The Digital Firm that’s Disrupting Interior Design
An artful startup beautifies homes to suit owners of all schedules, scopes, and styles.
Words: Chadner Navarro
Images: Colin Clark and Kyle Claire Esparros
Homepolish
Founded: 2012
Headquarters: The NoMad section of NYC
# of spaces designed: 10k homes and offices
Series A funding raised in 2016: $20 million
Most start-ups share a goal: to democratize an industry by providing consumers with more options. For Homepolish, shaking up the world of interiors meant doing away with the air of exclusivity that shrouds it and putting discerning design first.
Just a few years ago, crafting your perfect space with the guidance of an interiors firm was often cost-prohibitive and unwieldy. After Stanford grad and high-end interior designer Noa Santos did for Buzzfeed alum Will Nathan what none of his contemporaries would — decorate his Chelsea apartment on a limited budget — the pair saw an opportunity. “A decade ago people didn’t have access to design resources available today, so they paid for that information,” Santos explains. “Now most of the info is free; we only want our clients to pay for a wonderful service.”
They realized that vision in Homepolish, a platform that pairs designers with residential and commercial clients (think startups like Classpass and Instacart, Blue Apron and Betterment, Google and Giphy) under a virtually unheard-of pricing structure. Creatives like Tali Roth and Kevin Clark are available for either a single-day three-hour session or for 10+ hours over the course of a project. How those hours are spent is up to the client: solving a specific aesthetic quandary, unearthing that one perfect missing piece, or helming a gut renovation.
Homepolish has a physical presence nationwide, including in New York, DC, and LA, where designers can meet clients in person; otherwise, they harness the power of video chats, phone calls, even Pinterest boards to hash out every detail of a job.
The startup further streamlines the experience by bringing parts of the process in-house, such as partnerships that offer client discounts, whether on a Blu Dot lounge chair or a hand-knotted rug from Dwell Studio. Orders are then managed by a separate team, freeing designers to focus on what they do best.
“We make design accessible to people who wouldn’t have engaged the services of a firm otherwise,” says Roth.
“If budget or time is tight, we may only meet once or twice in person and spend the rest of the project sharing ideas over phone and email.”
By working with mostly up-and-comers, the company has also created an exciting destination for aspiring talent. Says Clark, “As emerging creatives, we are given opportunities to take risks, creating spaces that embody new ways to live and new ideas of what a home can mean.”
With more than 500 designers in its arsenal — whose portfolios are beautifully showcased online for easy perusal — Homepolish doesn’t subscribe to one style. Clark adds, “It’s not about the right paint Color or a pillow. We collaborate with clients to create an environment that invites them to come home, use the space, and be happy in it.”
Discover how today’s most innovative companies—our kindred spirits—are redefining luxury at compass.com/quarterly.
