Building New Efficiencies in the Design Process

In the realm of interior design, the blend of creativity and client narrative is paramount, yet operational efficiency often takes a backseat, impacting not just costs but the very fabric of collaborative creativity. Unveiling the blueprint to CLOTH & KIND's harmonized design process, Tami Ramsay and Krista Nye Nicholas demonstrate how StyleRow's digital asset library bridges their multiple studio locations, fostering an environment where inspiration flows freely without inflating expenses. Join us to learn how integrating thoughtful technology with your design intuition can enhance your client’s experience, elevate your creative output, and ensure the story of every space is told with both economic and artistic eloquence.

CLOTH & KIND is a full-service interior design firm and boutique trade showroom led by Partner and Principal Designers Tami Ramsay and Krista Nye Nicholas. Widely lauded for crafting spaces brimming with story and substance, every CLOTH & KIND project includes a meticulous mix of one-of-a-kind finds, bespoke pieces, and a heavy dose of textiles, color and pattern.

Tami and Krista’s combined aesthetic is a unique confluence of myriad inspirations encountered in their daily lives including art and objects, other cultures - both near and far, and the natural world. Vintage and new, high seamlessly paired with low, and artisanal fibers and patterns all play into the pair’s shared vision for creating brilliantly distinctive spaces. Their reverence for the simplicity of life paired with the assignment of meaning to beautiful found things allows them to embrace the voice of each client and convey their highly personal story through space. CLOTH & KIND has been featured in Architectural Digest, Better Home & Gardens, Casa Vogue, Elle Décor, House Beautiful, The LA Times, Luxe Interiors + Design, Traditional Home & The Wall Street Journal, among others.

TRANSCRIPT

0:00
Morning everyone. We are here for another wonderful webinar with some style row users, the incredible cloth and kind, Tammy Ramsey and Christianize Nicholas.
0:10
Super excited to have both of you chatting with me today about building new efficiencies in the creative process and really excited to hear about your business. You know how you got started.
0:22
Wonderful insights you can share with other designers, and just really a deep dive into your creative process.
0:29
Thank you for having us. Thanks for having us. Yeah, so we're gonna go through some quick intros, then why we love Style Row, how we use Style row, and live Q and A So if anyone wants to put in some questions in the chat, feel free to do that. And we will get to those at the end.
0:47
So both of you, wonderful ladies, are founders of cloth and kind, Interior Design and Decoration Gallery and Trade Showroom in Ann Arbor, Michigan in Athens, Georgia. But you go ahead and just tell us a bit about each of you, the businesses, and how you get started.
1:05
Yeah, that'd be great, and if you want to pop to the next slide, I think Tammy can walk you through that.
1:11
So, hello everyone, thanks for being here. We appreciate it. Thank you, Erin, for having us. So Kristen, I started cloth and kind as an interior design partnership studio about 13 years ago. And while we initially started primarily as full service interior design, we always had at our core belief, you know, kind of bigger plans ultimately for our companies. But we, you know, built built our interior design studios in different locations. I'm in Athens, Georgia, crystals, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, but we've always been very collaborative home projects. At the very least, in the beginning of our business together, as we've continued to grow, we've, we've definitely built our own teams while they are still very collaborative and there's a lot of cross office pollination. We do run our own teams and run our own projects.
2:03
We are, you know, really kind of known for color and pattern, and a super heavy dose of textiles, Lots of texture vintage and antiques. Some of that, ultimately, lead us down the road of opening a showroom. In our early days, even under like our initial business plan, we consider ourselves songbirds for artisanal small brands. And so, the idea of a boutique showroom that would serve essentially the mid-west came to be and so, we opened the show room, I guess it's been, over five years ago, maybe six years ago, something like that.
2:39
And that's actually based in Ann Arbor, where Krista is based. And we represent, you know, multiple brands, both in the textile while covering lighting, hardware, paint, even in a variety of different areas within the interior design world. And, and we serve the mid-west, which at that point, had been a fairly, I don't know, and this doesn't, this doesn't give anybody a hard time. And in the mid-west, in terms of other chevron's, we just found that we were oftentimes underserved.
