What Makes a "Designer" Product?

The interior design industry has been changing as products become more and more available to the public, and so has the perception of designer goods.

In the past, a designer was needed to purchase a designer product for the home. Today, manufacturers have cut out the “middleman” or designer and are going directly to the public creating confusion within the design industry and for those working with designers.

Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán from Pexels

Did you know that comparing prices when a designer has spent their time to source is often breaking the contract with the designer and is a hard hit for the designer?

Why buy from the designer when they are finding products that may be found for a lower price on Amazon? (Answer: the mark up covers their liability and is the added cost of the extra time and energy they likely underbilled for in locating the PERFECT item)

The companies we previously knew to be special and exclusive are now able to be purchased just about everywhere. Sometimes designers tote a product as a special designer product, then see it on Amazon a week later.

Of course, there are still fantastic products out there that have no intention of “selling out”. They want to keep their focus on quality, not quantity. They offer exclusive, highly specialized items to the trade.

Who knows, perhaps this will be good for both the design industry and their clientele!

Once designers filter out which manufacturers are committed to the trade, they can choose to offer symbiotic loyalty, better serving the manufacturers, their clients, and the perception of the design industry.

See, designers had started treating product sourcing like “shopping”. Instead of educating our clients about a product that we had studied, we were sourcing online attempting to provide the variety that our clients demanded.

But, what if a designer were to specialize? Designers could really know our products, inside and out… even if that means that it may not always be the right product for everyone.

A designer who specializes in modern design and has a thorough knowledge of the modern products they regularly work with, it probably isn’t the best match for a traditional client to walk through those doors and ask for a traditional chaise, right?

Our first custom-designed piece was the perfect match for our colorful Texan client’s sitting room!

Our solution at Waldron Designs was to focus on bringing the design back into the sourcing. We began designing our own pieces so that we can truly know them, down to how they are constructed. We can bring our values into our furniture designs, focusing on sustainable goods. We can establish a focus on our niche and specialty.

Items that we don’t design, we do not sell (unless specifically requested), we source for the owner or contractor to purchase.

The following Pinterest board is where we are beginning to build our inspiration in shape, texture, and line. We also draw from the home, the client’s personal style, and our passion for high quality, sustainable, healthy products.

What do you think? Do these pieces speak to you, the way they speak to us?