Conversations with Michael Graham-smith

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Graham-smith

Michael, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I currently live in Los Angeles with my husband, Erik, and our Goldendoodle, Freddie. My path to founding my luxury interior design business has not been linear, though my genuine love for design and all things home-related has been a constant for as long as I can remember. I have loved interior design and creating beautiful spaces since childhood, having asked for an Architectural Digest subscription for my birthday when I was only 7 years old. Growing up, my mother and grandmother modeled how to create beautiful homes that not only brought together family, but created joyful, warm moments that elevated daily life.

I spent many days in my earliest years doing everything from constantly rearranging furniture in my bedroom, doing small design projects with my mother and meticulously vacuuming stripes into rugs. In high school, I helped my mother oversee a major kitchen, bathroom and full exterior renovation where I was allowed to dream up new colors, furniture concepts and designs for various rooms. This love continued on through my college years. When I was 18, I traveled to Morocco with a few friends and bought my first piece, a Moroccan rug that lives in my current home. Though I had no business buying a rug at that time, nor any place to put it, I was immediately captivated by the deep blend of colors and the beautiful pattern. For me, this rug is another reminder that I’ve always been transfixed with creating a space that reflects my personality and now it’s a gift to get to work with clients to do the same for their spaces. I’ve seen firsthand in my life and in working with clients how large of an impact your home environment can have on your well-being and how you live and enjoy your home and overall life. There is nothing better than living in a home that reflects who you are and being proud to have loved ones join you in your space.

Prior to founding Graham-Smith Designs, I wore many hats in my career. I’m originally from the East Coast, just outside of New York City, and went to Cornell for college where I studied Labor Economics. After graduating, I started my career at Goldman Sachs in their New York office and later in Los Angeles, where I had the opportunity to work with fascinating clients, many of whom were creatives. At Goldman Sachs, I learned how to provide a top-tier client experience and how to service ultra-luxury clients–skills that I leverage daily in my business.

I moved to Los Angeles nearly eight years ago and after working in finance, transitioned to working in various startups and Tech companies ranging from luxury real estate and finance tech to influencer marketing. Most notably, I was on the Leadership Team at Compass where I ran our Southern California Growth team through our IPO and had the opportunity to live and breathe luxury real estate and creative designs daily. I also got to work closely with some of LA’s most talented luxury real estate entrepreneurs, which helped shape how I think about my business.

In both New York and Los Angeles, I always had plans and projects to do around my apartments over the years. In 5+ apartments over 10+ years, I don’t think I ever got my full deposit back! Painting walls, peel and stick wallpapering, hanging window treatments, swapping out cabinetry hardware, creatively installing new “temporary” lighting – I always had an inclination to curate my living spaces no matter how long I planned to be living there. Over time, this involved providing a lot of advice and pointers (and elbow grease) to my friends and family as they moved into new spaces. The design of the physical environments that we live in can have a big impact on how we feel – they can spark comfort, joy, memories and creativity – and I love helping my friends and family create environments that elucidate these feelings. Today, many of my clients turn into great friends because this work can be so truly personal.

Nearly three years ago, my husband and I purchased our first home. My love for design that began at a very early age was once again reignited after embarking on an extensive home renovation with my husband and our talented Contractor to re-imagine our Mid-Century Modern Los Angeles home. It was during this process that I began to reflect on the fact that for me, design is far more than a passion – I wanted the opportunity to get to work with amazing clients each day to help them experience the level of joy at home that I feel lucky to experience in my daily life. Having a home that mirrors our personality and, as importantly, functions wonderfully for how my family lives at home has been a true joy and I understand deeply how much our environments impact how we feel, how we host our friends and families, how we work, how we live and dream–because I’ve experienced it firsthand.

