Design your home or office
Most people take great care and pride in the appearance of their home. After all, your home is where you go to relax at the end of the day, or to entertain family and guests. You want your home to be comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. Yet not everyone has an eye for design.
Until now, hiring a professional interior designer was a luxury reserved only for the very wealthy. But thanks to an Austin-based startup, Homepolish, redesigning, remodeling, or furnishing your home with help from an experienced designer is now within reach for homeowners with more modest budgets.
A natural solution for a profound impact
Homepolish was founded in 2012 by designer Noa Santos and his former client, Will Nathan. Working as a designer in New York, Santos was “amazed at how profound an impact” good design could make on the homes and lives of his clients.
But he says, “it bothered me that something so important was so financially out of reach for most people. Homepolish seemed like a natural solution.”
Homepolish employs 500 designers in 15 cities, including Dallas and New York. To hire one, you must apply on the Homepolish website. You can also use the website to check out Homepolish’s design magazine, which is chock-full of inspirational ideas, or take quizzes that will help you hone in on your preferred design aesthetic.
Affordable and easy to use
If your application is approved, Homepolish will pair you with a local designer for a free one-hour consultation. From there, you pay the designer by the hour. Homepolish asks for $130 per hour for major remodeling or multi-room designs requiring over 10 hours of labor. However, most makeovers can be completed in a three-hour block for a flat rate of $349.
Homepolish’s site also has a shopping list feature to help you organize and streamline your furniture and accessory purchases.
This startup is just another example of the burgeoning “gig” economy – customers are increasingly drawn to à la carte and by-the-hour services. Meanwhile, small businesses are breaking into markets previously monopolized by luxury brands by making services incremental, flexible, and affordable for a diversity of budgets.
