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BOLD BY DESIGN | SUMMER 2021
By David Cohen
I
f you’ve been following interior design influencers the last several years, you’ve most likely run across this fashionista combo coloring the industry with their own unique style. From High Point to Vegas Markets and throughout social media, it’s common to catch a flash of color out of the corner of your eye while walking into your favorite showroom or scrolling your feed. As you focus on what and who you’re seeing you'll likely be transfixed by the ferocious style of the Velvet Couch Sisters. This dynamic design duo is made up of San Diego-based best friends, Rachel Moriarty and Treci Smith. Rachel Moriarty, known as the “Queen of Color, is a luxury interior designer who is also a sought-after industry speaker, brand ambassador, style spotter and visibility influencer. Drawing from her multicultural roots, her career path has been much like the rainbow that her color palette embodies. Rachel spent time in both the fashion and banking industries prior to finding her home in interior design, where she has been able to apply her creative passions to transform clients' spaces through her visionary style. The same creativity that she brings to the design industry is also instilled in her two children.
Rachel Moriarty (left), Treci Smith (right) Picture by Steve Spatafore
You can often find her daughter, India, behind the camera capturing some of her Mom’s most iconic moments. Treci Smith (pronounced “Treecee”) is a real estate investor, interior stylist and an expert in thrift market finds and the repurposing of vintage goods. Working with her husband, Amir, she first honed her design skills while staging investment properties. She then expanded her natural talent to her business life when her love for vintage finds and thrifting blossomed into her own San Diego-based vintage retail business, Treci Smith Designs. Now very much a rising star, her Bohemian style is coveted by home and lifestyle publications. Raised within a military family and as the youngest of four siblings, she is now blessed with four beautiful adult children of her own. Treci describes Rachel as “a maximalist with a flamboyant look,” as opposed to her own eclectic and often whimsically-
patterned color choices. Rachel describes the essence of her fellow Velvet Couch Sister saying, "Treci is soulful, bohemian, with a vintage vibe.” The two shine colorfully both as individuals as well as together. Like psychic mind readers, this fashionable duo often shows up wearing identical outfits without prior coordination. When asked about their respective styles they shared, “There is not much difference, our visions really are usually the same which makes working together work so well.” While their mutual love for bright global textures created their initial bond, it was shopping at a local IKEA that first brought the two together. Winding through the virtually endless aisles of home products they managed to bump carts in the lighting section. As they collided and looked up from their shopping missions, they not only noticed each other's style but that they both had the same exact lamp in their cart! It was meant to be.
