Ethos Design Collective

Luxury Design — Curated

ethos design collective

In 2017 Kelly Schellert, ASID, came up with the idea of creating an online platform to help consumers find high-end interior designers. The concept was to create a collective of vetted, luxury interior designers that consumers could turn to, confident that they are looking at the top echelon of the interior design business. Together with co-founders Julia Molloy and Leslie Carothers, Kelly launched the platform at the Fall 2021 High Point Furniture Market, calling it the Ethos Design Collective.

“The members truly need to be luxury designers and they need to be hands-on and that they also handle project management,” Kelly says. “So that way they are offering the complete package for the consumer.”

Kelly, who co-owns Ceanii Artful Interiors in St. Louis with her husband Ron, screens designers wishing to join the collective. She says she has been careful to ensure she is creating a group that represents a variety of styles and covers a geographically diverse area. The more than 50 designers she already has on board are spread across eight different countries and represent nearly $80 million in annual sales. Kelly notes that the membership is made up mostly of individual designers as opposed to large design companies.

Ethos requires members to have at least five years experience in the design industry with a minimum of two years as the principal of their current design company. They also need to have an up-to-date website with editorial-quality, professional photography, and if they use social media their site must showcase current, real world projects completed by them or their firm.

Ethos has mostly been finding designers through word of mouth, often from those who are already members of the group. Designers can also apply to join the collective. The vetting process is thorough, says Kelly, even to the point of scrutinizing the applicant’s social media posts to get a sense of their relationships with customers and colleagues alike. She’s looking for designers who are of such a caliber that they are influencers in the industry.

Fundamentally though, Kelly says that Ethos aims to deliver to consumers, designers who are closely involved with all their projects.

To learn more about joining Ethos or becoming a corporate sponsor visit www.ethosdesigncollective.com.

Amalie Barstools

Charleston Forge is a sponsor of the Ethos Design Collective