Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Rosenhaus.
Hi Sarah, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My start in Interior Design began with a job as a resource librarian for a successful LA architect. I loved working with and learning about all of the products and materials, developing relationships with all of the reps. While at the architecture firm, I heard that the furniture company Vitra was planning to open an LA showroom. I applied and became the showroom manager and support to the in house sales and architectural team. I assisted with planing and specifying product for large scale projects that Vitra was involved with. It was a real education in classic modern furniture and design. While at Vitra I began taking on small private residential projects, and when Vitra closed its LA showroom I decided to fully go out on my own serving residential clients.
After Vitra, while I was building my business and through a girlfriend who was working in PR in Los Angeles, I got connected with a couple of celebrity clients which helped me build confidence and jumpstarted my business. I worked with a number of celebrities over a 2-3 year period that was able to provide me with foundational steady work and income.
About 3 years after going out on my own, my first son was born and once he started preschool, I realized that I could help the other families with their kids rooms and nurseries. Through this, I quickly picked up a few larger home projects and word of mouth helped me continue to grow my business and take on a couple of larger commercial scale projects. My experience at the architecture firm and Vitra made it an easy transition to take on projects of this scale, but with a warmer residential approach.
While I was pregnant with my second son, I was hired to save and restore a disheveled Ray Kappe home in Encino. It was an amazing project that allowed me to put into practice all of my years of experience and training in midcentury modern design. The home was featured on a Dwell home tour and I ended up getting connected with a few high profile entertainment and music industry clients as a result of working on that home. Many of those connections have become repeat clients and connections to other amazing clients and projects.
A few years after my second son was born, I took on a few more commercial projects for fashion brands and influencers and realized that my heart was really in residential. I love working with people to create their homes.
For the past 10 years I have focused on high end residential design that is both full service and rooted in creating bespoke sanctuaries for my clients. I love the creation and relationship and the intimacy of getting to know my clients deeply and creating homes with them.
I’m really grateful for all of the opportunities and experiences I have had that have helped me to distill and refine what it is I love to do.
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?
It has not been a smooth road. I have worked with a number of clients who were not a fit for various reasons and I had to learn how to say no. I had to learn which projects were a fit for me and when to recognize early red flags.
I have had clients who wanted me to be more of a personal shopper than a designer, who wanted to use me for my connections and discounts but not compensate me fairly.
I have had clients who have tried to hold me accountable for vendor mistakes that are not the designers responsibility.
I have had clients who don’t understand the dynamics of working with a designer and try to manage the process without an adequate understanding of how our industry or construction works.
I have worked for far less than I was worth and struggled to get by and pay my bills to build my business and my portfolio.
I have shown up to meetings with a baby strapped to my back because I couldn’t afford childcare.
I have made hires out of desperation for help and allowed employee attitudes to kill my spirit and desire to come to work.
All of these experiences and more have helped me to reflect and refine and shape my business with confidence. I have learned how to create boundaries personally and professionally and have learned so much from my struggles and failures.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Sarah Rosenhaus Interior Design?
SRID specializes in full service residential Interior Design. We have been in business for over 20 years and for many years, were known for our expertise in Midcentury design and restorations. Our business has evolved to specialize in high end luxury bespoke homes that are curated and unique with an emphasis on a feeling of being transported. We believe home is a sanctuary and strive to create environments that are restorative.
What we offer that is so special is a comprehensive experience from start to finish that includes walking our clients through the initial stages of selecting a team to detailed design and construction plans which leads to full service project management through the construction process, selection and procurement of goods through the design process, landscape design and implementation and finally install and accessorizing.
Our team is involved from start to finish and is able to handle all aspects of a design/build/construction project. We are able to work with numerous trades to curate the best team while SRID manages the entire process, eliminating the need to be involved in the day to day from the clients plate. We like to be the first one on the project to partner with our clients in creating the best team possible.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
For finding a mentor, I think with social media it is so easy to find people with whom you resonate. Don’t be afraid to reach out and be authentic about who you are, what you are looking for and what you think a potential mentor could teach you.
I don’t really like to leave my house and I don’t like to network, it’s not a natural expression for me. I do love to connect with people and learn about them and share about my life, that’s why I love what I do, it’s very much about the relationship and the intimacy that is created in helping someone with their home. I trust that the people I am meant for and who are meant for me will come together. Sometimes it’s for work, sometimes it’s just for a conversation at an event and I will never see them again, but I strive to make authentic connections.
Whenever I do make myself go out into the world, either to events or through digital outreach, I always find that I meet and encounter so many interesting people. I have made connections that were never intended to be work related that have turned into incredible opportunities.
I think if you are open and put yourself out there and build relationships, good things happen.
Pricing:
- pricing is based on project scope
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sarahrosenhaus.com
- Instagram: @srinteriors
- Facebook: sarah rosenhaus interior design
Image Credits
Nils Timm
Marcia Prentice
Jess Isaacs