3:13
Recently, for recently, last November, we opened a Gallery and the Athens Georgia location, which is where I'm based. And so, we have a combination, design studio and Periodic gallery where we showcase original art. You know, different types of things. Whether they're, they're new, or old, or vintage or whatnot and then what we're ultimately doing for our next show. our Collaborations that we have with with other Artists, and so we have a lighting collection that will be launched this fall that we're super excited to have a show here in Athens to Display.
3:48
Yeah. That's incredible. I know, I just love that you have a unique take on a partnership, also being in locations.
3:56
I think that's very clever and makes a lot of sense and probably something that a lot of designers haven't really thought of as well when, you, you know, want to the working in many locations, but also or maybe really appreciate, you know, a potential partner, but they're not in the same city. I think that makes a lot of sense. And I had a show ramone Robertson for years and then turn it transitioned my furniture line, Aaron, V into the trade only model.
4:20
So definitely appreciate having the physical space, and it's a tremendous amount of work as well, You know, This is Hmm Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm. Hmm. So everyone You can follow cloth and kind at cloth unkind, and they've got the cloth and kind gallery and then act cloth and kind showrooms. So, definitely give those a follow.
4:42
Love this space here, too. I mean, so colorful, so fun.
4:46
Really beautiful.
4:48
Thank you.
4:51
Awesome. So, why don't you give us and giver, you know, viewers here, a little overview, kind of, you know, how you started using style row?
4:59
What, What's important to you and also on both sides being a showroom and being a design firm, also being in different cities, I imagined, the centralized platform just really helps keep everybody connected.
5:11
Yeah, it's, it's been great. We really, It's the tool we say that we didn't know we needed until we had it, which I'm sure you hear a lot, but it's been wonderful. So, yeah, the first thing that we thought of, is that it's really become this centralized platform. Like you said, it's, it's become, we, say, our single source of digital truth for design. So, while design is very physical by nature, and we always have our, nothing replaces ever or physical samples in the schemes we put together, and all of that this has really become a digital creative kind of hub for us. And so we definitely have been reaping the benefits of it being a shared resource across our two offices. So, That's one thing that we love, and we'll get dig into that a little bit deeper, as we start talking more. The other thing that's so great is that it's just really collaborative tools, collaborative, by nature. But, I think we've found it even more so, perhaps because we're in two different locations.
6:09
We, also, I have clients like you that we work with all across the country.
6:15
And, you know, we used to joke that we were very well prepared for covert because we had already gotten accustomed to working across office and virtually. And we had, you know, I'd figured all those kinks out and I think style row, you know, is just takes that to the next level. It really allows us to work efficiently with clients that are in other parts of the country, from where we are.
6:38
And, you know, you can't do every meeting in person, but this allows us to do so much, you know, from, from our offices, virtually with our clients, and, you know, just the, to the collaborative nature as well. Just the way it allows us to communicate with our team internally, and kind of have all this back and forth before we even get to the point of sharing with clients, and then the collaborative nature on the client side is really great as well. And then the last thing is really just this agile. Transparency has incredible, So the fact that we can choose when we show things to clients, choose exactly how much, you know, whether we want to share all the rooms with them, or just 1 or 2 rooms if we want to only share a few items within those rooms.
7:22
And then we want to like, maybe do conceptual design, and then turn everything off. So they can't see. As we go into kind of design development and refinement, that's then really, really exceptionally helpful.
7:34
Yes. I'm so glad to hear as well, but that's how you're using it. Certainly. How I use the client dashboard is You know, you can decide what and when you share, right. So sometimes we'll just, you know, kind of inspiration images and then other hands will present, and then we'll turn it off And Then often we'll hear on the weekend like, Oh, I'm here with my girlfriend at lunch. Can you turn it back on? I want to show her, like, yes, Oh, Maybe pricing. Or things like that for them at that moment where we know that they're just looking at pretty pictures. Of beautiful things that, there are, that we're, we've designed, you know, and and source for their home, But it's yeah, it's really versatile tool.
8:10
So, I'm so happy to hear it is, Yeah, another gorgeous room.
8:18
Love textile. I love color and pattern.
8:20
I, I end up doing kind of a lot of neutrals these days but when I look at your work, I'm like, ah, I wanna live there, said away. exactly.
