Behind Parris McKenna Design
OUR FIRST OFFICIAL POST
We’re excited to share so much great content with you here, and want to kick things off with some insight into Parris McKenna Design - who we are, what inspires and guides our aesthetic, what services we offer, and so much more.
A bit of backstory….
In 2021, after working at a design firm in the east end of Toronto, I took a scary and big leap of faith and started Parris McKenna Design, a boutique interior design firm specializing in whole home renovations and custom builds.
I’m going to be really honest with you: I didn’t spend years dreaming of running my own firm or owning a business - it was actually the last thing I wanted to do - but apparently the universe had other plans. A whole bunch of different things led to my departure from my previous firm, and then to the creation of Parris McKenna Design. In October of 2021, I was officially up and running, with a very decent roster of upcoming projects. I look back now on that first month running PMD and feel so incredibly grateful - my biggest fear going out on my own was ‘what if I never sign a client?’, so when I ended up signing five in my first month, it was a true accomplishment for me.
A big part of those first months running PMD wasn’t necessarily finding my own style - I’ve felt pretty strongly about that for a long time - but determining the best way to convey it to prospective clients and the audience of people following my journey. Growing up in Vancouver shaped a lot of my design aesthetic over the years - I gravitate towards earth tones, natural materials and calming palettes. I prefer to mix tones and textures rather than bold colours, and feel that warmth can be created with collected pieces that tell a story of a home. I prefer browns and greens and wood and warm metals, and love to blend new and old styles. I don’t believe you need to sacrifice functionality for aesthetics and like to guide my designs with one dominant thought in mind: would I put this in my own house? I like to showcase a mix of my work on my social media platforms, as well as the work of designers who inspire me and share a similar aesthetic; together this helps guide my brand and the voice of PMD.
Another requirement at the outset of starting my company was determining my service offerings. Should I only take on full service, whole home renovations and new builds? Should I offer consultations to people looking for a simple hour or two of design advice? Should I offer styling for people who just need help making their house feel more ‘designed’? And the biggest question, one that you don’t often think about when you’re an employee versus a business owner, is how do I run a profitable business and where will my best margins come from. That question, by the way, is one I’m still figuring out but, and more on this later, I rely a lot on my favourite podcast - The Interior Collective - to help learn the ‘how’ part of running a business. For the time being, we offer all four services: full renovations and design, new construction, furnishing & styling, and design consultations. Our two most popular packages are full renovations, and new construction.
Our goal is to offer our clients a complete, full service approach to design. We handle everything - yes, everything - from project conception to the final steps of completion and everything in between: working with architects and builders, the overall design direction and sourcing materials to successfully execute our vision, all stages of procurement, and project management. Our clients can be as hands off as they want, though typically we run a collaborative approach. If a client prefers to be more involved, we ensure expectations are clear about how the process runs so that we can plan for the best experience. After all, we can be in each other’s lives for years, so we should make sure it’s a good fit right?
Speaking about good fits, another question that comes up a lot is whether our firm takes on all projects that come our way, or if we’re selective about which projects we take on. We fall under the latter option, and I feel strongly about it. As a boutique firm, we only take on a select number of projects per year in order to provide the best level of service to our clients. We’re a luxury service and want our client experience to feel that way. I also made a decision early on to ensure a good fit with the clients we sign. This not only helps facilitate cohesion throughout the process, but it keeps revisions (and therefore additional billable hours) to a minimum and expectations very clear. When people interview our firm as their potential designers, I ask them two questions: have you seen our portfolio, and do you feel aligned with our style? I’ve likely lost out on opportunities when a client’s answer is ‘no’ to the second question, but in my mind, that’s completely okay. Better yet, it’s ideal. I firmly believe that there’s a designer out there for everyone, and it’s okay if that’s not our firm. It’s much easier to find that out during the interview stage, than to sell our firm as designers for the masses and end up being misaligned with clients on what is typically a big project and an important investment. My biggest piece of advice when looking for a designer: look at their work, and decide if it most accurately reflects what you gravitate towards and feel excited about.
There’s a school of thought that suggests taking on all projects that come your way in the beginning, because you need to build up your portfolio and you need to keep the lights on and pay the bills. I appreciate and support that. However, my philosophy is that if you work on projects you love, that inspire you and challenge your creativity, and align yourselves with clients who trust your vision and the process, that work will attract similar clients and similar projects. In my opinion, if you don’t feel a project will be a valued addition to your portfolio, it may be worth a second thought about taking it. It’s very hard to turn down business, especially in the early years while you’re trying to get off the ground and you don’t know if another client will ever inquire (I wonder that all the time), but doing good work that you feel proud of speaks for itself. I believe it attracts the type of people you want to work with.
With that, I’ll leave you with some of my favourite design accounts to follow - people who do great, true-to-their-style projects that inspire me daily.
My Canadian faves:
Ali Budd Interiors (totally different aesthetic than me but very entertaining content)
My worldwide faves:
x
Parris
