Welcome to our little corner of the internet! We can’t believe that we actually have this little corner considering we had a big idea eighteen months ago, not necessarily thinking it would actualize, but here we are! We guess that’s the power of stating your goal and intention…you find a way to make it happen!
So who are we? Who do we help? Why an online design company? And why are prices so much lower than others? What’s Sette Studio’s goal?
We’ve had to think long and hard into every facet of this business. We even hired a fabulous web and brand developer to make sure nothing was left out or forgotten. So let’s get started…
Who are we?
You can read a little bit about us in our bio, but we’re two souls who magically met eight years ago and realized we were a design match made in heaven. While Michelle originally hired Raena (after seeing her on Studio McGee’s Instagram feed) in order to help her complete her vision, they quickly realized they just made a great team when designing together. Raena would say that that normally doesn’t happen, so we say that God just needed to find a way to put us together to get us to this point. So one room turned into a full home, which turned into two more homes, then a cabin, and through all our projects we learned that we do better together than on our own.
So who is our client?
(We'll say “she” but we also mean “he”) She’s waking up to an alarm clock with deadlines to hit. She has kids to get out of bed, lunches to make, a shower to take, and be out the door to tackle a busy day. She puts in a lot of hours at work or taking care of her family at home, making sure that she is always putting others before herself. She has an idea of what she likes but trying to find the time, energy, and stores to shop is just too much to take on. Plus analysis paralysis! Just as she sits down to start looking at websites for a new coffee table, she realizes she has to get dinner going and get her daughter off to dance before everything’s behind schedule. Before she knows it another day, week, and month have gone by and she still can’t stand the way her living room looks. She just wishes after a long, hard, yet fulfilling day, she could sit on her couch and love how that space calms her down and takes the “I have so much to do in here” thoughts off her mind.
Why online design?
We were sitting at lunch one day, just to catch up on life, and to, of course, talk about current design projects. Michelle was knee deep in designing and renovating her current home and Raena’s business was taking off online. She was doing jobs all over the country and she found that she loved the flexibility it afforded her and her life. She didn’t miss the heavy lifting of full service design, but she certainly wished she had an easier system. Then we started discussing the way people were shopping, finding inspiration, and the fact that no matter how much people made, not many were willing to put money towards full service design, opting to call their "friend who was good at design" instead. There's many reasons why people choose to decorate on their own, but we couldn’t ignore that more people would get design help if it was accessible and affordable. As everyday working women with families, we started to see the disconnect between the client and design services offered to them, and it usually came down to finances, the value they saw in that design price (then add on the products they’ll have to purchase), and whether or not their significant other would agree with that purchase. So let’s tackle the big one…the price.
How can your price be this low when I see other designers charging double?
After taking a deep dive into our networks’ thoughts, feelings, and finances, we learned that most families who could afford designers wouldn’t pay their prices anyway, but they still want a beautifully designed home. Task at hand? Throw our egos out the door and then stay true to the goal of our business. We want to service clients who aren’t currently being serviced, so we aren’t going to care that we can’t get images of all the homes we design or that we won’t be walking into mini-mansions…there’s plenty of amazing designers out there to do that. We had to figure out how to provide design services, at an affordable price, finding a way to complete a typical full service project without giving it as many hours? We won’t share our secrets, but we have figured out a way to cut hours shopping to provide our clients a space they can’t wait to live in while providing us a living that will still pay the bills. Will there be custom fabric used in your drapery? No. Will we have contractors coming in to do your custom built-ins? No. But will you walk into your home and think that it’s just perfect for you and your family based on your budget? Absolutely.
Where do we see Sette Studio one day?
We hope and pray that we will accomplish what we’ve set out to do from the start, to offer beautiful designs to more families in the U.S. and see the joy on their faces when they see their space completed (through pictures of course!). We also hope to grow and employ interior designers one day who need a flexible schedule so they can both work and give time to their families, see the world, or live in a place they’ve always dreamed of and never thought they could. If we’re going to dream, let’s dream big!
It’s with our upmost gratitude to see you here, starting on this new chapter with us! Here's to taking an online-vision to a just-right reality!
XO, Michelle and Raena
