Check Out Rachael Martin’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachael Martin.

Hi Rachael, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Rachael Beame Martin, and I am the principal designer at Beame Martin Design. I studied Interior Architecture at Parsons School of Design and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Florida before starting my career in New York City working on corporate interiors (Manhattan office buildings). In 2009 I moved to Los Angeles, where I designed interiors for shopping malls. My early career was in commercial design, but once I became a homeowner and started a family, I developed a love for residential interiors. I left the commercial design world and founded Beame Martin Design in 2015. Now I have the privilege of helping other homeowners and families create spaces that are both highly functional and beautiful.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Every design project is a challenge, and within each project there are hundreds of mini “projects” to complete. I find that it’s easiest to solve a design challenge if I can clearly articulate the “problem.” Often, a clear definition of the “problem” leads very quickly to its “solution.”

Sometimes clients can pose various challenges during the design process, but when we have a designer/client relationship built on trust and understanding, the end result is much more elevated by working together. Great clients challenge me to expand my horizons and develop as a designer.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a residential interior designer who focuses primarily on custom homes. I also occasionally remodel rental units.

I believe the experience during the design process is as important as the outcome and I do things a bit differently than your typical residential designer. I’ve taken the best aspects of the commercial design world and brought them over to residential interiors for a non-fussy, flexible, adaptive process. I find that it works for any size project and any client, regardless of how hands-on or hands-off they may be.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I hear chatter about AI, and agree some of the computer-generated images are very compelling. However in my opinion, a computer can never achieve what a real-life designer can. For one, a computer can’t walk around a site and experience it in real life. It also can’t observe a family in their space and adapt the design to how people really live in their homes. There is no sense of context, design history, or humanism with AI. I still believe in the value of personalized, real human interactions when it comes to interiors (and most other things!). So I still design the old fashioned way, first by hand, and then it gets more modern with computer aided design (CAD), and computer 3D modeling. I can talk through the design with clients, find out what works, what doesn’t, and adapt in real time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.beamemartin.com
• Email: [email protected]

Image Credit
Lacey Wood, Shyla Murphy, and Rachael Martin