Kaitlin Petersen

This time last week. 📷: @sandysoohoo 💐: @sarahsaundersstudio ⚓️: Manhattan II by @classicharborline

A little appreciation post for these pink coneflowers: I planted them last season and they really underperformed—the foliage was wimpy and they didn’t produce a single flower—but this year, they have been such a highlight in the garden. First, we watched in awe as they crept ever taller. Then they exploded with blooms. Now, we can wander outside at any time of day to catch several bees literally rolling in pollen. It’s the best!

February was for playing in the snow ❄️

The industry’s tendency to cultivate a sense of secrecy around costs is understandable, but it does designers a disservice. Absent helpful insights, it can lead them to leap too quickly into a big investment. It can also hold them back. Sometimes we’re so caught up in our limiting beliefs about what we can or can’t get for our money that we don’t realize what’s truly in reach. When we’re afraid to ask questions about cost, we let our assumptions color our perspective, and our goals shrink as a result. . As I wrote in the latest issue of @businessofhome magazine, I want your dreams to be huge. That’s why we devoted the issue to putting alllllllllll the cards on the table. We asked 15 designers to tell us about the best investment they’ve made in their businesses (and share some of the real numbers behind them, too). Their answers offer a healthy mix of approaches: early outlays that paved the way for future success; ongoing expenditures that keep their pipeline full; and the big, eye-popping moves that have helped them level up. Some of those investments are $2,000 or $3,000; others are well into the six figures. (If you’re not quite ready to shell out that kind of cash today, we asked 12 more designers about the best thing they’ve bought for their business that was less than $500.) . No matter where you are in your journey—with your savings account or with your career—I hope that these pages help you find the inspiration to invest in yourself, and that hearing these designers’ stories will offer a window into what’s possible, setting you on a path toward saving with purpose. And if you ever want to talk shop about money, I want to hear from you. Send me a DM! . Cover illustration by @luisa.jung.works and art direction by @hedtk ✨

Flashback to the first week of September, when we drove our boats up to Vermont for a few days of paddling on Lake Champlain—the perfect end-of-summer getaway before diving into the hustle and bustle of fall.

As I wrote in @businessofhome ’s Design Weekly newsletter yesterday, I recently came to the surprising realization that there aren’t a lot of places online or in print to go deep exploring the art of decorating. Shelter media is changing, often shifting the focus of its storytelling toward celebrity spaces or the homeowner’s renovation journey, and leaving important aspects of design unexamined. After sitting with that thought for several months, an idea began to take shape: a new interview series at BOH where we ask some of the industry’s brightest minds how they’ve developed and refined their aesthetic. Enter @timothycorrigan , who gamely agreed to kick off this series, and who sets the bar high with his candor and thoughtfulness. Back in January, I was one of a few lucky editors to join @samuelandsons for an overnight stay at his Château de la Chevallerie in the Loire Valley, pictured here, to celebrate their latest passementerie collaboration. The chateau is one of the most singular spaces I have ever experienced, and also one of the most welcoming. I marveled at how these exquisitely crafted rooms had no business being so comfortable, and yet they made us feel immediately at ease. What I know without a doubt: Ease doesn’t mean easy. The spaces that make us feel the best—the rooms that delight, or nurture, or soothe—are the result of hundreds, maybe thousands, of carefully considered choices that build upon one another. And that’s exactly what we talked about: the way comfort has defined his designs, why he always approaches a room in broad strokes before diving into the details, and the latest idea that’s transformed how he wants to his rooms to make us feel. You can find the whole conversation at businessofhome.com!

In my natural habitat.

At @businessofhome , we often talk about improving a design firm as a matter of practical tasks, like handing off procurement, or finding a way to streamline client onboarding. But working on this issue reminded me that forward momentum isn’t just about checking boxes. It’s also a state of mind. . In the latest issue of BOH magazine (in mailboxes now and live online for subscribers), we asked 10 designers to share how a simple mindset change has altered the way they show up to work, or the way they show up in their work, for the better. I’m in awe of their vulnerability, their grace and their gumption—and I think you will be too! . Have a mindset shift of your own that you want to talk about? Send me a DM! . Cover illustration by @luisa.jung.works and art direction by @hedtk ✨

The best days end like this.

In any design project, there are pitfalls lurking at every turn. It’s easy to only want to talk about success, but in the latest issue of @businessofhome magazine, we’re leaning into hard conversations about the projects that go off the rails. From inconveniences like an indecisive client to brushes with truly nightmarish contractors, 12 design firms share not only the red flags they missed, but also the lessons they learned on the road to a resolution. . One of the things that struck me about this collection on interviews is just how easy it is to jump the guardrails of established processes—to get carried away and say yes in excitement, to tell ourselves that we’re overreaching, to let something slide even when we know better. There are so many great business lessons to learn from this issue, but above all, I hope you come away from these stories more determined to stay the course when your boundaries are getting squeezed and to always listen to your gut. . Cover illustration by @luisa.jung.works and art direction by @hedtk ✨

Last weekend’s walk along the waterfront has me excited for kayaking season to begin! (Also, isn't New York neat?)

The latest issue of @businessofhome magazine is here, and it’s all about setting reasonable expectations, communicating clearly and developing trust to come out ahead in your client relationships. Think: 14 simple ways to boost your business through better onboarding, 4 project management tweaks to run a job with less stress and more trust, 5 creative approaches to gifting that will cement your status as client favorite, 8 ways to make billing a no-brainer, and so much more! I can’t wait for you to dive in—and if you haven’t already, subscribe today for full online access to the issue! . Cover illustration by @luisa.jung.works and art direction by @hedtk ✨