Designer Spotlight: Trim Design Co.

We are excited to introduce you to another fabulous design company that we are lucky enough to work with. We love their vintage inspired style and comfortable, casual, yet cool decor choices. It's very unique to find a designer who only chooses artisanal pieces and amazing vintage finds to really personalize your space for you, and that is exactly what they do! Meet Jen & Annabel from Trim Design Co. 

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your business.

Jen & I (Annabel) met while working at a full-service interior design firm in Boston where we bonded over a mutual love of kilim loafers and the hunt for the perfect vintage piece.  While working together at the full-service firm, we started brainstorming ways to improve and demystify the design experience for clients by reimagining the designer-client relationship & fusing the best aspects of the full-service design experience with the convenience of online collaboration.  Our goal was to offer highly customized design services for people who wanted more than the churn-it-out eDesign models could offer, but weren’t sure they were ready for the commitment of going the full service design route.

Trim Design Co. is the result of that brainstorming: A boutique eDesign firm that partners with clients, soliciting their feedback throughout the design process, so they never feel steamrolled, and flat fee pricing, so clients enter the design process worry free. Trim is the only eDesign firm incorporating vintage and artisanal items into every design, creating homes steeped in individuality.  And our secret ingredient? Our partnership: A millennial and Gen Xer creating beautiful spaces, neither too trendy nor too traditional, but always “so you.”

Jen lives in Marblehead, MA with her husband and three daughters, moonlighting as an estate sale sleuth, master chef, and mixologist.  I (Annabel) live in Boston with my husband and Frenchie, Mona. Like many elder millennials, I’m addicted to podcasts, own too many plants, and enjoy avocado toast.

2. What are things that inspire you?

I think the number one thing that inspires us is the stories and histories contained in vintage pieces.  We’re both former English teachers, so storytelling is close to our hearts and there’s nothing like the patina of a vintage piece to evoke emotion and bring a sense of history and gravitas to a space.  

We’ve also been hugely inspired and encouraged by all the female entrepreneurs who’ve come before us and made us feel that this was something we could successfully take on, especially since we don’t have formal backgrounds in design or business.  We’ve met so many amazing women throughout the process of starting and doing this business and every one has been a source of inspiration. I’ve never regretted taking time to have coffee with someone I’ve just met- I love hearing people’s stories and I inevitably leave with a fresh perspective, new ideas, and renewed energy!

Pillow

3. What challenges have you come across running a business?

Definitely finding a healthy work/life balance (especially since we work out of our homes most days) has been challenging. When you’re working for yourself and trying to start a business, you always feel like you could be doing more and it can be hard to force yourself to stop and be present for your family.  

I’ve never had any issues sleeping, but ever since launching Trim it can be hard to fall asleep at night because I’ve worked too late into the evening and can’t turn my brain off.  It’s definitely a work in progress!

Lumbar

4. If you could give any advice to a person dreaming of starting their own business, what would it be?

Choose something you’re truly passionate about, because you will need to live it all day every day and no amount of paid marketing can make up for a lack of authenticity.  If you truly love and believe in what you are doing, people will respond to that, but if you’re not being authentic, people can smell it a mile away. Also, the least sexy part of business is usually the most important, so if you really don’t want to learn how to do your bookkeeping and taxes, then make sure you hire someone because it’s got to get done.

Pillow

Thank you for sharing with us Jen and Annabel! You can check Trim Design Co. out at:

Website: https://www.trimdesignco.com/

Instagram: @trim_design_co