We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ashley Wolf. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ashley below.

Ashley, 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?

A few years ago, I was working as a Paint Color Consultant at another company. We were hired by some clients who just moved to Seattle from San Francisco. They bought a large and beautiful historic home in the Queen Anne neighborhood, and were looking to refresh the entire interior with new paint colors. These clients were the first ones I’d worked with who wanted to color drench essentially every room in their home. Normally, the Interior Paint Color Consultations last up to 90 minutes, but their home was huge and their vision was complex. By the time the consultation was supposed to end, we had only made it through half of their home. I offered to stay for an additional hour at our designer’s hourly rate and they readily agreed. The energy was flowing and they had found their color palette’s rhythm, so we got back to work. After the consultation, I left feeling totally inspired.

Selecting paint colors for your home is a journey just like any other home improvement project. After a few months, those clients reached out again saying they were on their painter’s schedule and needed to finalize their selections. Would I come back out to help them finalize their selections and run through the whole home palette one more time? Throughout their paint sampling and color studies, they were close, but the colors we had looked at months ago needed some slight tweaking. I was back out at their home a few days later and we finished the selections, buzzing with excitement. The palette we created felt like magic incarnate. It was perfectly balanced with warm and cool tones, it had personality (even in the neutral spaces), and most importantly, the clients were wholeheartedly in love with it. It took the painting company almost 2 months to completely finish the project, and they did a fantastic job! Their work was meticulous and magnificent, and this home deserved nothing less.

On the technical side, I learned first-hand about color drenching, sheen usage, how different product types can alter a color, and just how important it is to invest in a painting company that cares about your project just as much as you do. On the personal side, these clients showed me what passion for color really looks like. I’ve always loved color, but it feels like prior to working with those clients, my love was just theoretical. I had never really experienced color like that before. This project was a game changer for me as a color consultant, and the jumping off point for a much brighter future! The dopamine that I felt from those consults stuck with me for days. Even now, years later, I think back to that house and those colors, and I feel alive again.

Ashley, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a Paint Color Consultant and trained Interior Designer in Seattle, WA. I earned my BA in Interior Design, and graduated in 2020. I have a background in photography, visual merchandising, and home staging. My whole life has been centered around spaces – whether it was taking pictures of landscapes, displaying retail items on shelves, or arranging furniture to help strangers envision that space as home.

In fall of 2024, I purchased a beautiful pink rain coat that happened to perfectly match the pink rain boots I had. I wore the two of them together as often as I could, especially out on paint color consults, and always received compliments on how well they matched each other and my personality. While debating business names, I kept coming back to choosing something that would help me stand out against the other firms in the design community, a name that was quintessentially me. Pink Coat Interiors is intended to create a sense of “home” by using an everyday functional element to evoke the feelings of comfort, protection, and love that we all crave. And just because it’s a necessary way to dress in the Pacific Northwest doesn’t mean it has to be lacking in personality!

Pink Coat Interiors is primarily focusing on helping clients expertly select interior and exterior paint colors for their homes. During a consult with me, you’ll find yourself heard and understood, even when you aren’t sure you’re making sense. You’ll receive real-time color solutions and tried-and-true sampling techniques to more accurately understand the colors you’re considering. After the consult is over, you’ll continue to receive support and re-selections down the road if needed. Choosing a paint color can be an exhausting and intimidating process, so I do everything I can to minimize that and make the selection experience feel easy and exciting! Clients respond really well to me leaving a line of communication open for them down the road if they need it. It reassures them that they aren’t in this journey alone, and that I will be there as a resource if something comes up. I would rather have clients reach out with questions or ask for re-selections than to proceed without confidence and end up regretting what they chose.

I’m most proud of the relationships I’ve built with clients after only being with them in person for such a short amount of time. When I started this business, I reached out to clients to let them know where to find me if questions popped up throughout their project, and literally every single one was more than happy to congratulate me, write testimonials, refer me to friends and family, offer advice from starting their own small business, etc. for me and my business! It never fails to make me emotional, and only further cements the feeling of just how impactful color can be when discussed with someone who cares deeply about it. After doing these consults for years, and meeting hundreds of people, the one thing I’ve observed time and time again is how strongly people just want to be validated. They want someone to genuinely say “yes, your ceiling would look incredible if painted yellow” or “go ahead, paint the whole living room blue-black” or “this green would look stunning in your kitchen”. A lot of folks think that they should follow trends and that if they want something different, it’s “wrong”. I show up and I tell them “design rules” don’t matter – what matters is how they want their home to feel! I help them achieve that vision.

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

I’ve been lucky enough to build and nurture relationships with several designers, painting companies, and clients in my area. I take color seriously, a fact evident within minutes of meeting me and why I get so many referrals. That kind of passion is becoming rarer these days as the need to satisfy and follow trends seems to be the norm. My goal is to introduce colors to clients that they’ll love for years to come, regardless of their current popularity. Developing this reputation is what continues to carry my business.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I usually only spend 60-90 minutes with clients in person so it’s important to make a strong, positive impression. I tell clients during every consult that our time together is not a one-and-done situation. Letting me, a stranger, come into their home, assess their personality, observe their living situation, and make design recommendations is a deeply intimate thing to do. I don’t take that opportunity lightly, and I do everything I can to make the client feel like they can be open and honest with me about what they’re looking for. I build trust by telling them my honest thoughts and by affirming that their ideas have value.

After the consultation ends, I follow up with their summary notes and reiterate I’m available if they need additional support throughout the remainder of their project. Regardless of what comes up, I leave my door open and always look forward to talking to them about color. By keeping our relationship supportive and available, it makes them feel more confident in their selections. That confidence is echoed when they allow me to come back out and photograph their home once their project is complete. This is my favorite way to celebrate the client’s success in choosing the paint colors for their home!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pinkcoatinteriors.com
• Instagram: @pinkcoatinteriors
• Facebook: Pink Coat Interiors

Image Credits

N/A – all taken by me!