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?
As a first time small business owner, I would be remiss not to mention the challenges that I’ve faced, and will continue to face, in this experience. That said, I had the wonderful opportunity to work with a career/business coach prior to founding my business to better understand whether this was something I truly wanted to do full-time – and through that process, I confirmed that for me, design has been a constant in my life and was no longer something that I considered as solely a hobby. Rather, I wanted to be working in this space and with clients professionally each day.

That being said, when I first began my business, I was learning both the nuances of small business owner life alongside operating a design business without working at a design studio/firm prior. Though design has always come naturally to me, I had to learn a lot through lived experience and initial projects – how to structure the design process for my clients, what tools and systems to implement, how best to communicate visual ideas, building up a network of trade professionals, the list goes on.

For anyone who may be imagining taking a leap towards founding a business, anticipating the inevitable ups and downs and trying to break down each day into small, actionable steps that push my business and my client experience forward has been vital. At times when zooming out, it can feel daunting in terms of all that I want to accomplish in this space and on behalf of each client that I’m lucky to work with. I operate my business with high standards and my ultimate goal is for my clients to love and find joy in a home that is authentic to them, their styles, their families and how they live. When I start to have doubts or face imposter syndrome, I find it helpful to look back and to reflect on the great progress I’ve made since starting my business full-time about a year ago.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a luxury Interior Designer based in Los Angeles. Though I work with clients locally all across Los Angeles, I also service clients all over the country, including on the East Coast where I’m from.

From full-service renovations and new builds to customized remodels and decorating projects, I’m here to bring my clients’ visions to life. I embrace my non-linear path to founding my design business whole-heartedly in that I am an expert in project management and creating a concierge-level customer experience that both leads to a completed project, while making the design process fun and enjoyable for my clients along the way. While stress can be an inevitable part of a large-scale design process, my ultimate goal is to insulate my clients from the stress as much as possible, while working to pull out their unique styles and preferences for how they’d like to live at home.

From a style perspective, I bring both a nod to traditional East Coast roots with my West Coast style that I’ve developed over the past eight years of living in Los Angeles. I often turn to both nature and travel inspirations – in addition to design books and social media – to inform directions for a project. I’ve traveled to over 30 countries and love so many different design styles that, for me, it’s more about what inspires my client – how can I make a home that has the colors, textures, feeling, function that will maximize their daily life and joy at home. On a personal style level, I am drawn to natural and textural elements like woodwork and paneling, I love an occasional color or pattern moment, I believe that art and even incorporating plants in our homes is so important and I like to blend various styles together to create something with a hint of the unexpected.

Spaces have a profound impact on our quality of life, and I’m passionate about and most proud of helping my clients create homes that truly reflect their style and needs. I’m also extremely proud to have taken a leap that can feel scary for anyone who starts their own business. I’m also very proud of the lovely community that I’ve built through social media where I frequently share design inspiration and my thoughts when it comes to design trends.

How do you think about happiness?
Happy clients and seeing a project’s progression through every single phase of the design process make me happiest in my work. When we complete a room or an entire home together, I love to see the result of countless hours, energy and micro-decisions all coming to life coupled with teamwork spanning from working with contractors, architects, and various tradespeople who all shape how a project comes to life. And I love the joy and gratitude when a client sees the space fully done for the first time and all of the hard work comes together.

As a life-long design lover, I can’t help but feel immense joy when we source something that feels so right for the client or for the home – as an example, I am wrapping a project in LA that I’ve been working on for nearly a year and we’ve incorporated such fun moments, spanning a color-drenched powder bath with checkered floors, a few really fun yet timeless wallpaper moments to several handmade, Italian lights that are exquisite. We incorporated beautiful wall paneling details and stone work as well. Those moments are ones in which I can feel my childlike sense of design joy shining through.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.grahamsmithdesigns.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grahamsmithdesigns/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@michaelgrahamsmith

Image Credits
1) The three images shot (you’ll notice the 3 that have the same tree–my headshot as well as the two other living room shots): Photo Credit to Abby Cox.

2) The 2 renderings of my bathroom design – rendering credit to CMod Interiors.