,480 Curious podcast. It's great to have you here 31 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:48,080 today. Great to be here. 32 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:49,640 Thank you. Yeah. 33 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:55,840 So as I understand it, your career started in law and then 34 00:01:55,840 --> 00:02:00,120 you transition to interior design and you're working in 35 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:02,000 hospitality design. Is that correct? 36 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:06,320 More or less. I say more or less because we 37 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,240 are an interesting combination. We are hospitality, but we're 38 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:13,840 not hospitality in the sense that we aren't running a 39 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:16,880 traditional hotel. People who stay with us 40 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,040 generally have to stay no less than 30 days. 41 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:23,640 So it really becomes a home rather than a hotel room and 42 00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:27,920 that's the way I view it. We did at one point have a hotel 43 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:33,080 and we designed it somewhat differently because we 44 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:36,200 understood that people might just be staying 3 or 4 nights, 45 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:40,120 but in our units they're staying for longer periods of time. 46 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:44,360 So I'm trying to convey a sense of home rather than typical 47 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:48,440 hospitality, stay for a night or two and then move on to next. 48 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:50,600 So what's an interesting combination? 49 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,480 Yeah, Yeah, for sure, definitely when you're considering that 50 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:58,240 it's a still kind of a transient living situation, but that 51 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,160 they're there for so long months maybe at a time and. 52 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,600 Believe me, we have people who have been with us for a couple 53 00:03:04,640 --> 00:03:06,240 years. Oh wow. 54 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:09,760 Some are so transient. OK, but. 55 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,120 The average stay is about 60 or 90 days. 56 00:03:13,640 --> 00:03:17,720 Wow. OK, so let's back it up a little 57 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:21,960 bit and 1st talk about how you got into designing in the first 58 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,200 place. Well, I guess I should start 59 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:29,200 from the beginning, so to speak. My dad hobby was arts, he was a 60 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:34,040 painter, ceramics, and when he retired he got into calligraphy 61 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,480 and other forms of art. So that head was always there, 62 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,240 though my mother had no interest in any of that. 63 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:45,080 That was not her talents. I considered what I did in law 64 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:49,160 creative in the sense that you had a problem and you had to 65 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,760 come up with a solution. And I was very good in saying, 66 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:55,920 if you don't like solution A, I'll give you here solution B, 67 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,760 you know, B doesn't work. I can come up with CI mean that 68 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:03,280 was sort of my talent. And I, I guess I always had an 69 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:08,240 affinity to surround myself friend wise, to get client wise 70 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:12,640 for a moment with people who were in the arts, whether it be 71 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:18,560 floral designers or interior designers or painters or chefs. 72 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:22,640 And they did ultimately become clients of mine. 73 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:29,120 And what really got my interest going was I had a German client 74 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:33,120 who wanted to open a series of fashion shops around the world. 75 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:38,360 And he asked me and my partner, we were his lawyers, for help in 76 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:43,240 recommending a store designer. And right at that time an 77 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:46,880 article appeared in the New York Times about the hottest young 78 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:51,640 store designers in New York. I got intrigued by the group 79 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:56,240 that designed Studio 54, Ron Dowd, Scott Bromley, Rennie 80 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:00,000 Reynolds, Bird Malice, all of these people who were all 81 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,560 friendly but also doing business together. 82 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,800 And I arranged a meeting with them, ultimately became they 83 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:09,760 were ultimately hired. We travelled around the world. 84 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:14,400 The deal ultimately fell through but we became good friends and 85 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:18,360 they really piqued my interest in design and learning what they 86 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,320 really did. You don't really know how 87 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:27,280 involved a process it is and I got more and more involved in 88 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:32,040 having clients who were in various aspects of the design 89 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:37,960 world, fashion world, etcetera. And ultimately I met Steve Brown 90 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:44,600 who is one of the Co owners of Furnished Quarters and he said 91 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:48,160 why don't you join us? You've always said you'd like to 92 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:51,120 do something other than law. Why don't you come join us? 93 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:53,040 We're going to open a furniture store. 94 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:58,320 This is how it's all started and you can run the store now. 95 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:00,120 I knew nothing about running this. 96 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,120 I did had traveled the world with Steve at that point. 