Kate Smith Interiors is a boutique interior design firm that specializes in colorful, classic, design with a fresh sensibility. After 10 years of living and working in New York City for some of the biggest names in Fashion, Kate Smith pivoted her love of design towards interiors and returned to her roots in her home state of Connecticut. She founded Kate Smith Interiors in 2016, and has since created updated traditional interiors across the region with the philosophy that homes can be both beautiful and livable.
Influenced by her time in the fashion industry, Kate brings a keen eye to every room she touches; focusing on color, texture and print. She pulls inspiration from her colorful childhood in Connecticut, her time in the City, and her experiences living and traveling abroad.
Q&A with Kate Smith
What interests you most about taking on DIY projects?
I typically only tackle DIY projects in my own home, but I love being able to experiment with new ideas. My home is my testing ground, where I can try out fun concepts before rolling them out to clients.
What creative areas do you prefer to focus on?
Interior design is my biggest focus. There is nothing more rewarding than having a vision of a space in your head, and seeing it all come together in real life! Specifically I have an obsession with textiles and pretty prints and fabrics. My background is in fashion, and so a love of textiles has carried me through my entire career.
What do you consider to be your greatest business accomplishment thus far?
Well, keeping things afloat during a global pandemic is pretty high up there, lol! In all seriousness though, getting to do what I love for a living, and getting paid for it, is by far the luckiest thing in the world.
What has been your most difficult project that you’ve tackled?
One of the challenges with working in this region is that there are a lot of historic homes, which are gorgeous, and charming, but when you start a renovation on a historic home, you should expect the unexpected. On some homes, every time a wall opens, a problem opens too!
Do you have a brand partner that you consider to be your favorite?
Since I love textiles so much, Schumacher and Quadrille are two of my favorites to work with! I’m like a kid in a candy store whenever I’m in their showrooms!
Which platform helps you to reach your audience the most, and how do you keep them engaged?
I use instagram more than any other social media platform. Since interior design is so visual, it really is the best medium for the business. The challenge is that audiences like seeing newness, and the life cycle of an interior design project is typically quite long! I try to keep my audience engaged, by sharing some of the process along the way, as well as sharing a more candid look into my life through stories.
Based upon your personal experience, what’s one piece of advice that you’d give to blogger/influencers?
Collaboration over competition! I think it is so important to build strong relationships with others who are in your same field. Having friends/mentors/allies who understand your world, is the most valuable tool both for your own well being, and for your business growth.
What’s one fun fact about you that our readers would be surprised to know?
I love and collect fine china, but my favorite food is BBQ.
What do you like most about HAVEN Conference?
This will be my first HAVEN conference, so I’m really excited!
What do you want your audience to take away from your presentation at the Heart of HAVEN virtual conference?
I hope that they get a little bit more insight into the inner workings of the design world. Interior design tends to be very hush hush, and I hope to break down some of those barriers to better explain the practical ways of how the business works.
Q and A with a HAVEN 2020 Speaker Series
(This section will be updated as more articles are published)
Amber Kemp-Gerstel
Heather Cooke
Carmen Smith
Jessica Litman
Corey Hudson
Wendy Zock
Racheal Jackson
Jessica Russell
Cara Newhart
Jess Crow
Tracy Pendergast
Brittany Norman
Jenn McMurray
KariAnne Wood
Karen Snyder
Yuni Min
Kera Jeffers
Erin Marshall
Erin Ruoff
Rachel Rosenthal
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