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Creating a design concept for a kitchen or remodeling an outdated bathroom requires an understanding of the products and services available to those looking to undertake such a project. The ProSource Podcast breaks down the home remodeling industry and highlights the merchandise and experience that it requires to achieve your vision. Join ProSource Director of Digital Marketing Content Kevin Devine, as he speaks with those who facilitate the ideal project and offer valuable information for how to choose the ideal products and services that transform your ideas into reality.
Hi, everybody.
Welcome back to The ProSource Podcast,
where I sit down with industry experts,
brands and trade professionals
within the home improvement space.
Today
I am joined by one of our very own trade
pro members from ProSource of Clearlake,
Laurie Vaughn.
She is the owner of Interiors by Design.
Welcome to the podcast, Lori.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
Thank you for having me.
I'm glad to be here.
And today I just want to learn
a little bit about you, your business,
how you got started in this industry
that's ever
changing and ever evolving, I feel like.
So what first drew you into the world
of interior design and remodeling?
When did that first step start?
I have a, college
degree in interior design.
I went to Steven F Austin State University
in, Nacogdoches, Texas,
and I started, actually,
I started wanting to do fashion design.
My love is fabric.
And so that's kind of what started
it all is
I've sewn my own clothes
since I was a very young child.
I made clothes for my dolls.
I made pillows, bedding,
you know, all of that as I was growing up.
And so that was kind of okay,
what direction do I go with that?
And when I got to, school,
one of my big things was,
I didn't want to be, well, I
wanted to have a social life and interact
with other people and everything.
So I was really not wanting to be
in the home economics department,
so I switched to interior design
because I could take a business minor.
So I got to be on all sides of campus
instead of just in the home
economics department.
So you're actually
you're not the first person
or the first trade pro I, I've talked to
that said they started in like fashion
and then worked their way into interior
design.
I feel like that happens commonly.
I didn't realize how common
maybe that track was.
To switch over.
I but I know there's a lot
of very close things that you take.
I mean, I did take a lot of classes
that fashion design people took as well.
But I think my
biggest thing was wanting to be able
to own my own business
and do more than just, like, draw things
or, work at a retail establishment.
So that was kind of it
with the business minor,
I was able to
to kind of go in that direction so
I can still be creative, I'm sure,
to correct your hitting that creative.
Yes. Need
that you're probably looking for to
and I feel like fashion and,
you know, remodeling a home,
although they are very different
practices, there's the creative elements,
the design elements that flow between each
are kind of the same principles.
I feel like you want something
that's cohesive.
You want something that feels like
your own personal style, isn't it?
So I think it's one of the things,
one of
the things I think I'm most proud of,
with working and working with my clients
is I do, I try really hard to get them
to imprint themselves in the design,
as well as me.
You know, I can
I can do anything, you know, for someone.
But when they interact with me
and I can get them to, to,
put their imprint on it, it's
so much better
than if I just came in and cookie cutter
it, you know, and put it in.
So that's I do I try and say, you know,
to each client, your home is you.
Let's make it what you want it to be.
It doesn't have to look like something on
TV or, you know, in a magazine.
It can it can be made for you.
Do you feel that your clients
are very excited when they hear
that direction that you want to go into?
Of the close collaboration
and trying to get,
you know, them
to kind of imprint their own style and
feel and personal touch to their space,
I think.
So they, I mean, I do have some who say,
I don't have a creative bone in my body.
You know, we need and they might need
more guidance to pull it out.
But I have found most
everybody will have a what I call a given.
And it's something
that means a lot to them.
Or, you know, it might be a chair.
It might be a fabric
or a quilt or a picture,
but there's usually something
that somebody likes
and I can use that then to create the room
and the design and work with them and say,
say you had this, you
just didn't know it.
Yeah, I know that.
That's very cool.
And we're kind of getting ahead
of, ourselves here.
I wanted to I wanted to learn about
how you started your company.
Like, what did that process look like?
Was it easy?
Well, I'm sure it wasn't easy, but, like,
what were some of those obstacles
you had to jump over to get to the place
you're at now?
I'm interested to hear about that.
So I started out working for other people.
Obviously, design is very hard.
There's a lot of,
different ways you can go.