97 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:07,960 We would go to Milan, we'd go to Frankfurt looking at furniture 98 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:10,120 for furnished quarters, apartments and things that we 99 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:14,840 could buy in bulk containers, etcetera, until I was familiar 100 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:17,440 with what was out in the marketplace. 101 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:22,240 And about couple weeks before the store was scheduled to open, 102 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:26,440 Steve's brother Gary called and said, you know, I've thought 103 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:27,960 about it and I think you're right. 104 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:29,800 We shouldn't be opening a furniture store. 105 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,000 We don't know anything about it. It's crazy. 106 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:35,280 I said, well, that's great. I think that's terrific. 107 00:06:35,280 --> 00:06:37,640 I agree with that idea. But I've already given my law 108 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:39,560 firm notice telling him I'm leaving. 109 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,600 And he said, well, don't worry about it, Come join us and we'll 110 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:46,440 find something for you to do. And initially they put me into 111 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:48,360 operations, and that didn't work at all. 112 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,360 I didn't know anything about operations, and the operations 113 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:54,960 people were not too thrilled to have a new boss who knew nothing 114 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:59,280 about operations. I found my way into design and 115 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:03,320 we all soon all realized this was an actual that I had finally 116 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:07,040 found my home and my niche and something I always wanted to do 117 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:08,880 and here I had an opportunity to do it. 118 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:12,080 So that's how it all came about in short version. 119 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:13,720 Wow. Yeah. 120 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:17,840 So you never really knew from the beginning that design was 121 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:20,680 where you wanted to land. You just see that creativity 122 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:23,920 was. Was the guiding feature not 123 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,800 designed per SE? Although I didn't think I had 124 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:30,200 any talent in the fashion area, frankly, although I spent a lot 125 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:34,040 of time with clients of mine who are in the business, people like 126 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:38,200 Susan Dennis and Warren Edwards, etcetera, but that was not my 127 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:40,680 thing. Interior design was something I 128 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:45,760 drifted to and liked and spent time reading the shelter 129 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:47,880 magazines and so on and so forth. 130 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,080 So it was always an interest, but it was never my idea to be 131 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:53,960 at a material design. Wow, how interesting. 132 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,720 And then do you miss law at all, or if you never looked back? 133 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:02,480 Not one bit. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. 134 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,440 I mean your. Design is challenging, I have to 135 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:07,960 say. I love law and I love practicing 136 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:09,560 law. But what I didn't like at the 137 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:14,040 end is the business of law. It's changed dramatically to 138 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:19,560 it's eat what you kill and it's very doggy dog and it's a 139 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,720 constant chase for clients. And once you get the client, you 140 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:25,320 got to get them billed and then you got to collect the bill. 141 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:29,160 Forgetta, I'm much happy in my new world. 142 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:32,120 Yeah, yeah. So then you went into the 143 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:36,240 interior design segment of this company, but you weren't really 144 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:38,640 involved with any of the business side of it as well as 145 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:40,559 the larger company, right. So in. 146 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:45,600 The beginning I was because it wasn't as big OK was involved in 147 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:48,360 various aspects. But today, although I'm on the 148 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:53,120 exact, to me I'm pretty much involved just in the design 149 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:55,720 world. It's enough to keep me busy. 150 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:57,880 I don't need some of the other problem. 151 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:00,200 I have these to deal with. Yeah. 152 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:04,040 Well, I'm not extremely familiar with furnished quarters because 153 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:06,440 it's not anything that I've ever had need of. 154 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:09,480 But why don't you explain to our audience as well? 155 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:11,640 So what furnished corners? Because you've been with them 156 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:14,840 for a while now and you definitely have a lot of 157 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:16,640 projects that you've worked on over the years. 158 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:19,640 So tell us what you guys do. Essentially what furnished 159 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:25,400 quarters is, is it is providing furnished apartments primarily 160 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:30,240 to corporate travellers, but some individuals as well. 161 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:34,160 It started out as almost exclusively individuals. 162 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:37,080 When they opened the company, they didn't have one corporate 163 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:43,120 client and over the years they developed an extensive portfolio 164 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,360 of companies that they serve really around the world. 