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Barbara Ostrom: Curtain Up! Thirty Years of Spectacular Showhouse Rooms

Episode 08 of A Well-Designed Business®
08: Barbara Ostrom: Curtain Up! Thirty Years of Spectacular Showhouse Rooms

Today’s guest is the queen of show houses: Barbara Ostrom! Barbara attended New York University and New York school of Interior Design and then went on to get her masters in architectural design from Pratt and received a graduate certificate from Sorbonne in Paris. After working as, a designer’s assistant for 8 years and then working with a company that designs stores she decided to start her own business. When Barbara first started out showhouse rooms were not popular. Since then she has really shown that she knows how to work the showhouse rooms. You can check out some of her fantastic showhouse rooms in her book: “Curtain Up!: Thirty Years of Spectacular Showhouse Rooms”.

Barbara will share in this episode:

  • What is a showhouse?
  • Why are showhouse rooms important to an interior designer?
  • Invent a client when doing a showroom
  • Use colors!
  • Drafts for rooms!
  • Everything is out of pocket!
  • Do a room that people will remember
  • Don’t be afraid to ask!
  • The room that always get clients
  • Her best tips for running a showhouse
  • The process after a showhouse is finished

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

What Level is Your Design Business?