We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful John & Elise McDermott. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with John & Elise below.

John & Elise, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

We’ve lived in Austin for over 15 years and during this time we’ve witnessed the incredible transformation this city has gone through. Along with this transformation came an abrupt change in the housing market. Putting it just out of reach for most people, including us. So, we decided to buy a fixer-upper. We thought it would be just like TV. We could remodel the whole house in 12 weeks and have it ready before our move-in date. We ripped out the kitchen on day one of owning our first house. We ended up moving into it 12 weeks later, still without a kitchen. We got really good at cooking on a camp-stove. It took us three years to fully remodel the house. We learned a lot and loved the experience. And in the end we were able to repurpose an old house into our perfect home. Everyone should know that feeling. The feeling of being lost in a space that is uniquely yours. Interior Design can help with that and it should not be just for the rich. Our goal is to make it approachable and less intimidating to help people curate the perfect space that fits into a budget they are comfortable with.

John & Elise, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

From our about page on our website:

Adrienne Kane Studio is an Austin-based interior design studio founded by husband-and-wife team, John and Elise McDermott.

Our goal is to help our clients create lovable, livable spaces that reflect their unique personalities. We find immense joy in breathing new life into vintage spaces. If we could, we would save every old house. But we also love adding character to new builds, taking them from builder-grade to tailor-made. Our style seamlessly blends modern and classic design elements, with unexpected vintage details that add character and charm to every project.

Whether you’re a first-time homeowner or you’ve settled into your forever home, Adrienne Kane Studio is dedicated to creating a space that is uniquely yours.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Good design is subjective. Just because we like certain styles, color palettes and decor does not mean everyone will. We’ve put together designs in the past that have not excited our clients as much as we had hoped. Because of that we take the time up front to understand our clients personalities and lifestyle to better create a space that they’ll love and use.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

This is currently our side hustle! We believe our experience in our careers to date will help us turn this side hustle into a full time business.

From our about us on our website:

As a former labor & delivery nurse, Elise is all about new beginnings. She followed up her years in the hospital with behind-the-scenes work in nursing education and regulation—all while taking multiple homes down to the studs and building them into something new.

After years of holding hands in the hospital, Elise is ready to hold your hand through the design process. 😉 She brings a creative and resourceful approach to interiors, finding innovative ways to maximize the potential of each space. Her personal style blends timeless design with whimsical vintage
elements for pops of character.

With over 15 years of experience in software project management and leadership roles, John has the organizational chops to keep your project on track. He has also trained as an architectural draftsman, so he can create clear project drawings to help guide your general contractor.

John draws inspiration from many design styles, but he particularly enjoys modern twists on classic design aesthetics like Mid-Century Modern and Modern Victorian. This fusion of new and timeless elements adds a touch of sophistication to his projects.

Contact Info:

• Website: adriennekanestudio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adriennekanestudio?igsh=MWVrZTd6MGVlZG13Zg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Image Credits
Tico Mendoza https://www.ticomendozastudios.com/