A shot of Home Associates co-founder Linny Giffin’s DC residence. Photograph by Mariah Jones.
It’s a standard pickle for these placing collectively a house: You need assistance choosing out a brand new couch or deciding on this rug or that rug, however you don’t essentially wish to rent an inside designer. Possibly you don’t wish to spend the cash, or possibly you simply don’t wish to hand the reins over to another person. However you possibly can nonetheless use some steering.
That’s the place Home Associates is available in. The net, subscription-based group supplies an area for design lovers to crowdsource residence decor opinions and suggestions from different members, in addition to entry to residence design workshops. DC artist and designer Linny Giffin (who additionally co-founded the previous DC makers’ area The Lemon Collective) and Charlotte, North Carolina, designer Claire Keane launched the platform in June.
The duo met on the Lemon Collective—Keane beforehand lived in DC and was a member there—and bonded over their love of inside design. They began providing design consultations through word-of-mouth, the place they’d go to a shopper’s residence and supply steering on decor puzzles or how finest to make the most of an area—extra of a design coach than an inside designer. They realized there have been lots of people who wished this candy spot between going solo and hiring a full-time designer, so that they launched the digital Home Associates platform, making it simple for anybody to entry this sort of steering no matter location.
“When it comes to inside design, I actually really feel like there’s a hole,” says Giffin. “Each doable factor that you possibly can wish to know is on the market to you on the web; you will discover any piece of knowledge you want. There are tons and tons of free assets. After which there are clearly design corporations, that are the opposite excessive of [getting] somebody to do that for you. And I believe that there’s a necessity within the center.”
It’s $50 a yr to develop into a member, which supplies you entry to the Home Associates Slack group, the place members collect to speak design suggestions, assist somebody deal with a challenge of their residence, or drop hyperlinks to superior items of furnishings on sale. Moreover, Giffin and Keane host month-to-month workshops on matters like navigating Fb Market or creating a house design temper board, and members get entry to a non-public Pinterest web page and Excel spreadsheet stuffed with design assets and lists of country-wide furnishings and classic items purveyors. The duo additionally presents one-hour digital consultations, in-home consultations in DC and Charlotte, and product sourcing for particular tasks at extra charges.
Home Associates additionally encourages sustainability through an emphasis on thrifted and classic furnishings and residential items. Giffin and Keane are each massive classic followers—not solely is it extra environmentally pleasant to buy a secondhand piece over a brand new one, however classic items are usually larger high quality and longer lasting than massive field choices, says Giffin.
That’s to not say they advocate for 100-percent classic sourcing: The duo encourages a combined strategy just like how they type their very own properties—some Fb Market and classic finds combined with a pair budget-friendly IKEA picks and some massive, save-up-for-it purchases that you simply’ll have endlessly. “The first aim is to be extra knowledgeable, considerate consumers who’re actually making an attempt to hone in on our preferences and honor that within the issues that we purchase,” says Giffin. “[We want to] take our time with it and let the items in our home inform tales about who we’re.”
Proper now, the 2 are targeted on rising their group, however hope to at some point supply sub-groups tailor-made to particular areas and possibly even promote merchandise straight. The aim is to proceed to make design accessible through a platform the place individuals really feel empowered to create a house they love on their very own schedule and phrases. “We actually wish to create an area the place these little accomplishments could be celebrated,” says Keane. “Not every little thing goes to be quote, unquote, ‘Instagram worthy.’ However that doesn’t imply it’s not price celebrating together with your design group.”
Residence & Options Editor
Mimi Montgomery joined Washingtonian in 2018. She’s written for The Washington Put up, Backyard & Gun, Exterior Journal, Washington Metropolis Paper, DCist, and PoPVille. Initially from North Carolina, she now lives in Del Ray.