165 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:53,960 Their primary thrust is in New York, New Jersey, White Plains, 166 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:58,640 Boston and San Francisco. But that being said, booking, 167 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:02,080 it's all over the world. A lot of clients want what we 168 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:06,840 call one stop shopping. I come to you, you book my needs 169 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:09,760 in cities. Even if you don't have your own 170 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:14,040 inventory in those cities, you have partners and you deal with 171 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:17,240 all the work particulars that I don't have to get involved. 172 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:21,440 So we do a lot of global work. What we've heard of is global. 173 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:24,640 Yeah. Do you design from afar or do 174 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:27,760 you have to visit these sites? It's a mix. 175 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:30,920 It's a mix. When we partner with other 176 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:36,040 companies, they have their unit, they're furnished and we've done 177 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,920 our due diligence and agreed that they meet or have to meet 178 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:42,800 certain standards that we have which our clients expect. 179 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:46,080 And we don't normally travel to those. 180 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,960 For all your own units, whether they be in Boston or San 181 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:53,920 Francisco or whatever, we travel when we're sending them out. 182 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:59,400 After we set them up and we're satisfied, then locals can 183 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:02,480 maintain them. But the original setup is US, 184 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:06,840 and it also enters into the way we design these units. 185 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:11,120 When Steve is Brown is contemplating taking a new 186 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:15,880 building or units in a building, either myself or my assistant go 187 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:20,360 to that building and we look at the lobby, we look at the 188 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:24,560 hallways, we look at the apartment and that tour 189 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:27,880 generally tells us what that apartment should look like. 190 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:32,520 Should it be very modern stealing glass or should it be 191 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:34,840 more towards the traditional side? 192 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,920 Does it need a lot of color or is there too much going on in 193 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,600 the hallways that this needs to be very subdued and very calm? 194 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:44,800 We really go building by building. 195 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:49,400 Unlike I always had a lot of our competitors, most of our 196 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:52,080 buildings do not look like our other buildings. 197 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:56,360 They're very the visualized based on where the building's 198 00:11:56,360 --> 00:12:00,080 located, what the lobby looks like, what the kitchen looks 199 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:02,640 like, what the bathrooms, what the feel of it. 200 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:06,400 Your apartment talks to you or talks to it tells us what it 201 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:08,040 should look like. Yeah. 202 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:11,520 And then do you typically have multiple apartment units within 203 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:13,080 that building or is it just one or two? 204 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:16,200 OK. It doesn't pay for us. 205 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:19,040 It's not economic to take one or two units. 206 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:23,640 We try not to take less than generally 5 is the least, 207 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:27,480 usually 10 at least because of the minute of the ability to 208 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:32,200 service them in terms of any repairs or cleanings or any of 209 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:35,200 that. You need some mass to make it 210 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:38,960 anomic to do that. So we don't take a 1 here and a 211 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:42,960 one there. That's very, very rare, except 212 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:47,800 we have what we call FQ Select. There's always an exception to 213 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:52,280 everything, right? FQ Select is a collection of 214 00:12:52,680 --> 00:12:58,120 higher and luxury apartments. Luxury in terms of the buildings 215 00:12:58,120 --> 00:12:59,640 and maybe where they are located. 216 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:04,120 There may be on 5th Ave. or Park Ave. or they may be in Tribeca. 217 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:09,160 They are in high end buildings with white glove service. 218 00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:15,320 We furnished these units with high end furnishings and art. 219 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:22,000 And while we don't customize units to each individual, people 220 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:27,760 who take these FQ Select units usually give us some ideas of 221 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:31,200 what they would like to see. And if the unit's not already 222 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:33,960 furnished, then we're going to be furnishing it for them and 223 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:38,080 we'll consult with them just to get a feel of, you know, we show 224 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:41,600 them what we do and they're generally pretty happy with it. 225 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,880 So in those cases, we may just have one or two units in a 226 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:48,360 building, but that's not typical for us. 227 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:52,560 So then the other cases where you have like 5 to 10 maybe 228 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:57,680 units, do you come up with a plan specific for a unit within 229 00:13:57,680 --> 00:14:01,880 that building and then all 5 or 10 have that design we come up? 230 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:03,640 With a scheme. Yeah, OK. 231 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:08,720 Each even though we have let's say 10 units, they'll be broken 232 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:13,360 Cam between studios, 1 bedrooms and two bedrooms and even within 233 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:17,040 the one bedrooms or say let's say not all one bedrooms would 234 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,320 say they may have two or three lines. 