8:33
Um, awesome. So, let's talk about the product library and just give our, give our audience a little view of how you're using it.
8:42
So, I think that when Krista was speaking about collaboration, this is probably where it really comes into play because we, because we were in two different locations and our projects are different. And truthfully, there's there is oftentimes a lot of difference between mid-western clients and clients in the South where I'm based. And so we are oftentimes sourcing sometimes things that are very, very different to suit the clients and their their locations. So, I would say that the product library, because anything that we, we're basically pinning to a client board also gets placed into, essentially, our product library, so, it's, like a product for consideration in general. And, so, it, what it does is it kind of like takes out this whole step of sourcing that we each have. We don't have to start over. Like, we've actually kind of like a love of Crystal Love. She loves what I love. So, you know, there's already been a whole bunch of that that we can like, then, kind of go in and filter by the categories, obviously.
9:42
And as the slide here says, you know, storage tables, seeding lighting, accessories, et cetera. So, instead of, like, the worldwide Web, and, like, starting from scratch and looking for something, it's like, we can like, literally go directly into these libraries, and be able to search for things that are vetted by us, which is really awesome. And that may, maybe, you know, we don't necessarily use that exact item, but it kind of like, sets us on a path for how we might be looking like, Oh, I definitely want to use something that's in this genre, or whatever the cases, you know, so it's super, super useful from that stamp.
10:17
Yeah, Yeah, I agree, just mean that these are like the super high level categories. But the fact that you can filter down to within tables, it's like, you know, coffee table side tables, dining tables. And, you know, even we're really starting to invest and have our project managers and our interior designers on the team and her more and more information because we're starting to reap the benefits of the various search functionality. So, I was just looking for something. And I was like, this is awesome. I can search by lead time because I need something quick. So, You know, you can really filter down, not only By category, but by vendor, by, If I want to only see things that Tammy .... And, you know, I can do that if I want to see there's just kind of infinite possibilities in terms of the way you can filter, which is really helpful.
11:07
Yeah, absolutely.
11:08
I always equate using File Road to having like Google in your project because you couldn't, or any keyword braun's or, you know, by person.
11:19
It or tagged it, or, you know, clicked it, and, or by vendor name or whatever it is.
11:24
And it'll search either across all your library ones, project at once.
11:28
And that feature, to be able also export that way, is really helpful, as well, But, yeah, the product library. I mean, it's a game changer, you know, I travel a lot, lot of us. Do you go to Paris, you go to high point you in Las Vegas market, you know. And you're like taking pictures, pictures, pictures, pictures, and having to go through your phone later, just to be able to find those things. And then you're like, Oh, gosh, what vendor was this, what Chevron was? I was I am right to use our bulk upload feature. And we just bulk upload all the pictures, tag them with the basic stuff that we know at the time, and then, yeah.
12:01
I mean, you can design a project lightning fast, when everything you've ever loved in our source is right here at your fingertips.
12:09
Yeah, it's pretty fantastic. It's, it's really, really, there's so many ways that it's served us really well.
12:16
Awesome. Now, look at this. So we also have this inspiration boards section of the library. So library categories at the top that we're just showing or fixed, are there for you. But then in the inspiration section, you can create a board or a section for whatever you want. So talk us through how you all are using this.
12:34
Yeah, so we use the inspiration libraries the same way, I think, you know, the standard way that you would anticipate. So we have inspiration images of bathrooms, or bars and wine rooms. You know, we're just really starting to build them out. But another use that we have found really helpful is, we built our boards for finishes for lines like fat fabrics and financials from lines that we use all the time.
12:57
We don't want to create necessarily an item for every single our mac martin finish, but our mac Martin is a hardware line that we represent in our showroom and we specify them as is always the case with our lines. We love our lines, that's why we represent them. So we specify them all the time, so it's great to be able to pin. You know, the particular **** or piece of hardware that we want? But they don't have the image of it in the finished we want and then we just from our inspiration And an inspiration library, we can just add the finish So we've started to build that out for lines that we source from all the time.
13:33
Or, for example, if we're, you know, sourcing of a graded in fabric from a line unit that we use all the time, we would put the picture there because we oftentimes take our own photos in natural light, because they're, but they're a little better quality. So, just so we're not re-inventing the wheel every time, we have to go and specify something.
