The Houzz Blog

Ivy today launched its first-ever app for interior designers and other design business professionals. With features like task management, real-time expense and time tracking, talk-to-text note taking and more, design pros can manage multiple projects in one place and on the go.

The new Ivy app enables designers to:

Find up-to-date information on the status of all products -- from proposal to payment to installation.

Take photos of products while sourcing in-person at showrooms, or at trade shows, and enter all the relevant product information right in the app. View or assign products to a project from your complete product library.

Track current project spend, making meetings more productive and helping clients and projects stay on budget.

Capture and store accurate project dimensions to reference when selecting products for the space, using the built-in augmented reality room measurement tool.

You may have spotted designer Jenny Rausch from Karr Bick Kitchen and Bath in the “My Houzz” Season 1 episode with Jenna Fischer. We caught up with her to learn more about Jenny’s approach to design and what inspires her.

What got you started in your career? My mom, who never really meddled in my life, sent a letter to a local kitchen and bath showroom and told them I was really talented and could design kitchens. At the time, I could not, but I learned really fast!

Growing up, my parents had a construction company where my mom designed spaces and my dad installed them, so she thought I would be a natural. I guess moms really do know best!

What is your design philosophy? If it feels like home, follow the path. Everything we do is focused on family, from the way we design to the way we treat our people, our clients and our designs. We want everyone to feel something when they enter a space and typically that feeling is warmth and comfort. We try to create a place they can enjoy with family and friends.

Where’s the most unexpected place you’ve found design inspiration? My dreams. I process design problems quite vividly when I sleep. I see beautiful things in my dreams that seem way beyond my capabilities as a designer. I think it’s proof that we really only use a tiny percentage of our brain’s capacity.

What trend are you most excited about right now? Green! It’s finally coming back! It’s my favorite color to use inside because it’s so warm and comforting. It left us for a while and I have been very disgruntled about it.

What do you geek out on when it comes to design? Anything old in terms of architecture, especially the Biltmore in Asheville, NC. I can walk around the Biltmore for hours and just soak in the greatness of its bones. I pretty much cry every time I go. It tugs on my soul and plays with my emotions in a very profound way.

What excites you the most about going to work every day? I love to problem solve. It’s in my blood. Everything we do is solving a problem, whether it’s space planning, color selections, a client compromising with their spouse or a hidden pipe in the wrong place. It’s all about finding the best possible solution that works for everyone.

What is your favorite part of the design process? I love to space plan - sitting down with my paper and figuring out the puzzle of the space. It’s very rewarding to dynamically change the function of a space, to make something that was not useful for a family into something that makes their lives better.

A member of our Industry Solutions team, Danielle helps companies in the home design industry to connect with homeowners. She hails from our Asia Pacific headquarters in Sydney, Australia, and enjoys traveling, hitting the beach and planning where she’ll find a delicious bowl of pasta!

What brought you to Houzz? I was looking for a new and exciting challenge and a friend who was working for Houzz at the time, spoke very highly of his experience. He made an introduction to another member of the team so that I could learn more about the role, and the rest (as they say) is history!

What do you do at Houzz? I work with companies in the home design industry to identify which audiences they are trying to reach. That way, we can create digital marketing solutions that expand the recognition of their company and connect them with homeowners in a meaningful way.

What do you like most about your role? I’ve always been a people person. I thrive off of good conversations and relationship building and that’s what initially drew me to the Industry Solutions team. Houzz created a great foundation for me to develop fundamental professional skills in that role. Now that I have transitioned from working with home professionals to working with brands, I love that I have the opportunity to strengthen these skills further as I’m exposed to national and international businesses. I’m extremely grateful for the growth opportunities I’ve had.

What is your favorite Houzz feature? The Color Picker Tool where users can identify similar paint colors from any item seen in photos on Houzz. This is an amazing product for both consumers and brands, and just a sample of our innovative technology!

