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BUSINESS
CHAM I*JOM
July 21 - 27, 2016 » Page 16A
Sisters Jennifer Ward Woods, left, and Barbara Elliott have received multiple awards for their interior decorating designs
Awards abound for designing women
by Kathy Mitchell
As the 21st century dawned,
Barbara Elliott started to consider
making a career change. A certified
public accountant, she longed to
move away from numbers and
ledgers for more creative work.
“I have always enjoyed and had
a flair for design. I started seriously
thinking that was what I wanted to do
for a living,” Elliott recalled.
She acquired a franchise with
nation interior design and furnishing
company Decorating Den Interiors
then eased into the new career
by first working at it part time. She
invited her sister Jennifer Ward
Woods, whom she describes as
“very similar” to her, to partner in the
business.
Elliott said her business training
and experience has helped to make
the decorating business a success.
By 2003, the sisters had a thriving
interior design business in Stone
Mountain Village.
All was well until 2008, when
the nation plummeted into a major
recession. Businesses such as
interior decorating, which provide
services many consider optional,
were especially hard hit. “By 2008
our sales were about half what they
had been,” Elliott recalled.
In retrospect, Elliott sees an
upside to the business slump. “We
survived because we made smart
business decisions. If we had
continued to do well, we might not
have been forced to do as much
strategic thinking about the business.
After the economy improved, we
continued applying what we learned
during lean times and that has
helped us develop as a business.”
Now, she said, the business is more
successful than ever.
Elliott said her Decorating Den
franchise accepts large and small
jobs. “The client may want to redo
a room or the entire house. We’re
prepared to work with whatever they
need. A good many of our clients
are baby boomers who either want
to downsize to a smaller home or
rework the house they’re in to make
it fit their current lifestyle.
“Initially, most of our clients were
in the Stone Mountain and Lithonia
areas. Now we have clients across
the metropolitan Atlanta area,” Elliott
said, adding that in addition to her
and her sister the business has five
staff members, including another
decorator. She said she and her
sister are planning to hire additional
decorators in the near future. “As we
get older, I see us moving more into
teacher/manager roles while others
take over a lot of the footwork.”
She explained that jobs involve
coordination with other suppliers
such as furniture companies,
painters, lighting companies and
others. “Even when there are major
renovations involving construction
companies, we coordinate every
step,” she said. “We love doing
what we call ‘the big reveal’ where
the client gets to see all at once
everything that’s been done. That’s
not always possible, but when it is,
it’s exciting for us and for the client.”
Attesting to the business’
success are walls of awards won in
recent years. Among the most recent
is Decorating Den Interiors’ highest
design award, Decorator of the
Year, chosen by a panel of judges
made up of editors and publishers
of interior design magazines. This
year’s Decorator of the Year Award
was the second for Elliott and Ward
Woods, who also won in 2008.
Judges chose their makeover of
a bedroom best in its category and
best overall out of nearly 300 entries
in 12 categories. “We transformed
an outdated master retreat, making
a custom headboard the focal point
of the room,” Elliott said. The same
bedroom design won the first-place
Donayre Award, which is judged by
franchise owners.
In addition, the duo this year
garnered People’s Choice Awards—
voted on by more than 30,000
online participants during a three-
week period—in several categories
and a sales award that recognized
their place among the top three
Decorating Den franchises in the
United States and Canada.
“Winning awards is thrilling,”
Elliott said, “but more rewarding is
creating for clients an environment
that is both functional and
aesthetically pleasing. Yes, we want
every space we decorate to be
beautiful, but it’s just as important
that it work well for however the
person wants to use it.”