Featured on the Show:

• Find out more about Catherine by visiting her website here

• Renovation Management for Interior Designers – Expanding your business with a lucrative service

What you will learn in this episode:

• How Catherine’s business has evolved

• How Catherine built her private labeled cabinet line 

• How she has gained confidence in her abilities and knows her value

Today’s episode is a treat where you can listen to my conversation with Catherine Marrano. Catherine and I first met when she joined my first course, The Interior Designer’s Guide to Construction Management. Once we got to know each other, we realized we were both seasoned designers who loved to run construction projects for our clients. Catherine has over 20 years of experience but started her career as an event planner creating experiences and spaces – the likes of Planet Hollywood. But when she worked for an interior designer, her life was changed forever. She worked full-time at a design firm during the day while continuing her education in interior design at night. And in 2003, she founded her own firm Catherine Marrano Interiors. 

These experiences, education, and international travel and studies abroad have helped her understand different client perspectives and develop a creative eye for design. Over the years, Catherine has developed a specialty niche in kitchens and baths and offers a bespoke private labeled cabinet line that she created. 

Catherine’s company takes on all sorts of scaling, from large to small projects. They do traditional,  transitional, and modern, and they really like to approach spaces with a fresh perspective that uniquely reflects their clients’ personalities. 

Catherine shares how one of the things she has taken pride in over the years is her company’s process. Her clients love their process. They not only come from a design perspective, but they really dive deep into considering how their clients live. They come in with a fresh and professional eye to create their dreams. 

This is where Catherine and I are in sync in how we approach each project. We aren’t naive enough to think people can’t do design work on their own, but when they come to a professional like Catherine, myself, or any of you listening, they’re coming for that extra level of special, custom to them, design process. 

Catherine likes her clients’ experiences and homes to be unique to them. She always tells her clients that trends are great and fun, but that’s not what she typically guides them to. She is more about creating more timeless spaces where they can lean modern or traditional or have the ability to be on trend but also be timeless. She wants her clients’ spaces to grow with them as they continue to identify themselves and evolve. 

One of the things that sets Catherine apart from other designers is her instinct and her ability to feel into what her clients are trying to express. And if they don’t know what they want, she is able to create their dream and their space from her company’s process. 

They take their clients through a visual journey of how their spaces will transform into a reality. They focus on designing functional, timeless spaces, and many times for very busy people, so they can focus on the things they love, while her team focuses on the things they love – which is exceptional service and excellent design. 

She has grown into this ability and evolved her process. It’s a journey, and you learn along the way how to avoid some of these very big financial and time suckers as you really hone in on your process. 

This does take experience, and the only way to get experience is to continue getting jobs. 

Catherine also shares about her custom cabinetry line, the value she is able to provide her clients, how it all started, and so much more!

After hearing today’s episode, I hope you have the courage to go out there and build your business how it best fits you!

Like this Episode?

• Be sure to check out Episode #119: How to Elevate Your Client’s Bathroom Remodel Design

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