Where Do Interior Designers Shop?

Pieces from this room were purchased from a combination of the Seattle Design Center through our trade account, a designer showroom we often work with, and from NDI Floral using our trade account.

One of the most common misconceptions I face is that a designer shops retail. While this is true for some designers, it is not at all true for others. We almost never shop retail. That is not to say that we will not utilize our local hardware store for products that are local and yes, retail.

Waldron Designs does not utilize retail sources

When it comes to furnishings, hardware, light fixtures, cabinets, plumbing fixtures and many other items, we actually avoid retail entirely. It is a combination of pride in the quality provided and the assumption that our clients want something unique that simply cannot be picked up by their neighbor that leads us to utilize trade-only resources.

Add to that, we do not have “reps” for retail who know the product inside and out and can warranty the quality. We count on these relationships for designer items.

The exception to this is consignment. We love a good reuse project and if we can find an item that has already done its off-gassing and is a fantastic piece, we’re going to go for it (with your approval of course!)

We don’t just provide a design for your space, we develop and curate designer spaces.

If we walked into a designer fashion store and walked out with a cheap outfit made from fabrics found at the local craft store, we’d be pretty disappointed, right? What’s crazy, is that the fashion retailer would likely have to pay more to assemble those local craft items because they don’t have accounts with them, and those craft retailers aren’t set up to support the high-end fashion market. So, you’d get the same thing for less if you did it yourself.

These chairs were drawn up in pencil and sent to our work room along with fabric curated from a Carnegie, a trade resource. We specified how the joinery should go together, what the cushions should be made of, where and what type of seams were to be used. Our work room followed those directions to build a custom frame and upholster that frame and the cushions for a piece that can be found nowhere else- a Waldron Designs exclusive.

This doesn’t mean that the items we provide are trade exclusive

Sometimes trade-only resources offer products that are available retail.

It’s hard for us to know, and I will not deny that the faucet I just purchased through my trade rep may cost more, even with my discount than it would if one were to purchase it from Amazon. However, what you get with a product purchased through a trade showroom is continued support and assurance that if an issue were to arise, there are several representatives working to find the solution.

So, where do we shop? Places you have likely never heard of and may not even have permission to view the prices without a trade account. We sometimes go directly to the manufacturers. We often design pieces from scratch and have work rooms build them for us.

It is our deep-held belief that design is customized and tailored, not something that is picked from a limited supply of parts and pieces. We want you to ultimately have as customized an experience as possible!

That said, we are no strangers to stocking up on staging supplies from Target and Amazon, among others!!

The accessories in this image were a combination of items we have in our office, items from Target, and some flowers from the local florist.

The copper bowl was a Target find, the cutting board came from one of our designer’s personal home items, and the rest from the grocery store!

The vase on the left was a gift to our office, and finds its way into several staging shoots these days. The items on the right were gathered from the clients home and positioned for the photo with a little Target succulent!

I picked up this little lady at a local consignment store. She was being used to sell hats and wasn’t on sale herself, but I begged, lol!

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