Stephanie Lindsey wanted to be Ty Pennington when she grew up.
It all started in the early 2000s when she watched "Trading Spaces" on TLC. Pennington was the carpenter on the reality show, where neighbors surprise remodel a room for each other in a matter of days and with a small budget.
Lindsey, co-founder and principal designer at Etch Design Group in Austin, Texas, was a high schooler at the time and completely enamored by the process.
“I just thought, ‘I want his job. It just seems super cool, and I love the creative side," said Lindsey.
She also credits her chosen interior design route to her mother’s affinity for home improvement. It wouldn’t be unusual for Lindsey to get home from school to a completely rearranged house or for her mother to pick up do-it-yourself projects such as reupholstering furniture.
That introduction eventually led Lindsey to studying at the Interior Designers Institute in Newport Beach, California, then working with a homebuilder, and ultimately, in 2015, starting Etch Design with business partner Jessica Nelson.
The firm primarily does residential work with some commercial. Lindsey said the firm doesn’t have a primary aesthetic; instead, its design leads with color, pattern, and texture.
“Over time, clients came to us for different things,” she said. “So if you look at our portfolio, you’ll see Spanish hacienda, you’ll see modern, you’ll see transitional.”
Most recently, Lindsey has expanded into educating designers, builders, and vendors about how to use artificial intelligence in their businesses through a new venture called AI for Interiors.
Using AI has been a surprisingly accepted approach by clients who receive weekly project check-ins written by a chatbot (and checked by Lindsey) or see their two-dimensional designs come to life through visualization tools such as Midjourney. Or even while talking through a design, Lindsey can produce an AI image using keywords to help understanding the client’s wishes.
“We'll take their top images and put it into AI and have AI describe it,” said Lindsey. “That’s where we get those keywords, and then we'll flip it and put those words back into AI and have Midjourney create more images.”
Expect more designers to use AI, said Lindsey, who’s seen a “surge of adoption” in the past six months.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
What is a major interior design mistake you see people make and what’s the solution?
Buying everything from one store because then it looks like a showroom and everything's a little bit too matchy-matchy. Part of what makes a space feel complete is having that curated feel from multiple places and it feels more well thought out. It adds a little bit of interest.
I think people do this because it’s easy and doesn’t feel overwhelming.
My solution is to pick one or two things that you absolutely love and build from that. It could be a rug that you fall in love with. It could even be an art piece that you start with. Or it could be a blue sofa.
That’s your foundation and your inspiration. Then, use that to go to other sources to mix it up and add complementary pieces. You always have that one foundational route to come back to every time.
Any small mistakes you can always spot?
For decades, everyone used an off-white, biscuit color for all outlets, switches, and covers. Sometimes homeowners will update the whole house, but not update that, and it instantly feels dated.
Small interior design changes with big impact?
Generally, less is more. Even if it’s decluttering and getting rid of some stuff, the house is probably going to look better than replacing things.
This could be too many vases, accessories, throw blankets on the couch, pillows — too much stuff. When you go to sell your home, the advice we’ve always received from stagers and photographers is that less is better in a photo than too much stuff.
More and more homeowners want a space that feels like a relief from the world. It feels comfortable and complete, but like a retreat. And a lot of times, lighting comes into play with that.
If you add some lamps or some undercabinet lighting — anything a different level changes the mood, and it completely changes the way you feel in a space.
You can feel a lot better in your home by just adding a couple of table lamps, a floor lamp, some undercabinet light, and even dimmer switches.
Many homeowners seem to struggle with scale — their rug is too big, or their art is too small. Do you see that?
You see a pretty picture online, but it's really hard to understand how that's going to fit in your space. Make sure that you get the measurements, put blue tape on the floor, and understand how big that piece really is before you purchase it is really helpful.
Sometimes the rug is either too small or too big, and most often it’s too small. With rugs specifically, the cost goes up with each bigger size, so clients will go, "OK, well, what if we just go with a smaller size? It's the same rug." But typically, it then feels out of scale.
What’s the best way to approach wall art?
For art, people tend to also go smaller. I would say maybe go one size up, just as a general rule.
I'm on board with a single piece versus a collage. I think all are necessary and all are welcome in any home, but make sure that you don't do too much in one space.
Don’t do five walls of collages in your living room and dining room. Maybe do one wall that you really love and then do a single piece in the others.
What’s your opinion on the open floor plan?
I feel like this is a big debate because people are going back to having sectioned-off spaces instead of the open floor plan. I personally lean to having a balance because I think that the open floor plan still has its place.
Having sectioned off spaces for the other areas — like your formal dining and your homework space or your office space — those areas still have their own place and can be more solitude. The kitchen living space still feels like it has a big connection for me.
If you're an entertainer, having a formal dining is really essential. If you are an introvert and you don't want anyone over at your house, then you don't need formal dining.