13:54
And that, that what you just said of not recreating the wheel every single time, I think, is such a major opportunity for designers to, to think about the little thought like you did, into, OK, how can I set this up once? And, then, every project, it's already there, I just grab it, and I add the color finish, you know, next to the photo, or whatever it might be.
14:15
But, you know, I hear from a lot of designers, like, I need, you know, I need more time any more time, and I'm like, Well, how about if you just cut out processes that aren't serving you?
14:25
Right, and, like, right, in your efficiencies? Because they're there here. I mean, that's the entire point behind style row, is to, like, do the work once, and then just, you know, grab and go from there on out. So, this is a fantastic way to use the library. I love to see this in action.
14:42
I think, you know, seeing it is always makes it so much easier to kind of duplicate, or to ingest into your own process, and, I haven't even gone this far with the finishes, but I think I love this. And, yeah, that makes a lot.
14:55
It's, it's great. We have a little task and we use Asana as our one of our project management tools.
15:01
and we have kind of to the same, you know, school of thought we have a project template. So whenever we start a new client project, we duplicate it and we're not re-inventing the wheel every single time. But we have a task in our style, or in our Austin, a project that is pinned to style row. So, we, like Tammy, and I, or anybody on our team, can put items there that, it's, kind of, like, extra credit when our design team isn't. If somebody's, like, not super busy and assistant, they can go in there and be like, OK, I need to pin all these finishes from our Mac Martin. So they're in our, in our inspiration library, or in our, in our libraries.
15:36
Awesome. That's great. And we're also going to be releasing the ability to duplicate projects as well. So you'll be able to do us, like, a skeleton project and style row and then just duplicated. or, you know, if you have a full fleshed out design a room that you want to just completely move and re-use most of it for someone else. So, there'll be off very short.
15:56
Yeah.
15:59
So, the next one.
16:01
So, what we do, and this actually has kind of evolved as well, I think, as everything, you know, you're creating new efficiencies within the present efficiencies that you have. But, you know, in this specific situation, we found that it's super important across all the platforms that we use for various aspects of projects that they look the same. They say the same, their title, the same. So we set up our client salary boards with plans and specifications, to start out budgets and timelines. And then all of our rooms are essentially numbered the same way that they're numbered on the architectural plans within the Project management system that we use.
16:40
And then essentially by every room, that's part of the project, obviously than all the various and sundry is specific to that rooms, design goes in there from fabrics and furnishings, and hardware, and all the different things that we've even talked about already. And so it just kind of helps visually it's all the same, like we're kind of going between these different platforms so that everybody thinks the same way. And that's been super, super helpful. Again, it's like, it's It's not just creating efficiencies. But, I think also creating like, visual repetition for how we do things, the expectations that we have. So that it, if nothing else, it actually takes a layer of having to think about things out. Like, you get to keep that thought and keep that energy and put it into something that doesn't require that, you know?
17:28
Right, Yes, that's perfect. The same.
17:31
At our firm, we always have our, you know, budgets and and drawings. You know, we have a section. We call it drawings and floor plans and then there's budgets and invoices. And then we'll have projects section at the top where if there's things that go across the whole house, you know, door hardware, we're using Baldwin, right? Fills in every room, you know, the wood flooring.
17:53
Certain things like paint are finished then, Yeah, this is great, yeah, that's right. We do that as well. We have exterior finishes and interior finishes, rooms that are typically down, low, down lower in the project. And that's great for all those things you mentioned. And we also have started doing, which we really like as existing conditions. And that's like, if it's not a new construction project that are, you know, PM or our junior designer would go to the house and take all the photos, and they all get uploaded there. And then, from there, we can add them into the rooms as relevant, because you need to reference the existing conditions so often.
18:29
Absolutely. Yeah, we call it site photos. Same thing, Put them all in there. Yeah. We'll often, in the beginning, also have a section for inspiration. If there's just, you know, certain inspiration images. I like to, once we identify kind of an inspiration hero image for each space or maybe there's a few, I'll put those in the beginning of the room and then like the site photos and then we'll add everything else after that, so that every room kind of format it. I see here, you. You've got your living room dining room, right, And it's like, the floor plan is first, and I think, keeping.
