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

Nicole, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I knew that I had a love for interior design at a young age. Starting around middle school I had an obsession with rearranging my room and my parent’s log cabin magazines. I discovered the Sims game (hello dial up internet and AIM) and would spend hours recreating the floor plans from the cabin magazines on the game. Would I also create and marry my crush on the game in said house? Absolutely.

My biological mother had serious health and addiction issues and developed a hoarding disorder. She would frequent the ER and it was a normal occurrence for emergency teams to come pick her up after falling in our home. I learned the importance of keeping a home safe and maneuverable during this time. Having a piled up and untidy home also had a huge impact on our mental health. The typical American spends around 90% of their life indoors. I just knew that I could somehow help myself and others create health and happy spaces that they would want to inhabit.

I took this pretty seriously and enrolled in many art classes in high school and was accepted early to Virginia Commonwealth University’s art program. I worked hard and am so thankful that I get to help others everyday!

Nicole, 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?

I knew from a young age that I wanted to become an interior designer. I took a year off to volunteer in Japan after receiving my Interior Design degree then found my way into working with a few Architecture firms on multifamily housing design.

I always kind of had it in my mind that I would work for myself and decided to take the leap in 2017. I wanted to dive more into residential design and to really get to know my clients. I am a nerd for organization and for problem solving. I really believe that design improves lives and can make us all more productive and relaxed.

We have been honing our services and I strive to make our process streamlined and as helpful as possible. After recently having children I realized that I wanted to take on less but to have more impact. Out of this came our new design kit experience. We take pain points/spaces and really deep dive into a solution for them in six to eight weeks. It includes measuring and modeling the space in 3D, complete design boards, selections, and construction documents (if needed). By the end of the eight weeks, you have everything you need to hand off to your contractor or get purchasing!

I am most proud of being able to be myself and down to earth. I am at a point in my life where I want to spend time with my family and most likely have some sort of daycare gunk from my kids. I love what I do and I love connecting with others and helping them improve their life through their space!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

As a business owner you are inundated with “how to grow your business” tactics everywhere you look. In the design and social media world there is so much to compare yourself to and fomo. I’ve had to unlearn that growth doesn’t always mean the size of your project or social media following.

At this point in my life I don’t want to have the big team or “luxury home” client necessarily. I like having a small team that allows me to be more hands on. I like spending more time with my kids and clients. I am growing and learning everyday and there will always be time to expand if that is what calls my heart in the future.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

To support creatives in this day and age I think it’s important to bring up AI and the impact that is having. We are just at the tip of the iceberg and it seems as though it has already started to take over the design world. It is a wonderful tool, but hire your local artist and designer to do that work. There is so much more that goes into art and interior design than the final look and we have years of experience and learned lessons to share!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nicolerutledge.com/
• Instagram: @nicolerutledgedesign

Image Credits

Mindie Ballard
Kate Thompson