Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007

Friends make design hobby into a business

by Kenneth Lassiter

Two Oskaloosan friends are turning a hobby into a new interior design business with Harmony Interiors.

Phyllis Edmonds and Jeanne Hanson officially started up the business in June. After working in dental offices for 35 years, Edmonds said she was looking for something different, and Hanson, who works as a patient representative at the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, had collaborated with her in the past on some interior design work for other friends and family. Edmonds’ daughters suggested the two make the work a paying trade and Harmony Interiors was formed.

“I had stopped working in dental offices and didn’t really want to go back,” said Edmonds, who lives in rural Oskaloosa with her husband, Ron. They have three grown daughters and six grandchildren. “I wanted to do something different. My kids said, ‘You’ve helped people pick out kitchen counters and pick out curtains and other things. Why not start charging?’ I guess I never thought of it as a saleable talent but, really, it is.”

The idea made sense to Phyllis and Jeanne, who had at one point helped each other decorate the interior of their own houses. Their first collaboration was the lower level of a house for a friend.

“Phyllis has a really good eye for colors and what would look good with what,” said Hanson, who lives in Oskaloosa and has two grown children. “We went in to fix a problem situation on the lower level of the house and the owners trusted us enough to ask what we would do and then said ‘Just do it,’ and it worked out well.”

The name of the fledgling business came from the duo’s thought process while going into a new situation to find the best design for a client’s home or office.

“We want to come in and do something that fits together with what you like but also looks nice,” Edmonds said. “That gives it a sense of harmony, and that’s how we came up with the name. It’s things like using colors to bring a house’s interior together and incorporating what people like into the equation.”

Word of mouth has helped the business along in its early months. Edmonds is the primary person in the business as Hanson views it as a kind of side project to her job at the hospital. Both say the business is more of a fun diversion than anything they are looking to for sustenance. The business also gives the duo flexibility for travel or whatever else they want to do.

The duo plans to take part in a holiday open house in Oskaloosa Dec. 1 and Hanson’s daughter, Lacey, is working on a website for the business that they hope will be up at harmonyinteriorsonline.com within a couple weeks.

The toughest part of the new business, Edmonds says, has been breaking it to people she may have helped in the past that, now, she is expecting some compensation for her help in sprucing up their house or choosing new curtains.

“I’ve never charged them before, so it’s kind of awkward having to tell them, ‘Now, I’m doing this as a business, so I’d have to make you pay.’ They’ve been pretty good about understanding,” Edmonds said with a chuckle.

People interested in contacting Harmony Interiors about work can call Edmonds at 863-2360. The duo mainly handle smaller jobs such as a specific problem or a room but can do somewhat bigger-scale work. Edmonds can also sketch out their ideas ahead of time to show clients what she’s talking about doing before the customer sees it on their wall or window. Another friend can also supply original art work in certain cases. Hanson and Edmonds have business cards for the business and hope the website, when up and running, helps bring in more business.

“I think we’ve been real good about helping people with problems,” Hanson said. “It’s really about trying to work with people’s budgets and what they like. Not necessarily what we want. When we can do it at the right price, we can really do something special that people can enjoy and live in.”

“Really, people all have their own style but they may not know how to make it work together in their home,” Edmonds added. “People want their house to reflect them. We just want to help them do that. I can show you what we can do with (a room or area). It’s our job to help you see it.”

Harmony Interiors has done a lot of its work thus far in the Kansas City area but Hanson and Edmonds are hoping to pick up more work close to home, as they want to be able to help some hometown people brighten up their homes or offices.

“It’s fun to go into Kansas City and see my grandkids there, but we’d like to do more things around here,” Edmonds said. “It’s very satisfying to make someone’s home prettier. That’s the satisfaction you get out of it.”