Fit for a King
Words: Michelle Wallace IG @my.michelle.w
Photography: Sergey Yusin @sergey_yusin
Wardrobe: Jaxson Maximus @jaxsonmaximus
Make-up: Julia Brig @juliabrigmia
style | June 01, 2021
An Eye For Design
Carole Carr is a designer who’s been working in residentialand commercial interior design for over 10 years. Her firm is based in Los Angeles. Carr was born in Montreal, Canada and moved to Los Angeles 12 years ago so she could be with her husband, whom she grew up with in Canada. Carr received the James Northcutt Scholarship for Interior Design when she was enrolled in UCLA’s Interior Architecture and Design Program.
Carr has a bachelor’s degree in Economics that she received from Montreal’s Concordia University. She wasn’t always an interior designer. She started her career in the automotive industry. When she was living in Montreal, she was helping her family run their business. During this time, she got the chance to work with high-end customers which helped her learn a lot
about client management and client relations. She also learned how to manage budgets.
Do you think your skills or the things you learned in the automotive industry helped you when you transitioned to interior design? Absolutely. Working in the automotive sector and especially running high end dealerships taught me several key components which have translated to me as an interior designer and business owner. Primarily it taught me the skill of managing people, their needs, their expectations and their level of experience. The more elusive or high end a client was, typically, the higher the level of expectations were. And that is true for design as well. It also taught me how to manage a business in a logical and systematic way. Creating procedures, analyzing budgets, setting team standards and creating objectives and goals.
Despite learning so many things while working for her family, she realized this wasn’t what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. She considered herself an artist and she wanted to do something that would help her express her creative side. She moved to Los Angeles with her husband and after taking some classes, she decided to look for work in interior design.
What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on and what do you like about it? This is a tough question to answer because truly no two projects are alike. I think the thing to take note of most importantly when venturing into a new project is the chemistry I have with the clients. When the relationship is effortless, the project will always feels that way too. Despite any obstacles, change of direction and even if we don't see eye to eye on something . That's fine because we develop a sort of respectful partnership early on. I've learned to follow my instinct and only take in the projects where I feel like the chemistry works for both parties.
She had always been passionate about design, but she never realized that she would turn it into a career one day. She worked for numerous boutique companies and in 2011, founded her own company called Carole Carr Design. Of course, moving into the world of design from the automotive industry wasn’t easy and she faced some difficulties in the beginning. When she was working on her first design related job, she was afraid her client wouldn’t like her work, and she found herself asking a lot of questions so she could learn and get better. The client was so impressed, they ended up hiring her for more projects.
Carole was a fast learner and while working for different companies she learned about engineering, framing and waterproofing. She once accepted to do lighting plan for one client without knowing anything about it. She studied hard and everything turned out great in the end.
Her inspiration for her designs is a combination of her Montreal upbringing and the time she’s spent in Los Angeles. She always manages to create new and unique designs by merging her style with the requirements of her clients. Her firm Carole Carr Design focuses on the following areas: space planning, furniture specification, CAD drawing, 3D renderings, architectural detailing, color schemes, lighting overview, selection of surface materials, and styling and décor. Carr’s firm starts the process with an “in-depth at-home consultation” where they talk about budgets, and client’s preference and style so the final design is creative and tailored to the client’s needs and requirements.
Word on the street is that you are totally in love with Miami and visit the Magic City often. Will your firm Carole Carr Design expand to Miami? I would love the prospect of expanding, especially Miami. There is so much to explore there in regards to pushing those design limits. For now, we are focusing on establishing our brand and our clientele on the west coast and we don’t want to grow to fast as I believe one of the
foundations of our firm is the ability to deliver personalized design catered to our clients needs and desires. I’m very hands on with every project. But if the right opportunities come up in nationally or internationally , we would definitely take it into consideration.
