We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chelsea Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Chelsea, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

After three years, I am finally on the homestretch of one of my most meaningful projects. It is a venture I believe a lot of designers would have passed on for a multitude of reasons. The goal was to renovate a farmhouse overlooking the Mississippi, about thirty minutes out of town. The property was originally purchased by the client’s grandfather in 1918 to escape the Spanish Flu and coincidently I was hired in February 2020 on the onsite of Covid. The home was in rough shape and had endured several additions throughout the years, which left the plan feeling disjointed, with varying ceiling heights and random steps to different floor levels. The intent was to create a virtual time capsule for their family to enjoy for years to come, so the clients wanted to reuse as much of their existing furnishings as possible, but most of it was archaic and in disarray. Not only was this a challenging project in scope and scale, but the clients also lived out of state, so most of the communication needed to be through email, because they were unable to travel.

We first gathered an inventory of the home’s furniture, artwork, rugs, and hosted walkthroughs with experts to help us refurbish the family’s heirlooms. We then packed up and organized their entire home into eight storage units. Simultaneously, we worked hand and hand with the architect to finalize the drawings for the renovation. The original home’s foundation and general layout would remain, but the ceilings and roof were raised, a two-story addition was added, and we played Tetris with the footprint to squeeze in extra bathrooms, closets, and reconfigure bedrooms to accommodate seven total guest suites. Then the fun part, where we began thrifting their collection to curate thoughtful room schemes that accentuated the pieces that had the richest history and would fit the new spaces properly. We used 90% of the existing pieces, and purchased under fifteen new pieces of furniture, so our before and after photos of this property are going to be truly remarkable – you will be able to recognize an item and a room and see how we upcycled it. We sourced new lighting, rugs, wallcoverings, fabric, etc. to complete the story and make the home feel authentic and reflective of the family history that had developed in that location for 100 years.

This project is my favorite for so many reasons; I learned so much during the refurbishment of this vast collection of heirlooms, but also developed lifelong relationships with every type of trade. I cherish the opportunity, trust, and scavenger hunt put on by the client, the collaboration on the plan set with the architect, Chris Henson at Tim Hollerbach Designs, and the hands-on restoration process with the builder, Period Restoration. The design team worked effortlessly on this project; every obstacle was handled with honest problem solving, and everyone worked together to work towards the same goal. I had my first child during this project, and in many ways this project has felt like my baby, so it really has unfolded like a true coming of age movie for me, and I will forever cherish this process, and the gratification it brought. I am also thankful for the lasting relationship I will have with this particular client.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

Design affects everything we do, how we feel, and how easily we move through life. It is in our home’s layout, the coffee machine we use every day, our clothing, the vehicle we drive, and the roads we drive on. The mood of your day is directly related to whether these things operate with ease or give you trouble, whether you feel calm or frustrated. Growing up, I moved frequently and had difficulties at home, so I would rearrange my bedroom to rejuvenate my soul and bring myself comfort. When I began driving, I questioned why someone would take the highway when they could take the scenic route. I knew early on that I wanted to show the World the view through my rose-colored glasses and use design as a form of therapy.

When it became time to apply to colleges, I only applied to Harrington College of Design in Chicago. I knew I wanted to be an interior designer as soon as possible and a specialty college would get me there quicker. I craved my independence and control over my own life, so I moved to Chicago and started college a month after graduating high school and went all year round. I ultimately graduated honors with my Bachelors of Fine Arts in Interior Design in less than three years. My plans took new direction the semester before I graduated, when my Mom passed away suddenly at forty years old. My three young siblings moved in with my grandparents in Chesterfield, so I decided to move back to St. Louis to help raise them. After receiving my diploma, I gained experience through many internships, working at a kitchen and bath firm, and with a couple of interior design focused designers.

I learned so much from those experiences and decided to set out on my own in 2016 at the age of twenty-three. Today, I still reflect on the same gut intentions that sparked my interest as a child. Our firm approaches every project by first getting to know our clients on a deeper level and ensuring their home reflects their family and how they intend to use the spaces. We want to cut out the unnecessaries and bring functional beauty into their lives. We do not feel successful unless our clients are ultimately enjoying a happier, easier lifestyle. We are in the industry of changing people’s lives firsthand by remodeling their personal spaces, their homes.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I am proud of the way that myself and my business are represented. I am known in the industry for my time management, attention to detail, and organization skills, my relationships with contractors and my construction knowledge. I know how I want it to look, how it is built, what materials are adequate, but also don’t pretend to be an expert at everything – I lean on my trades and expect to learn something new every day. Also, I don’t force my aesthetic on my clients, but instead help them discover their unique style, and give them the skills to continue designing after I am gone. I like to leave some breathing room for my clients to purchase items on their travels, to replace the pictures in the frames, and allow their design to evolve with their changing lives. My reputation remains intact, because I put tremendous pressure on myself to be consistently detailed, strong, and present. I am not on this journey to capitalize or become a millionaire, I am here to point my wand and make magic happen for everyone who wants a piece of it.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

For the first five years in business, I found a way to balance many small to medium projects as I developed my portfolio and family of installers. I set out to make the design process enjoyable and as effortless as possible, making each of my clients feel like they were the main priority. In the past few years, my workload exploded, I built a new studio space, created an in-house workroom, hired employees, and had my first child. At the same time, in the wake of Covid, the home industry was enduring a hurricane of product stock issues, labor shortages, and a large audience of renovators. And don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for so many opportunities, but I quickly realized that the objective in which my business was structured, and the goal to design with intent was falling by the wayside. I found myself spread too thin; trying to please too many clients with rushed timelines, which led to less thoughtful decision making. My larger project load began experiencing delays, project scopes grew, and the planning I was so proud of, was not as predictable as it once was.

While I was acclimating to the growing pains of my business, I was also trying to prioritize being a new mom. I tried juggling both of my babies for a while, until I realized that I wasn’t allowing myself to experience the lifestyle I was preaching. I needed to find balance! I needed to turn this growing pain into a gain. So, I reflected on my original resurrection, the roots that grew this company that I am so proud of – we needed to slow down so we could provide the thoughtful, curated, and purposeful design we are known for. While I really want to help everyone who asks, and it pains me to say no, I can no longer take on clients that want to rush through decisions; I need to save my time for the clientele who wants to design with integrity, refurbish something that once was, or build something of heirloom quality. I must adjust my demographic so I can be the best designer I can be for my clients, so I can offer the view through my rose colored glasses that motivated me to take this path in the first place.

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Image Credits
Interiors: Alise O’Brien Photography Portrait: Emily Rose Studios