E85: Transforming Houses into Homes That Feel Special: Designing Spaces with Jamie Cassara

What makes Jamie Cassara with Cassara Interiors a good neighbor? 

What makes a house truly feel like home? According to Jamie Cassara, founder of Cassara Interiors, it's thoughtful design that enhances your quality of life. Walking into a well-designed space feels distinctly different from entering one that hasn't been carefully considered—a difference that can transform your daily experience.

During our conversation, Jamie takes us behind the scenes of professional interior design, dispelling common misconceptions along the way. While many confuse decorating with designing, Jamie articulates the crucial difference: "Anyone can be a decorator... whereas design goes much more into the space." True interior design involves technical expertise, spatial planning software, construction knowledge, and even the psychology of how spaces affect people emotionally.

Jamie's journey from experimenting with furniture arrangements and 90s-era sponge painting to establishing her boutique design firm showcases how passion evolves into expertise. After earning her interior design degree from Purdue University, she spent a decade specializing in luxury kitchen and bath design at Chicago's Merchandise Mart—experience that now forms the foundation of her practice. When COVID hit, Jamie rediscovered her love for creating tangible, physical spaces that people can touch and feel, ultimately leading her to launch Cassara Interiors after relocating to Pittsburgh.

Kitchen and bath renovations remain her specialty, though her services range from virtual consultations to single-room makeovers to complete home transformations. What sets her approach apart is unwavering communication and customer service: "Our goal is really just to make your home feel special to you." This client-centered philosophy has fueled organic growth through word-of-mouth referrals in Pittsburgh's relationship-driven market.

Ready to transform your space into one you truly love? Visit Cassarainteriorscom or follow Jamie on Instagram to see her latest projects, and schedule your initial 15-minute consultation directly through her website.

To learn more about Cassara Interiors go to: 

http://cassarainteriors.com/

Cassara Interiors

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Lila Carter.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of an interiordesigner?
One might be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Jamie Kacera, with KaceraInteriors.
Jamie, how's it going Good?
How are you Very well?

(00:34):
Thanks so much.
We're excited to hear all aboutyou and your business, so
please tell us more about yourcompany.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
Yeah, so Kacera Interiors, we're a boutique
interior design firm.
We work on projects that couldbe virtual Sometimes it's just
one room.
We can work on a full home andmost of what we do.
We do a lot of kitchen and bathrenovations and our goal is to
kind of help our clients createa space that they love.

(01:05):
We like to create flow andorganization in the room, kind
of take the burden off of themand help them design their space
that feels comfortable and aspace that they're proud of.
Really, we believe that gooddesign enhances the quality of
life.
You feel a difference when youwalk into a space that's well

(01:26):
designed compared to a spacethat really hasn't been thought
through very well.
So, yeah, our overall goal isjust to kind of really create
spaces for our clients that theylove to Very cool.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
So how did you get into this business, Jamie?

Speaker 3 (01:54):
How did you get into this business?
So I, when I was younger Iguess we'll go back to when I
was younger I used to kind ofrearrange spaces in my own home
to try to make it better in myparents' home.
Actually, I did the spongepainting on the walls, all those
things that were in back inlike the 90s, early 2000s but

(02:16):
and that kind of gave me adesire to want to better at it.
So I decided to go to schoolfor it and learned quickly that
there is a lot more to interiordesign than just moving around
furniture and sponge paintingwalls.
But um, I went to purdue forfour years, uh, got my

(02:37):
bachelor's in interior designand then moved to chicago and
started in luxury kitchen andbath in the merchandise mart.
So I worked in it was basicallya kitchen bath custom furniture
.
We were a partner to a lot ofinterior designers and
architects and industryrepresentatives.

(03:02):
But I did that for about 10years and really got a ton of
experience of, you know, thebread and butter of most homes,
which is kitchens and baths.
So at a certain point I got alittle bit burnt out 12-hour
days just hustling, you knowwhen you're kind of building

(03:26):
your career.
I actually took a step out ofinterior design for a little to
help my husband run his businesswhich was a media service
company, and I kind of just tookinterior design and moved it
kind of more of like digitaldesign, which is very different.
And it was great to be in thatspace for a little because I

(03:47):
understood, I learned andunderstood how to run a business
, what all goes into it.
And then eventually, when COVIDhit kind of, I realized how
much I missed doing design anddoing interiors and having that
tangible, you know thing thatyou can touch and feel, and I

(04:11):
kind of missed that.
So I went back into interiordesign and eventually when we
moved to Pittsburgh about threeand a half years ago, I just
decided to just go for it andstart my own company and kind of
put together all the knowledgethat I've had over my 10 plus
years experience in the designworld, plus another four or five
in the business world, andthat's kind of how it started.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
What a cool journey you have.
So are there any maybe myths ormisconceptions that you'd like
to talk about today when itcomes to the design industry?