What’s something that has surprised you about working here? You hear everyone say it, but it really is the people that surprise you the most. I’ve worked at other organizations which felt like a tight-knit family at the time, but this is on another level! It’s a really supportive working environment.

What advice do you have for others looking to start their careers? Find your niche, develop your style and be creative in your pitch. If you can find a way to relate, be authentic and work hard, it’ll pay off!

What is your most productive time of day? Mid-morning, once my morning coffee takes full effect!

How have you used Houzz at home? I moved to a new apartment when I first started at Houzz, so the timing was uncanny. I found great inspiration for my home on Houzz!

This summer, our Orange County and Nashville offices welcomed interns to support our Marketplace, Industry Solutions and Trade teams. Here is what a few of them had to say about their experience at Houzz.

Yao Lin: (Marketplace) What I Learned: Over the past few months, I’ve gotten a behind-the-scenes look at the Houzz Shop. There are so many components that go into maintaining the quality of not only the products sold on Houzz, but more importantly, the quality of relationships between Houzz, its vendors and its customers.

Favorite Thing About Houzz: One thing I love about Houzz is that, even though Houzz has definitely grown from its initial stage as a startup company to the established one it is today, it has not lost sight of its startup roots — that is the value of continuously questioning, learning and adapting. At Houzz, everyone is open to new suggestions and recommendations. It is evident that Houzz does not settle with its success and as a company, is always seeking a better way to go about its day-to-day business.

Leah Gilchrist: (Marketplace) What I Learned: I learned time management and communication skills as part of the Houzz team. There were always different tasks that needed to be completed, so it was important to allocate time wisely. Working as part of the Marketplace team requires daily communication with external sellers and effective communication leads to more efficient problem solving.

Favorite Thing About Houzz: My favorite thing about Houzz was the company culture. There was always something going on in the office, and it was refreshing to work with such enthusiastic people. I also really liked getting to look at home decor and furniture daily!

Lauren Gusikoski (Industry Solutions) What I Learned: Through shadowing nearly every department, I saw the importance of each and every team member at Houzz. Each department is truly crucial to the daily operations and widespread success of Houzz.

Favorite Thing About Houzz: My favorite thing about Houzz was how incredibly smart, kind, and well rounded the employees here were. I learned so much just from hearing employees converse with one another on how to more efficiently complete a task or make a customer's experience better. Every Houzzer wanted me to be successful this summer and let me schedule meetings with them to learn about their career or just answer any of the thousands of questions I had! Our leaders at Houzz want us to thrive and are willing to sacrifice their time to make sure we flourish.

Maggie Lakeman: (Trade) What I Learned: Working with the Trade team taught me how important diction is in communicating the value of a service to your customers.

While project backlogs remain higher than the same period last year, home renovation and design businesses in the construction sector and architectural design services sector experienced a decline in project backlog, according to the Q3 2018 Houzz Backlog Indicator.* The Houzz Backlog Indicator tracks the average number of weeks before a business can start work on a new midsize project and is a component of the U.S. Houzz Renovation Barometer.

Construction Sector The Backlog Indicator revealed that companies in the construction sector experienced project backlogs of 6.5 weeks nationally (down 3.4 weeks from Q2). Backlog declined among all three reporting business groups but most significantly for specialty trade contractors to three weeks (down 5.2 weeks from Q2). Build-only remodeler backlog declined to 9.8 weeks (down 0.9 weeks from Q2) and design and build remodeler backlog declined to 11.4 weeks (down 1.5 weeks from Q2). That said, overall backlog for the construction sector is nearly two weeks higher than the same period last year (4.6 weeks in Q3 2017).

Architectural and Design Services Sector In contrast to the quarterly decline experienced by the construction sector, the architectural and design services sector held steady quarter-over quarter at 5.6 weeks nationally. Among the three reporting business groups, architects’ backlog declined by one week to 4.5 weeks, landscape architects’ backlog increased to 6.6 weeks (up 1.5 weeks from Q2), and interior designers’ backlog remained somewhat steady at 7.4 weeks (up 0.4 weeks from Q2). Compared to last year, backlog for the architectural and design services sector as a whole is 1.6 weeks higher (versus four weeks in Q3 2017).

