Welcome to my website! I am so excited to start this blog and share all of my experiences with you! I hope to show you the work I am doing, give you tips on designing any space, help you get through a renovation, and general tips based on experiences I have had and mistakes I may or may not have made along the way.
But before I do that let me introduce myself and tell you a bit about myself first. My name is Rachelle Brenner and I am a wife to an amazingly supportive husband and mother of one extremely creative boy. Growing up I loved building things with my dad and fixing things around the house, playing with Lego, Arts & Crafts, and doing puzzles. In High School I had an amazing art teacher who helped me translate those loves into Interior Design. Without her guidance I may have never found Interior Design. I graduated from New York School of Interior Design with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Interior Design.
After my first year of college, I started working in a showroom and to me it was like walking into a candy store every day (or in my case coffee shop, as you get to know me you will see my love of coffee). I got to learn about all of the trimmings (all the frilly tassels and cords that go around pillows and on window treatments) we sold. More importantly, I learned about every aspect of the company from running the warehouse, taking and processing orders, filling the showroom floor, and finally working with our clients to help them select the correct trim for their fabric and its use. I not only got to watch the company expand, but I played an integral part in making it happen.
After a few years there, I decided to truly pursue my dream of being in the client-driven interior design world. I began working for an interior designer who focused on residential design. He was so busy that on just my second day on the job I was already on a job-site… by myself… thrown to the wolfs…. trying to make sure the contractors were following his design intent, and the client’s instructions, with a couple of pieces of paper and a cell phone. Looking back on it, this was by far, THE BEST learning tool. Better than any classes I took. Every day I was thrown into a different aspect of the interior designer life – from making sure a custom bed was installed properly (um… how do you build a bed??? I guess I’ll have to learn), to giving the designer advice when he asked (me, a brand new designer, having a man who has been in the industry for 15 years, ask my opinion, and like it?!?! Wow I really can do this design thing), to managing the otherworldly expectations of our clients. I am forever grateful to him for the opportunity and confidence this job gave me.
I wanted to branch out and learn other aspects of design and focus on other industries. Working at a company that focused on commercial spaces, I got to learn about running a design library and keeping it up to date with all the new materials and furniture that came out each year. Given an opportunity to work on a lot of different projects for high profile clients like JP Morgan Chase, Samsung and Ralph Lauren. During the economic downturn in 2007/2008, I spent many hours teaching myself and eventually our clients “value engineering” designs to accommodate new budget requirements. At this time a new market emerged in the commercial industry – rather than signing leases for 5-10 years, people wanted to rent offices for a year at a time to accommodate this new economic reality. This meant many companies were not interested in customizing their offices for their use, but expected the real estate management companies to provide a ready made, customized office for them. I worked with the largest real estate management companies in NYC to provide this service for them. These experiences gave me the tools to not only keep my projects organized and run smoothly, but to assist my clients in both design and adaptation.
After 5 years at the company, I was given an opportunity as a senior designer and head of design at a design build firm. Our scope of work covered everything – and I mean everything. In the ever changing design world and my thirst for knowledge, we began focusing on healthcare facilities around the country, which meant I had to travel (something I always wrote no to on my job applications, but it turns out I love getting to see new places, and using local influences to create the appropriate design). I not only designed the interiors, but I had to also utilize new techniques and materials like Stucco (I’ve never used stucco, didn’t know what it was or made from, again thrown to the wolfs here…); landscapes (um.. I guess this is like interior design but with plants, trees and outdoor furniture?). I also spent a lot of time on the job-sites, not just as an interior designer, but as the project manager making sure that my design intent was realized, and that the client was happy not only with the final product but with the crew as they worked. When the job was too far to visit at least once a week (and even on the projects that were 15 minutes away) I would FaceTime our construction crew to answer any question they had and stay on top of progress. It is crucially important for every interior designer to build a relationship of trust with their construction crew – not only to learn and work with them on the mechanics of construction, plumbing, electrical and HVAC work, but to teach them how to work with the clients and trust the designer’s direction.
With 15+ years of experience in every area of the design industry as well as construction management I have been fortunate to learn so much. I believe every step of my journey has prepared me for the next one. I now take the biggest leap of my career and go out on my own with no safety net. RED has been something I have been putting together for a while now with the help and support of my husband. It has become a labor of love, and I cant wait to move forward and the next portion of my journey.
For my first #REDTip – Love what you do, learn not only about your job but about the jobs related to what you do. You will gain more experience have more knowledge and be more respected than your colleagues and co-workers. Some one will notice and give you your big break.
I look forward to sharing my view of the design world with you!
RED by Brenner 