So you can go, architectural
and work for architectural firms,
and you tend to start out very,
design graphic
graphics, drawings and things like that.
So and that was not my interest at all,
like I said, fabric
and those kinds of things,
being part of the creative part
was, was really my interest.
So I started with firm
with interior design firms.
And there's many different ways.
There's ones that are huge
that have a lot of designers.
And, and I've always
worked for rather small,
firms when I first got started.
So that kind of gave me my background,
and I learned from the other designers
that were there.
And so I did that for several years.
And then,
I actually went through a divorce
and came back to Texas.
I'd been away from Texas, and I came back
and I was like, you know what?
I don't want to work for anybody anymore.
Yeah, mainly because you give so much
of your money to them when it's when
in my mind, it's all of my creative juices
that are going into it, you know?
So, it was slow.
Design. Interior design.
Really, like a lot of sales,
companies, it's word of mouth.
It's one person saying, oh, I use Lori.
She was great.
She mentioned my bedroom.
I used interiors by design.
I they did my kitchen,
you know, they did so well.
And I was so appreciative of all the work
they did.
So it's, it's just one person
telling the next person and so on.
And so I started out very small
and I've just I've stayed small.
One of the big things I learned
working for other designers
was they tended to grow too large,
too fast.
Yeah.
And I was like, quality over quantity.
Correct. Take, take the lesson.
See it.
And and I've had, I've had in fact
my own son has like, just hire
some more designers, just, you know,
you can grow, you can make it bigger.
And that's just never interested me.
Number one, I'm I am kind of a control
freak, so I like, like, I like my clients.
I like having control over
what's going on.
You like to see the whole
the whole process.
Yeah.
Yes. And so, I've just stayed small.
I've just learned
we we do have a cash flow.
You know, it's hard.
We pay for a lot of things upfront.
Before the job even starts.
You're paying for materials
and products and things.
So you have a kind of a little bit
of a cash flow issue.
And so you, you know, once, once you start
to have more than one client, you,
that that kind of, balances itself out.
But that's always been
the biggest issue is when you grow
too fast,
then the cash flow becomes the problem.
And I've had I've had let's see,
I can count three of the companies
I work for
that are no longer in business, so.
Oh, wow.
Yeah. No. Yeah.
I feel like that probably is a big problem
as people just getting
in over their head with clients
and not having the resources.
So then the quality drops.
Whereas if someone's working with you,
then that's very special to not just them,
but you as well.
You're going to be able to dedicate
more of your time to them and
yes, make their space
look even better than probably
someone that has way too many clients,
to work with you.
So, so I try to be very, you know,
what do you call it?
I try to stay focused on what
the need of the client is.
One of the other things
that I try really hard to.
And this was hard.
When you first get started, you have to
have people to do the work for you.
So, like a painter, a person who is.
So is your draperies and your pillows and
does the real upholstery and all of that.
So that all takes time to get grow
those relationships
and to have those people behind you.
I think that that's what sells
interiors by design
a lot is I tell people I've been
with most of my people for very long time,
at least ten years.
So when they're coming in the door, it's
someone I know
I've vetted, I've worked with.
That doesn't guarantee
100% perfect.
Some things are things
you cannot control, right?
Right.
And design is definitely one of those.
When you get into something,
you know, remodeling and homes and stuff.
I mean, there's all kinds of issues
that can arise.
So but I feel like that
gives comfort to people,
you know, these are people I know.
These are people I feel comfortable coming
into your home, into your family's life.
Because we are we're there.
You know, if we do a remodel of a bathroom
or a kitchen,
we may be there for 4 to 6 weeks
or longer.
Just depends.
You know what the project is.
So that's a long time to have people
coming and going from your house.
So we like to be, friendly and.
No, I completely agree.
And I was looking on your website prior
to this podcast.
You do have a lot of great reviews,
for your business as well.
When it comes to building
that trust and rapport
you talked about, you know,
not having too many clients is one thing.
Having a network of either other pros or,
other people that you work
with to execute those designs,
I feel like helps them,
makes make them feel comfortable.
But when it comes to like the process
of them actually starting the remodel
and then going through that, oh,
it is going to be 4 to 6 weeks probably.