In addition to increasing year-over-year backlog, expectations for project inquiries and new projects in Q3 are high. The overall outlook for the home improvement market remains strong through the end of the year and beyond, according to our principal economist, Nino Sitchinava. For more of Nino’s insight on the market, check out her latest blog post here.

Liadesign is an Italy-based interior design firm that focuses on everything from decor and space planning to kitchen and bathroom renovations. Founder Lia Lovisolo shares her design style, where she finds inspiration, her favorite project, and more.

What is your design style? My style is linear and clean, not necessarily minimal, but based on simple elements, geometric graphics and pure colors. I always try to play with the unexpected and create a connection between aesthetic and practical purposes.

How did you get started in your career? I started my career when I was renovating my own house. I had a degree in architecture, but was working in another profession. While taking care of my home, from the construction phase to the more detailed interior design phase, a love for the work and the determination to carry it forward was born.

Where is the most unexpected place you’ve found design inspiration? I find a lot of inspiration while observing urban landscapes and nature in general, but the most unexpected inspirations derive from the study of small details that are noticed only by observing things closely. Photography often helps me to capture these details.

What trend are you most excited about right now? The trend that most excites me now is the use of color and geometric shapes in interior decoration. I am fascinated by the unusual color combinations and uncommon patterns, the composition of shapes and colors, the mixture of curved lines and broken lines, and the ability to create harmony through decoration without necessarily having to do demolition and reconstruction.

What was a challenge you encountered during a project and how did you solve it? The most compelling challenges often concern small houses and the solution of problems, practical or aesthetic, related to small rooms or disadvantageous proportions. One of the most beautiful challenges I recently faced was the creation of a kitchen with a peninsula in a really small and especially narrow room. The clients did not want to eat on a table leaning against the wall. So, I invented an hexagonal sliding peninsula, which had both a worktop and a dining table function (photo here).

What is one of your designer secrets/tricks? In my opinion the most important secret or trick for a designer is the ability to listen and know how to wait. Knowing how to listen helps with understanding the client’s needs and their psychology. Understanding the customer is essential for carrying out the work in an optimal manner, and saves time and resources. Patience is also important because often the best decisions are those made with no hurry.

What’s one of your favorite all-time projects? What made it stand out? One of my favorite projects of all time is a Milan apartment where I used a lot of colors to define spaces and create harmony (photo here). What makes it outstanding, above my other projects, is the color range, the relationship between cold and warm shades, and the dialogue between colors and rooms.

If you were a house, what kind of home would you be? If I were a house, I would certainly be a period villa, full of design and art pieces from the great masters of the 20th Century - something like Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan or Villa Borsani in Varedo.

What’s your favorite building or space in the world? I have many: ancient, modern and contemporary architecture. I am particularly fond of the work of Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye.

What’s your favorite room in your home? The room I love the most in my house is the living room, with a large bright bow window overlooking the garden (photo here).

What’s your favorite part of Houzz? What I enjoy most about Houzz is that it’s international and cosmopolitan, a place where different attitudes and design cultures meet and mutually enrich each other. It draws on projects from around the world and helps both designers and homeowners to broaden their views.

Set to a serene garden backdrop, it was a beautiful day for this year’s offsite retreat. Continuing the annual tradition that began in Houzz’s early years to foster our sense of family, Houzzers from our HQ office in Palo Alto took a break to come together for a day of team building, games, art classes and guided yoga.

The photos below are some of our favorites from the day:

Teams worked together to complete group challenges.

Houzzers expressed their artistic sides during watercolor classes.

Zen moments doing waterfront yoga.

The team dined on a healthy lunch al fresco.

Houzzers broke out in pairs and small groups to get to know more about each other.

A jazz band provided lively background music to kick off and end the day.

