Meet Claire Parkinson | Owner + Principal Designer of DESIGNWORTHY

We had the good fortune of connecting with Claire Parkinson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Claire, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?

Our job is so much more than shopping and picking out tile! I think from an outside perspective (and a little help from HGTV shows), what we do looks glamorous and simple, but in reality, the “design” portion of our job is maybe 20% of what we spend our time on. Behind the scenes, we are drawing elevations for custom cabinetry in AutoCAD, stacking vendor walkthroughs for project estimates, coordinating timelines with hundreds of items at once, calculating and reporting sales tax in different counties, tracking client budgets, specifying custom drapery panels down to the ¼ inch, dealing with unexpected mold issues in the middle of a flooring install, all while meeting project deadlines and keeping things as stress-free as possible for our clients. We wear so many hats for each of our different projects over the course of a single day, which is what I love most about my job. I love the pressure of having to make sure no detail is left behind, and that only at the very end of the project (months or years later!) everything falls perfectly into place.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I started my interior design business, DESIGNWORTHY, back in 2018, but I think the seed was planted when I was really young – I’ve always been obsessed with color, space, materials, and even tried repainting my mom’s kitchen cabinets when I was 9 (without her knowledge or permission!). It felt like such an innate part of me that I didn’t even really consider that design, as a career was an option until graduating from college. After exploring the more technical aspects of design in my MFA program, I fell even more in love with the industry and knew it was the right space for me.

I think with any creative profession, there is a desire to have complete creative control, and for me, starting a business felt inevitable and like the only way to fully realize that. I’ve been lucky to have worked with some amazing mentors at different design firms over the years, and a move from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 2018 gave me the perfect push I needed to start my own design business. Fast forward five years – I am grateful that my brother Tanner and I get to work on beautiful projects for amazing clients every day.

What is the most important factor behind your success / the success of your brand?

Our success with client projects can be boiled down to one thing – we make it a priority at the start of each project to truly and thoroughly understand our clients’ vision and design preferences. In our very first client meeting, we go over our Style Guide – a customized collection of design inspiration we use to explore what their eye gravitates to and why. By the end of this meeting, I have a really accurate picture of their unique preferences for colors, materials, furniture shapes, durability factors, wood tones, finishes, and space plans.

Exploring this information upfront leads to a better outcome for them and a much more efficient and productive experience for us as their designer. Sometimes I daydream about designing to my own preferences all day every day, but I feel like I might tire of that quickly. I love design and I love the challenge of designing in different styles and aesthetics.

What is the most difficult decision you’ve ever had to make?

The area of my business I have had the most difficulty with is letting things go. I really value the feeling of having everything under control. I’m lucky that in my line of work, I have the freedom to carefully plan and manage every detail – I get to design the outcome of a project. However… in reality, things don’t always go according to plan and I’ve learned to somewhat accept that (or at least be prepared for it).

I have had to learn over the years that there are always going to be things that are outside of my control… if a contractor I’ve confirmed with three times decides not to show up one day, it sets the whole project off track. If we order custom cabinets and the factory mixes up the finish color… not much we could have done to avoid that!

The most difficult decision I’ve made is to actively accept that I can’t control everything and instead, try to be more fluid and flexible in the way I plan projects and react to change.

Work Life Balance: how has your balance changed over time? How do you think about the balance?

HA! My work life balance has fluctuated dramatically over the course of running my business. In the beginning, I made myself available to everyone 24/7. I was constantly getting calls and texts from clients in the evenings and on weekends. I felt like I needed to respond right away in order to accomplish the level of service I wanted to provide. I was working reactively, always responding to incoming information rather than setting the pace. I learned through experience that even though I LOVE what I do, I need some separation from it in order to be creatively refreshed and inspired. Now, I try to keep work in my inbox, not on my cell phone, and I’ve become much more comfortable setting boundaries – not just for my mental health, but also for the efficiency of the project. I know I’ll always be working on balance – I think with any creative field, it can be really hard to separate yourself from your work, because it is such an extension of you. And yoga helps 🙂

Do you have a favorite quote of affirmation? What does it mean to you? What do you like about it?

My all time favorite motto is a quote from my mom – “we always get it done!” I am pretty sure this was originally in response to a late night/almost forgotten about school project that we creatively and somehow accomplished by the next day, but it stuck with me. Now, it is something Tanner and I say to each other on a daily basis. He and I are the only people running this business. Of course, we couldn’t do what we do without our network (both professional and personal), but it really is just the two of us designing things from scratch and making it happen. It’s rarely easy, always rewarding, often stressful work and no matter what challenge we face, it feels really empowering to know that we can “always get it done” as long as we decide to take on the challenge.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in Redondo Beach and the “beach cities bubble” is definitely a thing! My go to spots in our neighborhood are Hi-Fi Espresso (all locations), Joey and MB Post in Manhattan Beach, and CorePower Yoga. I’d also take them to the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood to peruse all of my favorite furniture, lighting and fabric showrooms, followed by lunch at Gracias Madre and maybe a show at The Comedy Store. And nothing beats a scenic drive up the 1 to Malibu and back!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband, family and friends!

Website: www.designworthyinteriors.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/design.worthy/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-worth-parkinson-bb736a66

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/designworthy/

Other: https://www.pinterest.com/designworthy1/ https://www.google.com/maps/place/DESIGNWORTHY/@34.020479,-118.3668274,10z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x80c2b50800e78327:0x5c059ca99f052a21!8m2!3d34.020479!4d-118.3668274!16s%2Fg%2F11st9_hrmh?entry=ttu

Image Credits
Margaret Austin