April 17, 2017

Meet Brenda Barsumian of BB Design Group in Century City

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brenda Barsumian.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Brenda. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My grandmother was an interior designer and my mom was obsessed with interiors as well, so I was surrounded constantly by finishes, fabrics, all kinds of things growing up as a child. We were constantly looking at wallpaper, tiles, paintings, plants, pillows. I practically lived in furniture stores. When I grew up I studied at Pepperdine University and decided that Interior Design was what I wanted to do. The transition from school to owning my own company was definitely a frustrating long path of working in several different furniture stores in an attempt to learn by doing. Experience is so important though and I really believe it is the only way to feel confident about running a company. I would not have learned all the ins and outs of the design business had I not have worked for those other companies so all that time and struggle was definitely worth it.

My first opportunity to actually do interior design in someone’s personal space was for the inside of my father’s yacht. It felt so good to be selecting items for the space and that I got to use my talents to make the yacht look nicer. Actually, doing something and feeling proud of the work that you have accomplished can really help a person decide on the career path they are interested in taking. Before that the design world was simply a passion and hobby of mine.

I found myself eventually completely obsessed with design and anything that can be possibly placed in a home. I say if you have an organic obsession for something in life and you can also make a career out of it, then that is definitely what you should be doing. Why spend time being bored doing something you don’t want to do?

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think any road that is a challenge is ever smooth. Definitely not smooth, as much as I would love to say it has been because that just sounds so glamorous! But alas I am an honest person so there’s the truth.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about BB Design Group – what should we know?
Our company is called BB design group and we do interior design and we also do home staging to help increase the value of the property when selling a home. Our goal is to create warm and inviting environments for people to not only live in but really enjoy. An Interior Space can help create so much mental clarity, wellness, and positivity if correctly put together. Design is I think so important and it’s something that most people seem to overlook as being important but when you create a space that not only reflects your personality but also sort of creates an environment that you can really relax in it can give you energy to help you do everything else that you do outside of the home.

A person’s home should be a proud reflection of who they are and what they do in life and I believe that if you surround yourself with beautiful things that there will be so much positive energy that you can take from that. When you leave the house for the day you will be taking some of that energy with you.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Patience, the ability to visualize spaces that do not exist yet in homes that are not finished, and flexibility. The Interior Design and furniture world is full of complications but once you start EXPECTING those complications to be part of the business then it’s easier to move forward! Our ability to think on a larger scale is also very important as we never know how big the projects that come our way will be.

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