Meet LaDarius Calhoun | Interior Designer

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

Hi LaDarius, any advice for those thinking about whether to keep going or to give up?
This is a loaded question as it could mean so many different things to different people. I think in a general aspect I have to share what I believe has worked for me and what I rely on when I feel like throwing in the towel.

A lot of people will voice that “giving up is not an option”, but we all have that thought when things aren’t truly going our way. It’s hard to continue something that isn’t resulting in the things you expected. My journey has helped me understand that sometimes giving up, stopping, quitting, and changing course can all mean the same or something different.

When I feel like giving up on things I have a deep passion for, I try to picture my life without that thing. I typically end up picturing life as more lonely and tougher than it is. If I am so passionate about something and I continue to give it my all, then giving up on it is clearly not an option. I usually think about the “what ifs”. What if I give up today, and tomorrow was going to be the day I would get the project of my dreams? What if I give up next week and I get an amazing offer in two months? My point is: you just never know when the breakthrough will come. If you give up on something you love, you’ll live the rest of your life thinking about the worst what if there is: “What if I had not given up?”

All in all, if you love it, don’t let it go. Keep going, find a different path, seek to learn more, and don’t be afraid to ask others for help or a guide. Try and try again. But if it’s something you don’t love, just don’t waste your time.

What should our readers know about your business?
My name is LaDarius Calhoun, and I am the principal designer and owner of LaDarius Calhoun Design Company located in Los Angeles, CA, with a hybrid office in central Florida, designing throughout the country. I got into the interior design industry after interning at an L.A. design firm, where I became a senior designer. Soon after I formed my own design company and continued my education in design and architecture.

A lot of designers are self-taught, and many are trained, or both. What sets me apart from others is that design is intuitive for me, it is something that found me at an early age. I truly believe that the truth of one’s design flare can not be taught, it can only be discovered from within. I am proud of where I am after suddenly branching off on my own. It’s truly a dream to become who and what I’ve always dreamed of being.

Over the last two years, building the firm has been less about finding the next project, and more about finding my true self. That has gotten me to where I am today as well as pushing past all odds and obstacles that feed my inner critic. Like anything in life, especially something you want as bad as you need air to breathe, there will be obstacles. I’ve learned two things to be true. Firstly, never give in if it makes your heart beat, your soul explode, and your mind soar. Secondly, I just knew what I wanted to do, something had clicked and said go for it, so I did. I wrote designers on Instagram that were local, asking if I could shadow them, or intern, even if it meant doing administrative work, I needed to be immersed in that atmosphere somehow. I was lucky enough to be brought onto a small team that allowed me to grow and learn quickly.

I have loved design since I was old enough to remember what channel the home improvement shows were on–old enough to operate a remote control. In such a short amount of time as a professional designer, I’ve learned that designing a space is much like storytelling, and I have always loved writing as well. I imagine textiles and furnishings as the words in a book and when they are placed in a space, they create the pages of a narrative. I look to the mixture of materials and influences that are soulful and evocative to shape the story in design. That is the most important thing I have learned along the way and it is the single most thing I am excited about, continuing to unearth those stories.

If you’re reading this I’d like you to know that I am extremely passionate about the creation and transformation of a space. I enjoy projects where clients have a strong voice in what they love and what they want, as I take pride in listening to and filtering their aspirations through my vision and style. I enjoy educating clients and stakeholders through the process of collaboration and design as we all have something to share and teach one another. Design is a lifestyle, not just work. I approach it in the most sincere fashion.

My design company was formed on one important principle: honest design. It is through honest design that I create the story of a space, giving it my classic-Contemporary aesthetic.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh wow, this one is kind of hard! I’ve become such a homebody since the pandemic.

Hmm. I will try to remember what some of my best times in L.A. consisted of.

First, we’d definitely wake up to start the day with some fresh fruit from a farmers market and head out for a hike. There are so many to choose from, and since they don’t live here, I’d just say Runyon. You know, the photo-ops, etc.

We’d probably have brunch, included with champagne, Sangria, etc. – especially since the hike was really just a sight tour. Remember, they may not be avid hikers like me!

Then after we head back to nap for the first part of the day off, we get ready for the tourist things: Hollywood Blvd, visiting movie sets, but movie sets from movies like Friday, Menace II Society, etc. I’ve found that my visitors thoroughly enjoy that.

We’d probably head to back Hollywood so they can see that it is not like the movies AT ALL, and walk around to various bars, pop into stores, and all that jazz.

And honestly hosting visitors is so tiring, I’d probably just have us meet up with an L.A. friend that knows all the spots and have them take over the itinerary.

So since that friend isn’t the one answering this question, this is a wrap! (snickers haha

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to dedicate this Shoutout to my younger self. The 11-year-old LaDarius would spend his nights drawing houses and cutting them out to thumbtack to the bottom of the wall creating a mini neighborhood in his mom’s hallway. That little kid is who I had always wanted to be, and I am just grateful to be that kid again in this lifetime.

Website: ladariuscalhoun.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladarius.calhoun/

Image Credits
Photographer, Sam Wadieh