235 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:22,920 So you come up with a scheme. This is the overall scheme of 236 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:26,640 what is going to look like the colors, the materials, etcetera. 237 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:28,880 And then we'll adjust it per apartment. 238 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,720 OK. And then you're mainly just 239 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:34,840 doing the furnishings right, not like changing any of the 240 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:37,320 finishes that already come with the apartment. 241 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:40,040 We. Can't change the finishes OK, 242 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:43,760 although I would love to sometimes, I really sometimes 243 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:48,240 don't like them. We are stuck with more, and we 244 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:50,560 take that into account before we take a building. 245 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:55,760 We generally would not go into a building where we intensely 246 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:58,080 dislike the finishes. I mean, sometimes you'd 247 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:00,720 compromise and you'd say, well, I'd rather have that white than 248 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:05,160 black or vice versa. But generally we're OK with the 249 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:08,760 finishes. Where it really becomes 250 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:14,760 problematic is how do you deal with things like wallpaper if 251 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,600 you want to use it. And we have been very fortunate 252 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:21,960 to discover a wallpaper that peels right off, doesn't take 253 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:27,120 the sheetrock off. And we use that quite a bit to 254 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:30,800 give some texture and warmth to our apartments. 255 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:34,240 One of the problems in doing corporate housing, and I'll use 256 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:39,800 that as a generic term for what we do, is you can't use in the 257 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:43,040 apartments some of those things you typically use for warmth. 258 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:45,960 For example, you can't put plants in the apartment, but 259 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:50,680 who's going to water them? Books tend to disappear, 260 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:54,760 unfortunately, and everybody wants to read something 261 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,000 different. So the one of the ways that 262 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,280 we've come up with in trying to create some warmth is to add a 263 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:05,440 wallpaper that brings a pattern and one that's brings warmth 264 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:09,920 into the room and some interest without being offensive to 265 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:12,200 anyone. Well, we do use that. 266 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:17,080 And traditionally we had also used accent walls to bring some 267 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:20,200 color and land into rooms, and we still do that. 268 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:22,400 Interesting. Yeah, I hadn't thought about. 269 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:26,840 That those are the problems of a corporate housing company or a 270 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,840 company that has people who only stay for 30 days. 271 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,240 I'd love to put plants and flowers and all that in, but 272 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:35,360 it's not practical. Right. 273 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:39,200 I have a terrible aversion to plastic plants. 274 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:43,560 Yeah, well, because then he's going to, I mean, first of all, 275 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:46,400 they don't look real, and then he's going to maintain that 276 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:48,160 dusty. Yeah, exactly. 277 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:51,240 Dust collectors. Yeah, yeah. 278 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:54,280 No, that's, that's a good point because a lot of those, the 279 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:57,560 plans and the books, those are like the homey finishing touches 280 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:00,720 that we'll typically do in a home where it doesn't feel quite 281 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:03,800 ready to move in until you get those things in there. 282 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:06,280 But without being able to do that, yeah. 283 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:12,119 But we do try to find other accessories like candlesticks or 284 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:17,960 bowls or things that add warmth and color and a sense of home. 285 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:20,359 It says that that's what you need. 286 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:25,119 OK, so we do add that. So you're pretty much an expert 287 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:28,680 on furnishings because that's basically what you have to focus 288 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,360 on is like bringing it all out with those furnishings because 289 00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:33,920 you can't really touch except for the wallpaper, but yeah. 290 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:38,360 And to do that, we do a good bit of travelling. 291 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:42,200 Stephen and I do. And when we travel, like we just 292 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,560 came back from Paris, what we like to do is walk the streets, 293 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:48,440 go into the design stores, go into the antique stores. 294 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:51,720 Not that we're necessarily buying anything, but just to get 295 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:55,960 a feel of what are the trends, what's out there in the 296 00:17:55,960 --> 00:18:00,920 marketplace, what are people turning to in terms of interior 297 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:04,320 design that we get a sense of what's happening in the market. 