Lori Smyth

Lori Smyth Design

Through an innate sense of style, Lori Smyth has built a booming design business.

After a divorce, Smyth decided to make a business out of what she loved: design. for years, she had been redesigning her own homes as a hobby, and she was thrilled to have friends offer a partnership, where they put up money

“I don’t repeat details and try to follow a formula,” Smyth says. “every house is an art piece in itself. I want my projects to be soulful – really hit you.” After the market crashed in 2008, she began working for hire and Smyth describes her style as eclectic and dramatic. heavily Spanish with a contemporary influence, she has done mostly residential and a few commercial projects. Currently she is developing a series of duplexes in Austin. Working with an architect and builder, Smyth is overseeing the exterior, interior and landscaping.

Genny Cummings Indigo Interiors

Through her tenure as an interior designer and downtown shopkeeper, Genny Cummings has spotted the trends, sourced the crème de la crème and swapped out countless sofas.

originally from Chicago, Cummings recalls an early experience working retail during high school. She witnessed the owners running a business and importing specialty items from Japan and learned the art of merchandising. This early exposure to the international marketplace also sparked her appreciation of unique, handmade items.

and she put in sweat equity. After only 60 days, they flipped their first house and split the profits. Smyth was hooked. from 1996-2007, she flipped one house after another.

When not working, Smyth loves touring restaurants, hotels and spas, from which she draws much of her inspiration. “Luxury commercial spaces are sexy, dramatic and very on trend,” says Smyth. “I incorporate subtle elements into the home, where the goal is to find reprieve from the chaos of daily life.” for those starting a new project and looking to hire a designer, Smyth suggests looking at past projects of a designer versus going strictly on personality or referral. “Knowing you respond to a designer’s past work is a strong indicator of whether it’s going to be a fit.” Smyth also recommends clients have a clear budget as any project can be done at numerous price points. And she suggests asking a designer if they charge hourly, by project and/or by marking up the items they buy on your behalf.

Smyth begins any project by having clients do an idea book, saying this gives her a clear picture of what they are after. “Both houzz and Pinterest are fantastic online resources of inspiration and visual reference,” says Smyth. her best clients are able to articulate their vision, and then they get out of the way so she can actualize it. She says typically decisive clients spend less as the projects move expeditiously.

–Photo and text by Jen Kennedy educated in advertising, Cummings worked for several years as a graphic designer before deciding to take the leap and open her own shop – Indigo. This february marks 30 years in business, with all but the first five in her current State Street location.

Smyth recently completed a renovation of the West Beach Inn lobby (pictured here). She describes the project as urban industrial meets Santa Barbara beach. She can be reached at lorismythdesign.com.

Cummings began selling traditional Japanese futons and furniture and eventually branched out into various Asian antiques. during her three decades in business, she has seen many trends come and go. “In the late 1990s, Chinese décor and the Asian Pacific Rim were popular,” Cummings offers. “Later on people came in asking for ‘The Santa fe’ look or they wanted pine everything.” Current trends she notes include steampunk, which includes Industrial Age inspired, recycled-looking items (think oversized metal clocks) as well as the ever-favored mediterranean style.

Retail clients began enlisting Cummings to decorate their homes and her business blossomed to include both services. Working closely with clients in their home environ- ment has informed her retail side, as Cummings understands the psychology behind decorating a space. She asked revealing questions about how a room feels, how a client lives and what meaningful pieces they need to incorporate into the final look. “first we must define the conceptual direction, as that informs the entire project,” Cummings says. “And I need to know the goals and intentions for how the space will be used.” on the retail side, Cummings notes that most clients start with a sofa, as the defining piece in a room. from there, it’s a domino effect – tables, lamps and window coverings follow in a same style. Working with a large network of suppliers, Cummings holds her store to a strict litmus test. In what she describes as her contemporary with Asian-influenced inventory, she seeks, unique, hard-to-find and often oneof-a-kind pieces. “People want to be inspired and I look for items that can do that,” say Cummings. “They each have a story and invite a conversation—about how they were made or where they came from.”

Text and photos by Jen Kennedy

Indigo Interiors is located at 1323 State Street and online at indigointeriors.com