19:02
Structure to the way that everything goes, makes it so easy to reference, because some of these projects go on for years, or sometimes, you know, you won't look at a project for weeks, or months, and then you'll go back.
19:13
There's another major efficiency that I found is that like, in every single project, and every single item, like all the communication between my team, my client decisions, everything is made right here.
19:25
If you're using that client dashboard as well, and using the collaborative, you know, between your teams, It makes it lightning fast to come back and be like, oh, wait, let me re-organize, orient myself. What are we doing here?
19:37
Where's the thing? What's the What's the size?
19:39
And I can just click, click, click, and in seconds, get an answer, I don't have to hunt, and I love that. That's what I feel like.
19:48
It's really, really, love it, for that, as well, mm, and this, we might have a slide, we might have a slide for that coming up.
19:57
Yeah, right. Yeah, that, so this is a little bit more about that, right, The collaborative nature of the team communication. So, this is a recent example of a piece of art that I found while on. Vacation And I was just back and forth thing with the, with the team About what we're doing. What's going on, before we even got to the point of sharing at all with a client and so, you know, all the information is in there. It's that it has been sourced. It's in stock. You know, if there was a lead time. We would put the lead time in there. Obviously, its original art. So it's one of a kind, and then the back and forth about, you know, communicating with the gallery. It's all there. So this is actually a perfect example because my senior project manager is out on maternity leave as of, like, a couple hours ago, and so, you know, we have other people on the team who are picking up and, and anybody can happen at any point and see what's going on with this item?
20:55
Yes, That is, that's another major element.
20:57
Because these days that, you know, in today's world of e-mail and text messages, and all that, it's, you know, if somebody is out sick or on maternity leave, or, you know, moves out of the state, and leaves your firm. They, in the past, you know, after having a business and designed for 20 plus years, you know, A lot of turnover over the time are moments where you're like, what? And when and where did they go that way? If you know anything. If those, if that, information about your project is in someone's phone, or their e-mail, or their head, and not, in one place, where others can jump in and grab it, that's really crucial.
21:35
Yeah, I agree.
21:36
Agreed.
21:38
And then, sharing with the client.
21:41
Ooh.
21:42
Yeah, we're ready.
21:47
Wasn't say, well, and acoustic and elaborate on this too. I think this is where it probably does get nuanced, see, depending on the type of client that you have. Some clients, to be totally frank, have no desire to look at any of us, that is, they're not tech savvy, or they don't want to be what they would consider burdened with the details. Like, they only want to be provided the images, what the final floor plans are, what the selections are, the price for it, pay for it, be done with it, and then you take over. For the client, that does involve be part of the process, and does really kinda require transparency.
22:20
It's super, super helpful because we can get hyper specific about what we actually include in the detail of the client view. So, there's a lot of, there are a lot of options for what is shown. And then, I think, again, clients that do appreciate this type of transparency and engagement, really, like that there's this opportunity to, like, speak directly to the item within the client messaging. And so, it has been, actually, I think, helpful in situations where, say, if there had been texts going back and forth, and there's a lot of confusion.
22:51
It's like, it, actually, Like, all, that's all the talk, and communication about this specific item is in this specific place. And so it's helpful, and I think I've even used it when a client has texted me outside of the scenario, and actually made the comment back into this specific thing, So that, like, there's a place to have communication about it, Like, client via text, or spoke to client via, blah, blah, blah. And then said, whatever needs to be set, so that it's still captured within this item.
23:22
Yes, that's a great point. I do the same, I often will present, you know, for on a zoom, or a screen share. And we will meet, or however enough, we're chatting or reviewing items.
23:33
With all open you up the item and all type right in there, What the task is for my team or that, you know, if the client said, OK, great, approved, love it. Like, I'll be the one manipulating the software, but then it's, it's there and record. For both of us, on both sides, very efficient, and then also, I love that. I can go in and edit, or delete comments.
23:56
Because some that's great. Yes, I agree. And then you'll talk, And you're like, oh my god! actually, I love it! Like, just kidding, I love it. Nicole, Not black and bronze.
24:09
They change the color, yeah.