Surprise visit from local food trucks.

High school seniors, undergraduates, and graduate students of architecture, interior design, landscape architecture or construction management, are invited to apply for the Houzz Scholarship Program, which supports the next generation of home professionals.

Houzz awards four $2,500 scholarships in the categories of ‘Women in Architecture’, ‘Residential Design’, ‘Sustainable Residential Design’ and ‘Residential Construction Management’ biannually in the spring and fall.

In addition to submitting a brief essay on their design and architecture influences, students are invited to create a Houzz professional student profile to showcase their portfolio of work and network with more than two million active home professionals around the world. Students 18 years of age or older can apply at houzz.com/scholarships.

Fall 2018 winners included:

Women in Architecture: Anjelica Gallegos (studying architecture at Yale University)

Residential Design: Kendrick Wyman (studying landscape architecture at the University of Colorado Denver)

Sustainable Residential Design: Janet Ni (studying architecture at Rice University)

Residential Construction Management: Meairra Grayson (studying construction management at California State University, Long Beach)

This week, the National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales saw a four month decline in July to their slowest pace in over two years.

Houzzers from our Berlin office, which houses our Houzz Germany and Houzz Italy teams, kicked off a new tradition this year with a summer retreat at the beach! The teams have been growing at a rapid pace, so the event helped to foster our sense of family. Activities included beach volleyball, soccer, table tennis and yoga.

Check out a few of our favorite photos from the day:

Houzzers enjoyed activities both in and out of the water.

Guided yoga on the lawn.

Delicious food was served throughout the day, including a salad buffet, a sweets station and this burger bar.

Houzz Berlin is growing! Check out career opportunities at houzz.com/jobs.

Joni is on the Marketplace team helping brands sell their products on the Houzz Shop. Based in our Orange County office, Joni enjoys taking Norm (her Yorkie) on walks and helping him train for puppy school.

What do you do at Houzz? I work closely with our sellers to help them upload products on the Houzz Shop, which includes vetting them for quality assurance, reviewing images and helping them to hone product descriptions to best represent their products for our customers.

What do you like most about your job? I really enjoy building close relationships with our sellers. It’s exciting to work with them to showcase their products on the Houzz Shop. Watching these companies grow and thrive selling on our platform is an amazing part of the job.

What’s something that has surprised you about working at Houzz? I’m surprised at how close I have become with my team. I don’t refer to my colleagues as “coworkers”, I call them “friends”. It’s a very supportive environment and we have fun working (and eating) together. It’s great to be part of a company that truly embodies the team mentality, having each others backs and helping out when needed.

What qualities are important for the role of a product coordinator? Our quality assurance process requires rigorous data review, so it’s important to be detail oriented and have the ability to move seamlessly between tasks in order to review all information and make products available on the Houzz Shop.

What is your most productive time of day? I like to finish the work day strong, so I’m most productive in the afternoons.

What are your favorite types of products on the Houzz Shop? My favorite products on Houzz are the rugs because they add so much personality to a room and are almost like art pieces! This Nourison Contour Rug has always stood out to me because I’m a big fan of turquoise.

What is your favorite decor style? Eclectic. I love spaces that show off your personality, including fun and unique pieces and items that have a personal connection or backstory. You can really see a person shine through their home decor.

France may have taken home the 2018 FIFA World Cup victory, but everyone was a winner at the Houzz World Cup and Soccer event at our London office last month! Our team hails from all over the world, so a global sports tournament seemed like the perfect time to celebrate our family, and have a little friendly competition.

Houzzers enjoyed a BBQ and a variety of games in our London office’s backyard. Here are a few of our favorite photos from the event:

Houzzers got in to the World Cup spirit with exciting foosball matches.

Inflatable human foosball gave everyone a hands on (or “feets on”) experience.

Our co-founder Adi Tatarko with team members from the U.S., Russia, Japan, Spain and Germany.

Taking a break from the athletics, Houzzers connected over delicious kabobs and other tasty snacks.

