Surviving Design

Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they discuss the pitfalls that design school and your mentors never taught you. As the old expression goes, "You don't know what you don't know," and this episode is full of stories about design projects that started off strong only to end up in ugly disputes between the homeowner and contractor and/or a host of other problems that most designers never get to see - and hopefully never will! Think you have what it takes to be an interior designer? Think those staged photos on Instagram are anything like real life? Think again. The reality of the design business is way more complicated than you can imagine. Get ready to laugh and learn, and let's start Surviving Design!

Music Credit: AudioRezout

Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they discuss how the rules have changed when it comes to being in a client's home alone. Cameras, microphones, and other technologies are slowly seeping in, and even when you think you're alone, someone may be watching! Laugh and learn with us about the industry as we share true stories about installations, messy jobsites, subcontractors who leave their "results" in clients' bathrooms, and other mishaps that happen to the best of us!

Music Credit: Audiorezout

Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they take you behind the scenes in the design industry. This episode is all about receiving and delivery nightmares. 

Just when you thought you were safe! The client approved the design. You've placed your purchase orders, and - as fate would have it - you're fighting with your receiving warehouse or the showroom you purchased from because the item arrived damaged. Whose fault is it? What do you do? And, more importantly, how do you rectify it? 

Laugh and learn with us, and let's start Surviving Design!

Music Credit: Audiorezout

Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as we explain the WHY behind hiring an interior designer. In a world full of social media fake experts and design-build companies that are more concerned about their bottom line than making you happy in your own home, the construction and planning process can be a heavy burden for the end user. On the other hand, interior designers and architects can sometimes be off-putting and pretentious, which - let's face it - isn't exactly a great marketing strategy! Let us demystify the industry for you and explain the good, the bad, and the ugly behind hiring a design professional for your next project. Laugh and learn with us, and let's start Surviving Design!

Music Credit: Audiorezout

Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they discuss a huge elephant in the room in the design industry: Boundaries! Sick of your clients texting you at all hours of the night and day? Sick of working nonstop and feeling like you're getting nowhere? Sick of contractors asking for things last minute that you either weren't prepared for or sent them months ago? Yeah, us too. It's a complicated industry, but we're in it to win it! Laugh and learn with us, and let's start Surviving Design!

Music Credit: StockAudios

Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they discuss the various hazards of the interior design profession and why good education or experience is a must if you are going to tackle this monster of an industry! From life safety issues to poor material choices, an interior designer's impact on the project could very well mean a matter of life and death for their clients. Anyone who has been in the industry for a long time knows that each project has its unique set of problems, and it's up to their interior designer to solve those problems as beautifully and as safely as possible! Get ready to laugh and learn, and let's start Surviving Design... literally!

Music Credit: Stock Audios

Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley in this special edition Halloween episode: Client Horror Stories Vol. II. Just when you thought it was safe to do your job, these client horror stories will chill you and tickle your funny bone! Enjoy these thrilling, classic tales of intrigue, frustration, shade, and utter horror as we discuss the scariest part of being an interior designer: THE CLIENTS! Muahahahahahaha!!! It's all in good fun. We all have some amazing clients under our belts (and we know you do too), but trust us, we've seen it all, and these stories are not for the faint of heart!

Music Credit: 
- Audiorezout: Halloween Fun
- Small Life Form: What's Your Real Name?
- Haunted Corpse: The Haunted House
- Loyalty Freak Music: The Graveyard

Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they discuss their most recent trip to High Point, NC for the 2023 market. From discussions with vendors to current trends in the design industry, you won't want to miss this episode. We have you covered on the organic modern look, the return of the 1980s in rattan-wrapped furniture, and a sneak peek at what may be an upcoming trend: Modern gothic! Laugh and learn with us about the interior design industry and join us in Surviving Design!

Music Credit: StockAudios

Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as they discuss how good vendor relationships can impact your business (and your sanity). Trust us. We have plenty of war stories, and we have made many mistakes over the years by either trusting someone to get the job done correctly only to find ourselves scrambling to try and resolve an issue that could have been avoided. You think you know all there is to know about interior design? Think again! Laugh and learn with us, and join us in Surviving Design!

Music Credit: StockAudios

Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as the discuss the gritty details of the interior design world! In this episode, we discuss client responsibilities and how they can impact the overall aesthetic - and experience - during the design process! From simple things, like providing inspiration, to more complex problems, like actually reading their contract, clients can have a positive or negative impact on the outcome of the project! The tea is piping hot. Come get a sip, and join us in Surviving Design!