298 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:09,320 And we go to High Point, NC, which you may or may not know is 299 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:13,120 the center of the furniture industry in the US. 300 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:19,480 And twice a year they have the showrooms open and they have a 301 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:22,720 market. We used to go twice a year. 302 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:27,840 We now go once a year unless the need arises, and then we'll let 303 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:31,560 we go twice. As far as the economy and 304 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,800 everything that's been happening and coming through Covic, did 305 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:38,960 that affect your business a lot because people maybe weren't 306 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:41,240 traveling so much or? Yes. 307 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:47,320 And I think we are all on, if I may, tender hooks waiting to see 308 00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:50,960 what the effect of the towers is going to be. 309 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:54,560 I think we're in. I can't speak for Steve. 310 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:59,440 I'm anticipating A slowdown, people traveling less 311 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:03,040 individually. We've got a sense of a lot of 312 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:06,880 people in Europe, very anti American feelings developing, 313 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:09,040 but they don't want to come to this country. 314 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:11,640 Certainly Canadians are not coming to this country. 315 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:14,680 That's going to affect travel, particularly to New York. 316 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:22,160 I think companies are sitting on cash waiting to see what's going 317 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:24,520 to happen. Should they build a new factory? 318 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:26,400 Should they do this? Should they do that? 319 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:30,080 Should they take new offices and move people around? 320 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:34,160 I think it's going to impact all of everybody's business. 321 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:37,640 Now, whether that's permanent or just temporary, I don't think 322 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:42,560 anybody else, but I think we're all waiting to see what's going 323 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:46,320 to happen. Some of our vendors in North 324 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:50,560 Carolina have sent us notice saying they're raising their 325 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:54,720 prices because the tariffs, because most of them don't 326 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:58,920 manufacture in the US, although they have offices and warehouses 327 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:00,520 here, they don't manufacture here. 328 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:05,680 They manufacture either in the Far East or in Europe, mostly in 329 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:10,440 the Far East and they're adding 10 or 15%. 330 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:14,920 And during COVID it was worse because of the transportation 331 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:18,560 tie up. Most of our vendors added like 332 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:22,120 20% surcharge. To cover the increased cost of 333 00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:27,080 shipping, which made merchandise very, very, very expensive and 334 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:30,920 difficult for us. Yeah, in certain times, but it 335 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:34,360 seems like French quarters has been navigating it pretty well 336 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:36,200 so. Far so good. 337 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:41,120 I here I'd knock on it, but I, I think it's fair to say we're all 338 00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:44,720 concerned. We're watching the marketplace 339 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:49,920 to see what demand is and at the same time keeping tabs on what 340 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:55,240 our vendors are telling us. The next furniture market, which 341 00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:59,440 we're not planning to go to is in April, and I'm very anxious 342 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:03,160 to hear from some of the vendors that we're close to. 343 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:06,720 How many people attended market and how many people actually 344 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:11,880 placed orders or were people lookers and saying I'll let you 345 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:15,160 know I'm thinking about it and not ordering merchandise. 346 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:20,240 So we'll get a sense after this market what's happening in the 347 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:22,560 industry, but I'm nervous about it. 348 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:25,680 Yeah. So besides High Point, do you go 349 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:29,960 to the shows like in Milan and then Maison up J or anything 350 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,360 like that in Paris or? We used to do all of them. 351 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:36,960 OK. Maison is primarily an object 352 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:39,960 show and it's really not a furniture show. 353 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:44,240 Frankfurt's a primarily the tabletop show though we used to 354 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:49,160 go and it did some furniture. Milan is the one that I really 355 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:53,800 intrigues me and I really like. What happened is we stopped 356 00:21:53,800 --> 00:22:00,000 going because the dollar lira that now euro ratio got out of 357 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:02,520 whack. So things became so expensive 358 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:07,880 that they were not affordable. The dollar euro exchange rate 359 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:11,000 was improving in our favor. It was almost 1 to 1. 360 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:14,200 And Steven and I talked about, oh, well, maybe we should go 361 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:17,400 back to Italy. It's now one to one, except that 362 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:19,920 that rate is now falling full through the floor. 