Some people don't think it's going to
take that long, or maybe they think it
takes longer, that they just have no idea.
What is your, how do you help them?
Like, narrow down their ideas
and make them feel confident
about starting the remodeling process?
Prioritizing number one.
So when I first meet with them,
that's what we do.
We sit down, we talk through the project,
and we work through
what their likes, dislikes,
what their expectations are.
And just kind of get to a priority list,
what we're going to focus on
for the next couple of weeks
before we start the project.
It's hard because there is
HGTV, you know,
there's all the home channels on TV.
And, we talk about it at ProSource
all the time with my, my rep there.
My account rep.
Bridget, we we talk about it all the time
that people have
sometimes very unrealistic expectations
of how the job is going to go.
So, you know, that's part of explaining
when you start
with them and work with them.
I have
had various clients that know nothing,
and I've had clients
who have definitely done it before
and have had the knowledge of
of what's going to happen.
You know, it is it's
just a process of explaining as you go.
And that's what I try really hard to do.
It's why a lot of times
I tell people why, why would you have
an interior designer on this job?
It's it's for that.
It's to help them through each phase
as you go through it.
To understand, I'm pretty much a liaison
between the workers and the client
and ProSource, as far as, like,
I make sure everything's scheduled,
I make sure everything gets from ProSource
to the job site, you know, so
the people have to understand
how all that's happening.
Some people
do it well and some people don't.
And sometimes I don't do so
well if I know.
Yeah, I get if it gets busy
and I might forget.
Oh my gosh, I should have told them
that was happening this week and I forgot.
Yeah. No.
But that's like
I mean, everyone's human, right.
And I think with any creative process,
whether it's
we were talking about fashion, I'm sure
this happens in the fashion world too.
Like anything
creative things can change so rapidly.
And then you also get to think
of the technical parts of it, shipping
and freight, you know, like
bringing outside materials into a project.
Sometimes there's shipping delays.
So I agree with you.
I think being upfront about it
in the beginning, like, hey, this is
maybe a tentative schedule, but,
you know, things could happen.
This could shift.
That way you're laying out
that expectation for them before
they're like frantically
freaking out about it a lot of times,
you know, depending on how old the house
is, that whatever we're working on,
you know, we
open up those walls and it's like, oops.
Wow. Okay.
You know, I'm like a surprise.
I know bathrooms are notorious.
We find leaks, we find that
they've been leaking for a long time,
you know, and so then wood is rotted
and wood is damaged.
So you've got to do a little bit more.
We try to be very transparent
from the beginning.
I like my clients, you know, to question.
I like them to speak up and say, well,
I didn't understand that. Art.
Tell me again. Yeah.
Because I have found in working
because I've been in in fact, next year,
Interiors by Design will be 30 years old.
I try and tell them and try and be
very transparent from the beginning.
Okay? You know,
this is what our costs are.
I may get a proposal, a turnkey proposal
with materials and everything.
And I try to be very upfront and say,
you know, this is how it's supposed to go.
There's there's ways we're going to try
and make it go this way.
But as soon as we open up a wall,
if there's a leak there, you know,
we obviously you have to take care of that
issue before you can move, move forward.
So I try to be very open with them
and we stop whatever we're doing.
We talk to people
and tell them this has happened.
You know, this is how we usually come up
with a solution is the best thing.
Now I remember where I was going with
that is
I have learned over the 30 years,
if you try and hide something
from them or not,
tell them and just go to comes back.
Fights. Yeah.
Fights back.
So I usually try and say, you know, I'm
sorry this happened.
This is this is where we are.
We have a leak.
We have to get get that taken care of.
And most everybody
when you I think people are,
are very
appreciative when you're upfront and,
don't try to cover anything up or saying
because then they can trust you
and and they can
they feel like you're on their side.
So I just. Yeah.
It's never worked to not not tell people.
Yeah.
What's going
on, including, like, you know, shipping.
Nope. Yeah. Your child didn't come today.
It's not coming till next week.
You know, all those things
just be upfront with them.
And that's the best policy. Certainly.
And so if someone's
thinking about doing a remodel and
before they even reach out to you
or any trade pro,
do you have any tips or suggestions
to homeowners or anyone,
maybe even in the commercial space too,
that they should
maybe check off mentally before
even inquiring about remodeling a space?
