I'm psyched to officially be a part of Homepolish! Even though I am an independent contractor, I've just recently become part of the HP network of designers. #squadgoals acheived! I'm now lucky enough to have some new super talented colleagues to share the design experience with. And, if all goes according to plan, some new clients as well!
If you haven't heard of Homepolish, get your tushy over to their website stat. They're amazing. No, actually. They are phenomenal. They offer hourly interior design services from 700+ highly vetted designers In 15 cities. Their business model is genius. You can purchase design hours at $130/hr with a minimum of 10 hours, going up in increments of 5. This is extremely reasonable for the level of talent and services they're providing you with. They recently also rolled out a one-day in-home design package in which a designer comes to your home for three hours and whips up a little Homepolish Magic. Whether it's some speed shopping, bookshelf styling or some good intra-net sourcing, it's a great way for newbie clients to cut their teeth on the process and feel less intimidated (and broke!) by it all. Most come back wanting more, and then some.
What I really appreciate about Homepolish though is that they advocate not only for the client but also the designer. It's a total win/win. They recognize how much talent there is in the industry. And people - there is a lot. I am stunned, humbled and amazed daily by how many creative, talented and capable peeps there are out there! There are heaps and heaps of largely undiscovered design talents, simply because the supply of talent overwhelms the client demand. Or, maybe the designer just doesn't have the right resources to tap into the "big time" projects and thus their max potential is never reached. Weep no more- there's room for everyone! Through a very thorough application and screening process, HP designers are on-boarded and magically matched up with clients. Boom! Brilliant.
Often I find as a designer and small business owner, it's easy to sell myself short because I want to continue to grow my business. But it often backfires on me. I end up working many more hours than estimated and without proper compensation due to no one's fault but my own. Although it's all part of learning what works and what doesn't, it's inspiring just seeing how successful Homepolish's business model has been in such a short time.
Another designer benefit that will cause many designers reading this to gasp with envy: Homepolish will place and take care of all of the clients orders while passing along a 10% off retail discount to them. Whaaa? Yeah, you heard me correctly! Raise your hand if you're a designer and you spend literally 90 percent of your time doing administrative paperwork, pretending to understand accounting and dealing with messy return processes (the very un-glamorous but very real behind the scenes!) I'm raising both my hands and doing a little dance. Me, me! Well, Homepolish takes that off your plate. They completely extract those tedious administrative shackles so you can be a free, free bird, scheming and shopping to your heart's (and client's) content. This is the stuff design dreams are made of.
Ok, so, you get the point. Homepolish is awesome. I'll stop all my mushy gushing, and leave you to mull over these drool-worthy images, courtesy of some of my new HP "colleagues". If these don't make you Homepolish Happy, I don't know what will!
~L.S.
PS- There's a LOT more where this came from. Just visit Homepolish the Magazine for jaw-dropping home tours, design tips and more!