Speaker 3 (04:48):
Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of times people say, oh,
can you come and decorate myhome?
And I think that's definitelypart of interior design.
But interior if I think there'sdifference between a decorator
and designer, right, Anyone canbe a decorator, you can kind of
figure it out, Whereas designgoes much more into the space

(05:11):
Understanding, you know, usingtechnical programs to lay out
the space, understanding youknow the basis of construction,
the psychology of the space.
I mean there's just a lot more.
I think that goes into interiordesign as a whole.
And then obviously, thedecorating is important at the

(05:33):
end of it, just to kind of wealways call it styling here, but
kind of just finish off thefinal layer.
So, and I think, yeah, so Ithink that's one thing I've come
across a lot is just, oh,you're a decorator, Like, can
you help me decorate my home?
And kind of just let and justeducating our clients and people

(05:56):
.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
that that is a little bit different than just, you
know, putting some faces on adisplay now, do you do the
styling aspects at the end ofyour projects or do you have a
separate interior decorator thatyou hire?

Speaker 3 (06:12):
so it depends um.
I'm currently working on aproject we just finished and I'm
helping them with their styling, so I do have a styling package
that I'll do.
Um, styling in itself is it isa whole another beast in the
interior design industry.
Um, because I'm a solo designer, I actually have started

(06:32):
talking to local stylists.
That's what they do all thetime.
They're more of the decorator'sstylist.
They help with photo shoots andthings like that and they kind
of come alongside interiordesigners and kind of help take
that off our plate so that wecan focus on more of the design
aspect, and then they can kindof pull in the styling.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
Very cool.
So who are your targetcustomers, then, as we're
thinking of marketing as theheart of every business, and how
are you currently attractingthem to the firm?

Speaker 3 (07:03):
Yeah, I so I mean when I, when I came in here,
like I said, kitchen and bath ismy bread and butter, that's
kind of what I know the best.
I'm always, and I think, movinghere I had a couple of friends
who knew that about me, so theyreferred me to their friends or
parents or whoever.

(07:23):
So I've gotten a lot of.
I kind of got started there.
And then Google I've gottenquite a few referrals from
Google and a few from Instagramas well.
So it's kind of one of thosethings.
It's been very organic and Ithink Pittsburgh's kind of one
of those markets where ifsomeone, if you, do a great job

(07:48):
for someone, they'll refer themto somebody else and they'll
take their word for it andthey'll just hire you.
They don't even look at otherdesigners but, um, most of the
time, but yeah, I mean a lot of,it's just excellent, and so
have you ever thought aboutmaybe doing your own podcast to
reach your target audience?

(08:11):
um, I, I think podcasts aregreat.
I think right now my bandwidthis not there yet.
Um, I would love to you knoweventually.
I have a couple of freelancersthat help me out right now but,
um, as I continue to kind ofgrow, it might be a side hustle
for me.
Um, but I think right now we alot like we've kept busy just by

(08:37):
word of mouth and just throughGoogle and Instagram.
So, um, until I get to thepoint where I might want to
bring another level um to thebusiness, that is something on
the back burner.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
And outside of work.
What do you do for fun?

Speaker 3 (08:54):
I love running, reading.
My husband got a camper, sowe've been traveling in the
camper and just traveling ingeneral or getting together with
friends.
My daughter's in kindergartennow, so a lot of my free time as
well.
But yeah, those are a fewthings.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
Oh, very nice.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
And so, jamie, please tell our listeners one thing
that they should remember aboutCoursera interiors I think just
one thing to remember is that, Imean, our goal is really just
to make your home feel specialto you and kind of our customer

(09:40):
service.
I think it's one thing thatthroughout my career, we realize
how important customer serviceis.
You know when people don't getback to you in a timely manner
or when, or communication.
So I think we some things thatwe do really well during a
project is communicate and andkind of really our goal is to

(10:07):
make our clients happy at theend of the day and make it a
space that they love.
So we will do that, you know,no matter what make it a space
that they love.

Speaker 2 (10:16):
So we will do that, you know, no matter what.

Speaker 3 (10:21):
And how can our listeners learn more about
Casera Interiors?
You can visit us on our website, caserainteriorscom.
I also post a lot of updates onprojects, or even some projects
that we're working on, onInstagram so you can kind of get
a snapshot of, you know, someof the types of work that we do
and the process and things likethat.
If you go on our website andyou just I always like, before

(10:44):
starting a project, I alwayslike to have like a 15 minute
chat just to learn a little bitmore you can schedule that
directly on my website, click onthe link and then schedule a
time to talk with me and thensee if I, I you have a space
that I can help with.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
Excellent.
Well, Jamie, I very muchappreciate your time today and
having you as a guest on theshow.
We wish you and your businessthe best moving forward.

Speaker 1 (11:14):
Thank you for listening to the good neighbor
podcast to nominate yourfavorite the best moving forward
.