Absolutely.
Just looking around,
what is it you want to do?
Like if you're just take, for instance,
a kitchen remodel.
We want to gut our kitchen.
Have you looked at cabinets?
Have you gone out
and looked at the possibilities?
Do I want wood color? Do I want painted?
What kind of countertops?
There's different, you know, there's tons
of different kinds of, fabrications now,
you know, do I want a tile backsplash?
Do I want, you know, there's,
you know, what do I want?
It is so much harder for me
to come in when somebody says, well,
I don't know what I want.
I just know I want different.
It's so hard to figure that out.
Yeah,
that can mean so many things. It can.
And our world is full of choices.
yeah, I can't remember how many.
There are appraisers, just cabinets alone.
I think there's 5 or 6
different categories,
you know, of comments
on, levels and brands and types of it.
Yeah.
And then within that you have,
you know, wood or stained or whatever,
and then you have, oh door friends.
Oh, there's 15 different kinds, you know.
So it's, it's, it is
if people can go out and at least,
you know,
Pinterest is a great tool.
Yes. Pinterest house, all those
actually now you can, you can Google
a lot of things and all of that comes up.
Pinterest will come up
and everything will start coming up.
So you can just say Google
kitchen cabinets
and all those little things will come up.
So yes, if you can make yourself aware
of what's out there
and it kind of helps in the desert.
And gets you started
and get you thinking if you don't
I mean as an interior designer
I know I've also done that for people
so that if they haven't had
the opportunity or they're not real sure
I will go on Pinterest
or I will go to, you know, pro sauce
and get their catalog, you know, and say,
okay, these are some of your choices.
And I can
I mean, that's part of what I do as well.
It's just a little bit better
if you have more of a,
an idea of the direction you want to go.
That's like the funnest part for me.
I'm not even remodeling anything.
And I like doing that just just for fun,
you know, just going to people.
Do some people love it?
I know I have others that don't.
Yeah. No.
Know I like lay ahead of I'm like in 2040.
This is how I want my kitchen
to look when I get to that point.
So it's interesting.
Some people just do not think about that.
Is there a recent project that you've done
or one that you're working
on, maybe even.
Right now that stands out to you?
That's your favorites?
There's a couple I did,
one that was a kitchen remodel,
and we and I had come up
with the idea of adding beams,
and it had a big, huge vaulted ceiling,
and it was just like this
blank, blank walls.
And then it had kind of a half
moon window. And,
we came in and we added beams and we redid
countertops back, you know, everything.
And, it just came out.
It just came out as expected,
which of course doesn't always happen.
And it was just
it was really, really pretty.
Client was totally happy. And,
it just was a fun job that worked.
You know, the client was fun to work with.
All the guys that were working on
the job were fun.
And so it ended up
it ended up really good.
Another one
I did, I did a very interesting, we took,
I think it was a closet under a stairs.
And we turned it into a wine bar,
and that it was it's fun.
It was.
We did black and white and gold tiles.
That from ProSource,
with, I don't remember where
we got the wine cabinets from, but,
anyway, it just it was just a font.
It wasn't like a big, huge job,
but it was just fun,
just something different.
And we used really unique materials on it.
So it just ended up being really love
and the client fun.
And I've worked with them again
since then, so that's so cool.
Always.
Was that your first project with them?
In that house?
I had worked with them
in a couple of other houses.
And that it was the first project
we did in that particular house.
Yeah, yeah.
I imagine
that kind of job is really fun for you,
because it's not like you get to do that
all the time, probably.
Usually it's like a bathroom
or a full kitchen,
but something like that,
specifically underneath the stairs.
Turning a closet into a completely
different space sounds really exciting.
I love that because it was so unique.
It was unique to their house and they just
they went with it.
When we first started planning, we had
kind of just some small, you know, just
small ideas, I would say.
And they just grew
and they became huge and more unique.
And it's wonderful. Yeah, yeah.
And those
are the those are the fun little projects
that you can do
sometimes the big projects you get. So,
bogged down with, choices and selections
and tile and tile and more tile,
you know, it's, it's fun to just,
have a little time
to to do something unique and small.
