East Coast vs. West Coast Design—is it Apples & Oranges? We made sure to find out at the DDB’s design seminar this week from two interior designers who know their design geography.
Christopher Grubb, President of Arch-Interiors Design Group, and Darren Henault, President of Darren Henault Interiors, shared their experiences in designing in New York and Los Angeles, and the differences in each coast’s design considerations from materials and finishes to budgets.
"There's certainly a difference between budgets and willingness to spend when you look at each coast," Darren said. "In New York City, people won't rip out an original room of a luxury home. It's too costly, but more importantly, it's too genuine and integral to the house's history to even consider."
"And in California, a client will have a $250,000 bathroom completely ripped out because they just don't like it," Christopher added. "It's not that budget isn't as important in California. It's just typically less expensive to renovate and there's less of a historical presence that people feel they need and want to preserve in their architecture."
"We both have felt the enormous weight of the economy on both coasts," said Christopher. "Staying within budget is absolutely imperative. People who used to not care about the cost of anything you were doing now need to know where every single penny is going."
"It's true," Darren agreed. "We and our firms are now working twice as hard for twice as long with less than half the budgets that we had 10 years ago."
After the talk, we chatted with Bobby Contini, VP Marketing of Cohen Design Centers, who also attended the seminar. “ Watching two seasoned professionals share their perspective on the similarities and differences of East coast to West Coast Design was very insightful. I really loved how extensive their talk was and how many different points they touched upon.”
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