363 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:24,480 It's like $1.15 to 1. So it's become very expensive 364 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:27,440 again. That's a 15% increase when you 365 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:29,120 get to shipping or anything else. 366 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:33,760 So I'm not sure how much we're going to do now. 367 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:39,200 Most of a lot of the Italian companies we deal with show at 368 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:45,920 High Point, so we don't need to necessarily go to Milan to see 369 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,840 what the new introductions are. Then of course, there are a lot 370 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:52,640 of companies that don't show. And if I had, my job is, mind 371 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:56,080 you, not that I wouldn't like a trip to Italy, but who would 372 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:58,960 complain about that exactly? But it's. 373 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:03,160 I mean, I love going to Milan. The energy of that city, the 374 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:06,280 people who don't know what they think, It's not this disgusting, 375 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:08,520 ugly city. What do you like about it, 376 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:11,080 really? It's an incredible design city 377 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:13,760 with great energy behind the walls. 378 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:18,080 But I think we were looking to get back to going to Milan. 379 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:22,520 I'm just not sure it's feasible, again because of the euro dollar 380 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:24,480 exchange rate. Yeah, yeah. 381 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:27,400 Do you ever come out West to I'm? 382 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:30,720 I'm in California so I usually go to Las Vegas market. 383 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:36,840 We used to go to the Las Vegas market and what we found was it 384 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:43,400 was hardly worth it because 90% are making that number of the 385 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:47,480 vendors who show at the Vegas market show in High Point. 386 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:51,440 So we were seeing exactly the same vendors with the virtually 387 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:54,080 the same furnishings. They were dairy few 388 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:58,200 introductions in the biggest market, but the majority of new 389 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:02,880 introductions tend to be in the high port fall market. 390 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:07,560 But to be honest there have been very few new introductions in 391 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:11,280 the last few years. Most of the vendors got caught 392 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:15,040 literally with their pants down during COVID. 393 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:21,640 They brought furniture in with high shipping costs and then all 394 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:25,040 of that, the shipping costs went away and they were stuck with 395 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:27,600 this high-priced merchandise in their warehouse. 396 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,680 And fortunately at least one of the vendors that we had dealt 397 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:34,240 with for years went out of business because of what 398 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:37,800 happened to him with being stuck with high price inventory. 399 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:47,360 So we don't go to Vegas unless some of our vendors gave us a 400 00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:50,240 reason and said they were doing introductions there that they 401 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:52,360 were not bringing to the High Point market. 402 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:54,840 It really doesn't make sense for us to do that. 403 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:58,720 Yeah, that makes sense. So you said you like to get 404 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:01,640 inspiration. You did a trip to Paris recently 405 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:04,840 and just kind of visit those. What other ways do you get 406 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:08,280 inspiration for your designs? You know, I was thinking about 407 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:10,640 that because I was assuming you were going to ask me the 408 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,240 question and I was could say really inspiration comes from 409 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:18,480 anything and everything. Walking down the street seeing, 410 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:21,960 but we're in Miami and it's pretty sophisticated here and 411 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:25,920 you walk down the street and you see people well dressed and that 412 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:29,880 gives you inspiration. Fashion gives you inspiration. 413 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:33,000 Art. Steven and I, our favorite 414 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:37,280 things to do is to go to museums and to go to art galleries, not 415 00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:44,080 necessarily to buy, but to be inspired by colors or patterns. 416 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:50,880 When we were in Paris, we went to the LVMH gallery, which was 417 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:56,680 having a show about flowers. And I'm not particularly into 418 00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:59,360 flowers, that's just not my thing in art. 419 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,960 But it was terrific and it really was very inspiring and 420 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:08,880 made me rethink what I think about floral Wallpapers, prints 421 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:10,480 or stuff. It was terrific. 422 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:12,320 So you get inspired by everything. 423 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:15,600 I can't say. That it's any one thing and it 424 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:19,840 doesn't be a particular design thing. 425 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:25,000 Although I do thumb through the design magazines, I don't find I 426 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,680 really get much ideas. I do see what others are doing, 427 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:32,160 but I don't get any ideas from the ideas come from the street, 428 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,560 comes from fashion, comes from art, or any. 429 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:38,720 Because. Anything can be an inspiration. 