It was all smiles among Houzzers from our U.S. sales team who were in town.

An ice cream truck made a surprise visit to help everyone cool down after a sporty afternoon.

As part of our educational program for pros, we recently hosted two webinars with experts from the lighting and bathroom furniture industries. These webinars are an integral part of our Houzz Trade Program, in which our team works to provide the best products, prices and resources for our professional community.

Thomas Wright, an award-winning lighting designer who designs collections for Savoy House, joined us to discuss industry trends and best practices for selecting and installing all types of lights and ceiling fans. Pros loved the very specific guidelines he shared for the size and placement of fixtures in the home. For example, the size of a ceiling fan should correlate directly to the square footage of the room you’re placing it in. A room that’s more than 400 square feet should incorporate a fan 60 inches in diameter, or two smaller fans should be used instead. A 100-square-foot room should have a fan 42 inches in diameter. Watch our lighting webinar for more best practices on installing chandeliers, pendants, vanity and outdoor lights.

Ben Alliker, an expert in the decorative plumbing and hardware industry, joined us to discuss bathroom vanity trends and installation tips. Most recently director of national sales at Ronbow, he has firsthand knowledge of the innovation taking place in bathroom furniture. For example, vanities are now being built with enhanced features such as USB ports and charging stations. They include storage for specific bathroom products like shampoos and hair dryers, and some even come with a built-in toilet. For more trends and vanity installation tips, watch our vanity trends webinar.

You may have caught Dave Spetrino, president of PBC Design+Build, in the latest episode of “My Houzz,” when skateboarder Tony Hawk enlists his help for a special renovation. We talked with Dave to learn more about his building philosophy, where he finds inspiration and his favorite parts of the My Houzz renovation - check out what he had to say below.

What is your building philosophy? Some days it feels like the world is against you when you’re designing, budgeting and then constructing a home. I know it’s not rocket science or brain surgery but for most clients, what we do for them is about the most money and effort they’ll ever expend. It’s a worthy challenge.

With any project you’re committed to delivering on quality, schedule and budget – all equally important components to a successful project, but never willing to cooperate with one another in reality.

At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself: Is this “place” better because of our hard work? Does it feel good? Are our clients smiling? Am I smiling? Do I deserve a milkshake? As long as the answer continues to be yes, I’ll continue to show up the next day.

Where’s the most unexpected place you’ve found inspiration? Travel has been a tremendous benefit. I can’t go anywhere without seeing something within the built environment – from any country or century – that doesn’t have an effect on me.

What trend are you most excited about right now? I’m not much of a ‘gadget guy’ but I am continually impressed with what technology, mobile apps and intuitive features are doing for home building right now. The benefits of technology and the speed with which they are being implemented into construction will continue to benefit our clients, and it’s only getting better and better with time.

What are clients asking you for? The whole point of custom home building is to allow your client to set their dreams in your hands and then trust you to deliver. It’s a serious role to take on and the ability to translate that information into something tangible is an art.

It’s more than features or finishes, what our clients are really asking us for is to guide them, use our knowledge to help them make good decisions, and prevent them from missing an opportunity to do something great.

What do you geek out on when it comes to design/construction? I am such a sucker for light fixtures. I think they’re the hardest detail to commit to – it’s probably why I push a lot of clients to concealed or can lights and then limit the number of decorative fixtures to the most compelling places within a home to keep them from feeling overwhelmed.

You can set the entire ‘vibe’ of a home with a sconce or chandelier – a light fixture can create a conversation or set the mood as soon as you walk into a space. Light is powerful, and that mode of delivery cannot be understated.

What is one of your design secrets/ tricks? There are always a couple of “cheats” where we seem to get more from a design without having to put too much of our budget toward a feature. This usually comes from our designer who will choose a special element within the design and celebrate it. Sometimes it’s well defined symmetry or an interior connection that extends to the exterior. Other times it’s just the use of a detail that has meaning to our owners.

