One of the biggest trends that emerged during the COVID-19 crisis is home improvement and design. In a blink of an eye, it seems like every single homeowner in the United States found ways to make upgrades in their homes, some involving hard renovation, and others just finding ways to improve their space through decor.
Regardless, there is a big market for home design, and if you have a passion and skill for what makes a living space more functional and aesthetic, there might be room for you in the industry. Here are some home design and decor business ideas to explore and consider.
Personalized decorative elements
If you have a talent for calligraphy, art, and other types of visual design, why not customize homeowners’ decorative elements or personal items? You only need the right machines, like a heat press vinyl device, to make the products, and voila! You have something to offer that not a lot of home design stores can. Here are some examples of customized items you can sell:
- Fabric wall decor
- Framed art prints
- Postcards
- Area rugs
- Fabric room dividers
- Drapes and curtains
- Blankets
- Throws
- Bedsheets
And these are just some items you can consider making unique designs out of and selling. It will give you an edge over other stores that might offer these items because their designs will be generic and, worse, downloaded off Google. If you are an artist who can make customized designs with monograms and other patterns that mean a lot to the client, you already have a massive advantage over your competitors.
Professional organizer
Proper organizing and storage work closely with interior design because both need to come together when homeowners want a functional and aesthetically pleasing space. If you love cleaning, organizing, and coming up with unique ideas about keeping items where they need to be without compromising a space’s visual value, a career in professional organizing may be for you.
Companies like The Home Edit made a name for themselves by reinventing traditional organizing and fusing it with interior styling and home design. It’s not about copying what another company has already done; it’s about being inspired by what can be accomplished through excellent marketing and genuine skill and talent. If you love cleaning and organizing spaces and storing items in such a way that still looks like they could be on the front page of Architectural Digest, consider starting a small business doing just that.
Online shop for stylish decor
If you have connections with furniture designers, farmers, and other types of small and local businesses who don’t necessarily have the platform to sell their products, why not partner with them and help them get the word out for their products? Especially if you have a talent for marketing and shaping a business—you might be the kind of partner they need to break out in the home design industry.
Do extensive research on the small businesses in your area that you can partner with. Be thorough in your research to ensure that you partner with small businesses with integrity and have a history of doing everything above board. On the flip side, you need to earn their trust as well, so explain to them why you believe in their products and why you want to partner with them and why they should trust you to give their products a platform. Research tax laws in your home state as well.
Design consultant
Another way you can start a business in home design and decor is by being a design consultant or someone who helps clients achieve the look and atmosphere they want for a room. Not everyone has a keen eye for what looks good, and even if they have a Pinterest board for what they want, they may not have the know-how to execute those inspirations.
You can help by creating sketches for the room, sourcing the products needed to achieve the look, and overseeing how the design will be implemented or doing it yourself. You can start small. You can help clients arrange their desks or shelves and eventually move on to bigger spaces like bedrooms and common areas. Just make sure you’re not breaking any laws since some states might require interior designers to have licenses.
If you have a passion for home design and find yourself come alive with joy every time you help transform a room, why not consider starting a business in it? You will certainly be helping many homeowners who don’t know much about it, and there is a massive market for it, too.