Music Credit: StockAudios

Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they discuss how to incorporate current trends into your clients' designs. From what trends are driving us crazy (think shiplap) to the ones we would entertain (think pink), you'll be listening to us trash... um, trend talking, about the latest crazes, like the retro organic curves that harken to the late 1980s/early 90s or full color saturation with popular colors like hunter green (we'll see how long this one lasts). Laugh and learn with us about the interior design industry, and join us in Surviving Design!

Music Credit: StockAudios

Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as they spill the tea on the behind-the-scenes workings of the interior design industry.  On today's episode we talk about the struggles of being an interior designer, from contractors, subcontractors, employees, and vendors letting you down, to myriad issues with the industry. It's a doozy of an episode, but the tea is piping hot! We hope you laugh and learn with us about the industry and enjoy the multiple rants throughout the episode. Tension and stress may be high, but friendship and community is the secret to keeping the struggle in check (at least most of the time)!

Music Credit: StockAudios

Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as they discuss the extreme level of knowledge and expertise it takes to pull off a design project for their clients. What does it take? An inch deep and a mile wide of myriad knowledge for a variety of applications. Plumbing fixtures? Specifications and installation is different between brands, especially if you're using diverter or pressure balancing valves. Lighting? You'll need to know your Kelvin Scale, and you better pray that your contractor actually orders the specs you asked for! Furniture? Your clients (and their peers) are going to throw new product lines (and opinions) at you; you'll need to quickly adapt to their wants and needs and learn new lines lightning fast! The list goes on and on. Join us in Surviving Design, and we'll have you laughing (and learning) about the intricacies of this complicated (and often misrepresented) industry! 

Music Credit: StockAudios

Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as we talk about our most recent trip to Paris, how it inspired us, and how taking a break can sometimes lead to the design inspiration you've been looking for! From stories about the Louve, the Eiffel Tower, Versailles, St. Tropez, Arle, and more, taking a much-needed vacation can make you feel so much better about the interior design business (and the stress of it) that you get to leave behind if only for a couple of weeks! Take a break, tune in, and let's start Surviving Design!

Music Credit: StockAudios

Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as they discuss all things interior-design related. You think you know this industry? You don't know the half of it! In this special edition episode we interview famous Palm Beach interior designer Jennifer Garrigues to hear about her illustrious career as well as her take on the ups and downs of the interior design profession. If you're an interior designer or planning to be you need to hear her take on the industry. From stories about her career in modeling, her travels to India and Morocco for inspiration, and her experience in teaching, Jenny has some amazing insight into the industry that you may not have heard before! Get ready to laugh and learn about the industry, and join us  in Surviving Design. 

Music Credit: StockAudios

Join Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as they discuss all things interior design. In this episode we talk about how "making it" in the interior design industry can often lead professionals to suffer from Impostor Syndrome, e.g. Do I deserve to be here? Am I good enough? Am I competent enough? The truth is even seasoned professionals second guess themselves all the time - especially in the post-Covid landscape that has changed our industry. Laugh and learn with us as we discuss the design and furniture industry, the problems we face, and what it takes to continue Surviving Design on a daily basis!

Music Credit: StockAudios

Join Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as we take you behind-the-scenes in the interior design world! In this episode, we delve into the world of designer show houses, what they are, and what the process is if a designer wants to participate and market their business. We also discuss the recent Kips' Bay Decorator Show House in West Palm Beach, and we take you through some of our favorite (and least favorite spaces). 

Here's a link to the Jellyfish room we discuss (Melissa and Melody's favorite from past years): https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/designer-show-house-2013-pj-vj~1442974

Here's a link to Timm's favorite room of past years (search for Red Cross Show House 2013): https://www.nxgstudio.com/portfolio

Here's a link to more info regarding the recent Palm Beach Show House:
https://www.kipsbaydecoratorshowhouse.org/pbplanyourvisit

Join Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, Melody Smith, and our special guest Kim Jones, owner of Tropical Vibes. As an owner of a lifestyle brand, Kim spills all the tea on what branding is truly about and how it can impact your design business. So what are you waiting for? Laugh and learn with us about the interior design business, and let's start Surviving Design!

Music Credit: StockAudios

Join Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as they discuss the "why" behind their interior design profession. What got them into the business? What makes them tick? Why is interior design so intriguing, and why is it such a coveted career? Laugh and learn with us, and join us in Surviving Design!

Music Credit: StockAudios

Join Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as they discuss the age-old question: Should we add fuel or water to the fire during an interior design project? During construction, egos, ideas, and personalities can clash. When is the right time to incite or defuse a situation? Is there a right time? When should your voice be heard? When should you keep quiet? Learn all about how we handle these situations - and more - as we help you in Surviving Design!

Music Credit: StockAudios