430 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,120 A plate in a restaurant that's beautifully presented can be an 431 00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:47,840 inspiration for sure. I really, we were out the other 432 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:52,280 night in a new restaurant here in Miami and the food was so 433 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,600 beautifully arranged. I want you to take, I said to 434 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:56,120 see, let's take a picture of that. 435 00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:59,880 I like that color combinations and you know, you never know 436 00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:04,480 where inspiration comes from. You have to be open to it. 437 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:09,640 And I think I've learned that from all of the creative people 438 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:13,960 I've associated myself with, or I've been around people like 439 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:18,160 Benjamin Noriega Ortiz, and it really just be inspired by 440 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:21,720 whatever you see. It doesn't be piece of 441 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:24,360 furniture. Yeah, well, that's great advice. 442 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:28,720 So what else would you advise young and up and coming 443 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,360 designers who maybe are thinking they might want to get into the 444 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:35,080 hospitality area? Do you have advice for someone 445 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:38,040 who's considering this Ave. of design? 446 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:42,800 If you think that that's something you'd like to do, what 447 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:48,000 I strongly advise young friends and family members etcetera, get 448 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,440 an internship and they are available with well known 449 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:53,120 designers. No, you're not going to make a 450 00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:55,880 lot of money and if that's what you're looking to do, you're 451 00:27:55,880 --> 00:28:00,280 wasting your time. But you will get a sense A you 452 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:03,680 really like it, B if you have any talent for it, and C you'll 453 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:05,360 see what the business is really like. 454 00:28:05,360 --> 00:28:08,560 It's not just sitting down with little fabric swatches and 455 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:11,800 designing something. It's quite the opposite. 456 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:15,760 And you better develop your computer skills because more and 457 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:21,240 more designed to is being done using various computer programs. 458 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:25,000 And you really need to know that in order to get a job today. 459 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:29,800 And people that I have met, young people coming out of FIT, 460 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:34,280 and the other designs school all have had that background. 461 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:37,000 And you need it. You can't just get in it without 462 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,080 that talent. Even if you hate it, you need to 463 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:41,240 learn it. Do it. 464 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:44,200 Yeah. And practice it because that's 465 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:45,880 what's required. For sure. 466 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:47,400 Yeah. Well, that's great advice. 467 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:49,960 Thank you so much, Steve, for coming on today and sharing your 468 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:50,400 journey. It's. 469 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,520 Been a pleasure, thank you and if I can provide any more info 470 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:57,080 don't hesitate to call me. Yeah, I'll put your information 471 00:28:57,080 --> 00:28:59,280 in the show notes so people can reach out to you. 472 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:01,560 It's just really fun getting to know you today. 473 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:03,160 Stay here. Thank you. 474 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:04,480 Take care. Bye. 475 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:13,240 Bye. So I hope that sparked some 476 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:16,640 interest for you. Maybe that is an Ave. that you 477 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,760 could look into doing some interior design for. 478 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:21,760 There's something out there for everyone. 479 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:24,520 And you know what? I think it's so inspiring with 480 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:28,960 Steve's transition from his career as a an attorney into 481 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:32,200 being an interior designer. That just shows that anybody can 482 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:34,880 do it. And so don't be afraid of making 483 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,040 the switch. And if you need help with that, 484 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:40,080 I have a great program for you called My Design Mentor. 485 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,200 You can check out the links for that in the show notes. 486 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:46,600 But it's an online mentorship platform and anywhere in the 487 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:50,360 country you can meet with me and I can help you get your career 488 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:53,200 started the right way. All right, that's all I have for 489 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:55,000 you this week. Next week we'll have another 490 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:57,880 great episode and until then, stay creative. 491 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:02,560 Thanks for listening. If you love this episode, please 492 00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:05,320 leave a rating and a review. This helps me reach other 493 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:09,040 curious creatives like you. If you have a topic request or 494 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:12,320 would like to contact me, simply head over to my website 495 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:18,680 arworddesign.com or e-mail me at podcast at our War design.com.