Do you find that
those specific niche projects,
challenge you at all,
or do you just feel really confident,
open with them,
or is there kind of a balance?
Kind of a balance?
I would I mean, it was challenging
in that we were using,
we were using a
tile that had metal and tile.
So that's always a challenge
when you're cutting
and the actual process of putting it in.
It was one of the first times we had
we had my lease,
my tile guy had had done that material,
so that was challenging.
I think those though you get
I get so excited about it
that it's not stressful, very motivated.
And yes, because you're excited,
you're you're moving,
it's creative and you're like, oh,
I want to see this next.
Come on, hurry up.
Put the tile in,
where some of the other ones are so done
by rote, you know, that it's a shower
or put in the tile
and or put in a niche and, you know,
so those get done
every single time we do a shower.
So it's.
Yeah, it's it's a little bit
it gets you out of that rut of doing
the showers and the kitchen countertops
and that switches, you know, to,
to do something unique like that.
Are there any current trends or,
designs
right now that you are really loving
that are maybe trendy, that you don't know
if they're going to be here
in a few years?
But for right now, you're
just really gravitating towards them.
I try not to be too trendy.
I do try to be unique.
I like to be creative and unique,
but not too, too trendy
because,
you know, like colors change periodically.
Those are a little bit
easier to work with.
I'm trying to think if there's anything,
that, you know, tile
size is the thing
that has driven me crazy.
Because when I first started
and design, tiles were
we were just moving into the 12 by 12,
that was like the big thing,
like when the houses were being built
12 by 12.
And then I've been like,
I said, 30 years now, the tiles,
I mean, they've gone from 12
by 12 to 18 by 18 to 12 by 24 hours.
And now we have 24 by 24 and 30 by 60.
Yeah. So that's,
that even for hardwood, too.
I feel like the planks have
just been getting larger and larger,
longer and longer.
So that's where I say
do what you want to do.
Yeah. There's no wrong way. Love it.
Go for it.
You know, we'll figure out a way
to install it and get it done.
But don't, you know,
think you have to have that?
I mean, tile is one of the things
that's the most durable over the years.
Like, people always ask me, what
what can I put in
that's going to stay nice looking?
The longest tile is one of those.
And, you know, so it's hard
it's hard for us to rip it out
when somebody says, well, it's a 12 by 12,
we've got to have by 20 fours
or we've got to have this like,
oh, are you sure you want to rip it out?
And that's, that's
one of the hardest things because people
see trendy and see, you know,
this is what's being sold.
This is what's in the stores.
And then they think
that when they go home that there's
this wrong and it's not really wrong.
It's just we've changed.
We've updated.
Yeah, yeah.
And you kind of want to stay timeless too,
right?
Because you're making a huge investment.
Absolutely.
So so it's I agree
with the being careful with the trends.
You want to look at the long term.
say one of the is,
you know, one of the things which
you know,
the smaller things like a backsplash or.
Yeah, paint or something like that,
those smaller things be trendy,
do whatever you want, you know, have fun
with those because they they're not huge.
But like with your kitchen cabinets,
time list is important. Yes.
And you. Yeah.
And you can always accessorize
those countertops with, you know,
different plans or,
anything to just add a little color.
If you're wanting to experiment
with the trends right
to your your space,
that's really easy to change it out.
But I feel like our
conversation
today has been great for especially,
you know, other trade pros
that are looking to be in a position
of a designer of a designer
owned business for 30 years.
I'm sure that's many people's goals.
But also homeowners that are wondering
their next steps on like,
okay, I want to remodel my space,
but it seems very overwhelming.
This episode,
I feel like would serve them greatly.
So I appreciate you giving some of
the background insights from what you do,
because it probably helps them
feel a little bit easier
with moving into that process.
Before we get off,
I have a couple more questions.
I wanted you I wanted to know a little bit
about your collaboration
with the resource of Clearlake
and how did you first get,
you know, get involved
into that partnership with them, or
how long have you been with the resource?
It's been a very long time.
I want to say at least 15 years. Maybe.
Maybe maybe longer.
I started with them because I did.
My my business has changed over time.