Basically, the secret is just being thoughtful about how your client may better appreciate a space well after you’ve moved on to the next project. That’s really the best way to leave your ‘mark.’

What’s your favorite building or space in the world? Maybe it’s my lust for travel or a nostalgia of sorts but I love train stations. New, old, repurposed into a museum, I can’t get enough of these iconic buildings. The ceiling heights, ornamentation, the elegant organization of moving people from space to space within a building, I’m continually transported in both space and time!

Going to Omaha? Visit the Durham. Going to Paris? Don’t miss the Orsay!

What did you enjoy most about this particular project? We loved meeting the family. They were amazing in all the right ways.

They trusted this specific process (move out and don’t ask questions!) and they were genuinely grateful and truly overwhelmed at the reveal.

Kerry’s reaction was the best! It was the moment where “it all came together.” It is an amazing feeling to make a difference in someone’s life and the joy from Kerry permeated to everything. It really is unlike anything we’ve ever done before professionally and it felt good to be a part of that happiness.

But don’t get me wrong, meeting Tony Hawk was incredible! He is so cool. Did I mention Tony and I are friends?

What is your favorite element in the space from this project? There are some really cool features within Brad and Kerry’s home that became the ‘bookends’ for the renovation. In many ways the farm table became the centerpiece for the whole house – not just as a piece of furniture but in what it represented to the family as the centerpiece for the way they live.

Also, the ability to re-purpose some of the existing elements. The reclaimed wood and the sliding barn doors within the new living room. I love seeing ‘something old and something new’ in such a personal project like this.

Chrissy Bonney, our Interior Designer at PBC, was completely in tune with Kerry’s vibe. The family spends a lot of time together and the house was somewhat disjointed; an open concept was introduced to allow the main living area flow easily into the kitchen.

The latest episode of “My Houzz” is here, featuring professional skateboarder Tony Hawk as he surprises his longtime friend, Kerry Overman, with a secret renovation of her home in Hampstead, North Carolina.

Tony uses Houzz to completely transform Kerry’s kitchen, living room and bathroom. He finds PBC Design + Build from the Houzz community, uses ideabooks to collaborate on ideas, and purchases products and materials from the Houzz Shop. He even helped with demolition by kicking down the family room wall himself! The end result? A more functional and bright space that honors Kerry’s rustic style.

After working with the Industry Solutions team in London to help home professionals build their brands and connect with homeowners, Giorgia recently returned to our Berlin office, where she’s helping to train the next generation of Industry Solutions team members. When she isn’t traveling the world, you might find her indulging her passion for food or playing sports, especially running, trekking and snowboarding.

You’ve worked at two of our international offices, tell us about how your career has progressed with Houzz. Initially, I was drawn to working at a young, fast-growing, international tech company in Berlin. I had the opportunity to relocate to our London office to assist with the launch of Industry Solutions in Italy. It was an exciting challenge and an amazing opportunity to bring a great product to a new market.

I recently moved back to Berlin, where I will have the opportunity to train new team members. I feel pretty lucky to work with teams across our international offices and support their growth.

What is your favorite Industry Solutions feature? The photo localization is my favorite tool. It’s extremely powerful for professionals to be able to showcase their work to geographically targeted audiences.

What do you like most about your job? I like the fact that we’re helping professionals grow their businesses through our platform. It’s so important. Beyond that, I enjoy the office environment. Working with motivated, smart and ambitious colleagues inspires me to commit to high standards of achievement every day. Being able to speak different languages throughout the day is also a unique and enriching part of the job.

What’s something that has surprised you about working at Houzz? Despite being an international company, distances seem very small. We communicate and share ideas daily with colleagues in offices around the world. I also appreciate the fact that Houzz has a very flat organization and that leadership is very approachable. It makes every process lean and fast.

What advice do you have for others looking to start their career? Be driven, patient and motivated. If you believe in yourself and in what you’re selling, you’ll see the outcome of your work sooner than you expect!