Interior designer Jake Arnold and a team of IT professionals have launched The Expert, an innovative platform for one-on-one connections with renown designers, offering guidance on projects and decoration advice.
The year of “zoom calls” and webinars taught us the advantages of connecting with other people in remote mode, working long distance and now, we are all very used to the video-call protocol. For some people, that change of habits meant an incredible business opportunity.
Young celebrity interior designer, Jake Arnold (who has designed homes for Dan Levy, Chrissy Teigen, Rashida Jones) and tech entrepreneur, Leo Seigal, co-founded The Expert, a virtual platform to help connect design studios with potential clients.
The innovative format for booking a consultation service can be done by website or via app, and works like all startups, digitally oriented, making everything easy for both parties. Thanks to the platform, people can ask for advice to top interior designers or architects, to have a fully personalised point of view with the benefit of reaching them no matter what country they are living in.
Connecting Interior Design and Architecture Through Innovation
As a service, they are trying to break down the traditional rules and barriers of hiring top designers, for example, not having a high budget for a full-service requirement.
The main target group is a type of client who is looking for the opportunity to get valuable information from designers to then proceed to execute that knowledge into their own design project.
In this way, The Expert is not an e-design platform, because they will not request specifics for the project nor deliver mock-ups. Another type of client would be the professional -or aspiring- interior designer, who is mainly looking for mentoring on how to grow in the field or, as professionals, consult a second opinion in job tasks. Either way, a perfect opportunity to connect with big names inside the industry.
If you book a consultation with your chosen design studio, they offer two modalities, a 55-minute video-call, or a shorter one, 25 minutes for quick and easy questions, the consultations’ price range from 150€ to 2,000€. The select design studios of The Expert, cover advice for interior design and interior styling as areas of expertise.
Some of the topics or aspects to be discussed in the private session with the designer usually are, furniture and home décor selection and placement; floor and construction layouts to evaluate distribution and spaces; recommendations about brands and stores to consider, as well as paint/wall treatments and drapery/window. The user can also ask them for advice in styling, like surfaces, sofas, tapestry, beds, wallpaper or, exterior design.
According to Forbes, after their beta launch in November 2020, they have a 20% repeat customer rate and have done six figures of revenue since then.
Choose Your Expert: The Best Interior Designers of the World
The Expert features a variety of design studios, including Arnold’s (Los Angeles), with the recognition of the best interior design publications in the world. Here are some of its partners:
Robert Stilin (Hamptons & New York) as one of the world’s top designers, is unquestionable; now he is available for consultations. As an avid art collector, he serves on the Director’s Council at the Whitney Museum of America. Last year he released his first monograph, Robert Stilin Interiors, published by Vendome Press. Stilin studio is known for mixing modern and contemporary art, with antiques and vintage furniture, effortlessly combined with clean architecture.
Joy Moyler (New York) is a member too, she has worked with fashion houses such as Ralph Lauren and was the US Head Designer of the Giorgio Armani Interior Design Studio, besides working with the best interior design firms such as, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Swanke Hayden Connell, John Saladino. Moyer’s aesthetic is influenced by textiles, color, depth and patterns, with bespoke details.
Martin Brudnizki Design Studio (London), is well known for luxury hospitality, with clients as Four Seasons, Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, Six Senses Luxury Resorts, and private member’s Soho House Group. The team is composed of over 70 interior designers, architects, lighting designers, product designers and art consultants; their expertise is now, at one call away.
Romanek Design Studio is frequently included in Elle Décor’s A-List. Brigette Romanek offers bespoke architecture and design, for commercial and a very VIP residential clientele, as Gwyneth Paltrow, Beyonce, Joe Jonas, Kelly Rowland, Rachel Zoe, Misty Copeland, Demi Moore, among others. Her design perspective is the opposite of trendy, she builds fresh and functional spaces that continue to inspire in the future.
Interior design masters such as Leanne Ford (Pittsburgh), Danielle Siggerud (Copenhagen) and Martyn Lawrence Bullard (Los Angeles), among many others, are now at your disposal.
Do you want to learn more about this topic? Find more in the Interior Design program.