I did start out at the beginning
doing a lot of,
fabric, re upholstery, draperies,
because that was my love.
And had a painter,
you know, de la painting and wallpapering
hadn't done that much remodeling and then,
as the need arose, I kind of changed
and progressed, grew myself,
and I was like, okay, we can try it.
So then we got into doing countertops
and back splashes,
and flooring, a little bit of flooring.
And so I needed a source.
And so I think it was a, a builder,
who pointed me
towards ProSource and said, go try.
There they have
they have a lot of everything.
And I was like, what do you mean?
And he said, oh, you know, they have
they have you can buy different brands
all from in the one place.
I was like, oh, okay.
So that's kind of what started me
is my client
kind of client
drove me to need these things.
And I will tell you, that's been my main,
main source since then is I can
I can bring a client and we can pull
together a whole kitchen in one place.
I don't have to go to store after store
after store.
It's one spot.
And they have
they have always worked with me
because my clientele is, I have some
that don't want to spend any money
and have some that want to spend a lot.
So they have those varying
price ranges and quality.
And, you know,
I can show the client when I'm there.
This is the difference.
This is, you know, this is a high
end carpet and this is a low end carpet.
And this is in the middle, you know,
and these are the things we can do.
Which do you prefer. This is the price.
It just it really that's how it's grown.
And I just even as my account
reps have changed which I have,
have Bridget says now what what
how many of you. Hardly.
You know,
I can't tell you how many
I've been through, but,
I've stayed because of that source.
It's a it's great
for me to be able to bring my client there
and have them see
all those different lines in one place.
It's it's just priceless to me.
It saves my feet from having to go to
all those different places and look. So.
That is. That is awesome.
Thank you for sharing all that.
I like to always ask, just so I have
I have a lot of different trade press
that come on here and or a few and,
you know, it ranges from, oh,
I've been with ProSource
for a year or two,
but then I also talk to people
in your position
that have been in the industry
for a longer time,
and their partnership with ProSource
has been even longer.
So that's really impressive
and cool to hear.
I can add that one of the things to that,
I said it earlier,
you know, when you have to bring people
into people's houses
and having them vetted, and then that's
another thing with pro sources,
I have that relationship developed.
So when an issue does arise,
I really feel like they have my back,
where if you're if you've only been
with someone a year or six months
or whatever, you don't have that loyalty,
you don't have that trust developed.
So that's another. Exactly.
Yeah. No, that's that's a great point.
And we talked about
the beginning of the episode,
that you've debated maybe
maybe you didn't debate this,
but you said I think your son was like,
you know,
you can get bigger and hire more designers
and you can make it a full, like,
huge business, but you've kind of lagged
where where you're at here and you feel
kind of content with where you're at.
Are there any goals or future plans
that you have to
change your business at all,
or do you do you see anything, I guess
affecting the way you run your business
in the next 5 to 10 years?
Looking ahead, I think the only thing
like something that happened
this summer is we ended up having
three projects running at the same time,
and that was really,
really difficult for my team, for me, for,
you know, everything that was going on.
So I think going forward,
we learned a big lesson, you know?
Yeah, it's great to have the business,
but maybe, you know, it's
it has its own set of problems.
Yeah.
So I think we'll, you know, in the future
as we go forward, really focusing on
what our, our goal is, which is to treat
each client independently and well.
So I think that's going forward
that that's what we want to continue to do
is, is focus on each job and,
and maybe slow down a little bit.
We're done.
I'll have to happen at the same time.
Yeah.
That that just
it was just the product arrived at a time
and clients don't like waiting
and so it it ended up being okay.
But that was the thing that it was just
really, really hard.
You don't feel like you're
giving your client the,
Just the time, you know, like that,
you know, the big the full picture.
Thank you.
That's the word
to give them the attention.
So I do
I like to do I, you know, perfect for me
is a big job with 2 or 3 small jobs going.
So that's kind of where we are right now.
And that's that.
I feel like I can give my clients
the attention
they need with with staying that.
So that's the goal to keep them happy and,
keep having the next one.
That's awesome.
Thank you so much for your time today.
Thank you.
And I'm so glad we finally got to do it.
Thank you for joining us today
on The ProSource Podcast.
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