24:11
Which makes it really easy to delete, and edit, which in other some other tasks platforms you can't, answer them really important. So it's actually a flaw.
24:21
What's going on?
24:24
We highlighted, you know, all the areas in yellow that you can customize. So there's the little eyeball that you can turn on or off, and I think that this is literally so important, I mean, it just gives us infinite flexibility and control, for what we want to show clients, we can change the name. So on the, on the interior side, it's like the name and the actual fixture. But on the exterior aside, you know, for this particular client, we just, We don't, we choose not to share the names. So, we just say exterior hanging lantern or whatever in the finish, but I think this speaks to, you know, our industry is so incredibly nuanced and every client is totally different and part of offering luxury design services is being able to meet them Where they are.
25:07
Give them the information that they in particular require. And this allows us to do. That. You know, in in in its varies by every client. It varies from clients to my clients to you know, it just you never know, and it's always going to be different. And we have total flexibility with this, which is great.
25:25
I love it. That's so great.
25:28
And so true.
25:29
Um.
25:33
Sorry, I was just reading ahead to see if we had any questions to answer, but yeah, every flight different and it's it's great to be able to personalize and customize you know, your services and then also your software.
25:49
We do end up sharing like the dashboard with every client, But sometimes, we just won't even turn on the pricing, And then they just have it as a history of, you know, pretty pictures, and what their What to expect. So, if, you know, in six months, their stuff hasn't arrived yet, they can still go back and reference it, and get excited. But, mm. Hmm. Yeah. Clients that are like, yep.
26:09
Don't need it, Here's the money, get it done, and we love those. Yes.
26:16
OK, awesome.
26:17
So we have one question here, just says, is there any other apps programs that you connect, that you can connect to style rho, or other ones that you have found, that helps being dually located?
26:28
So, style road does sync to QuickBooks, so you can do all your purchase orders and your invoicing from style Rose, you know, seamlessly with QuickBooks, which works great. We have a budget feature, so we really encourage getting out of Excel for budgeting because there's so many myths, no. mistakes can happen in Excel.
26:47
And then also it exports to PowerPoint. So, you can export your presentation. If you wish you don't want to use the client dashboard, which I highly suggest you do that, would be a major efficiency loss. If you go back into PowerPoint, kinda go into the Stone Age of presenting that way, but you can export to PowerPoint and it also export to Excel. If you want to share like a fixture schedule, or make your own version of a tracking grid, but the more you use the tool, you realize, oh, I can track everything right here in Style. Roan Track it in the budget. We have a lot of different ways to do that. But ladies are there any other tools that you use a sauna looks like.
27:23
You're pretty much out of Pinterest, because you created your inspiration boards and style row mm. Hmm, yes, we use Studio Designer for all of our is. And we kind of were early adopters of Studio Designer had been there for all the changes and all the various and sundry. So that is actually our backend accounting system as well, which I will say in Crystal will agree and anybody that has to deal with it. It's, it's definitely a very specific way. And so you have to have a bookkeeper who totally appreciate the nuances of accrual type accounting. That's not, can be a wee bit tough, but, but we do use, actually, QuickBooks.
28:04
So for, for showroom, though, we do use it for the showroom side of things and Shopify, But he also really Asana Studio Designer, and Style Row are kinda where we live, you know, on all day long. As are the three that are constantly up.
28:20
And we've got a discount code here offering out 10% with Style Road 2024 for the cloth and kind of show rooms. So that's awesome. Thank you for sharing that.
28:30
Sure. Yeah, we just want to invite everybody that's interested to come, check it out, and apply for a trade account. We work primarily with designers in the mid-west, but we do have people that choose to work with us from other parts of the country as well, so, yeah, check out the site.
28:44
And we'd be happy to extend that discount code for your, for your, any orders.
28:50
Awesome.
28:51
Awesome.
28:52
Well, thank you all so much and really appreciate the incredible insight into your process and your efficiencies, and I love this new deck that we've designed together to for this is so beautiful. Yeah. Thank you so much for having us everyone, you know, follow cloth and kind. And yeah, thank you, Tammy and Christa, I hope to see you soon in person. It would be wonderful to meet up at some point.
29:18
Likewise, all right, take care. Thank you to care. Thank you.
29:22
Hi.