In June 2011, Isabelle Dahlin opened the doors to deKor, a furniture/design boutique. She mixes styles and cultures which are sophisticated and cosmopolitan, yet whimsically accessible and fun.
In 2013, she brought on Ruby Wendell to help her start a staging division. Silverlakeblog was thrilled to catch up with this talented duo!
How long have you lived in Los Angeles?
Isabelle was born and raised in Sweden and has been in Los Angeles for about 18 years. She now splits her time in Ojai where she opened deKor&Co. two years ago.
Ruby is originally from Iowa City, Iowa. She has lived in Los Angeles for about 15 years now and because most of her family followed her out to sunny California, she is here to stay.
deKor: Design for the People
What are your thoughts on how quickly the Eastside of Los Angeles neighborhoods are changing?
It’s good and bad. We’ve always enjoyed the grittiness of the East Side and feel it’s disappearing a bit. So multicultural and vibrant, we don’t want it to lose those qualities with all the gentrification. Wouldn’t be thrilled with it becoming Brentwood.
Do you own or rent your home?
Isabelle owns her home in Echo Park. Ruby is currently renting in La Crescenta.
What are your favorite local spots for dining and relaxing in Silver Lake?
We like Sqirl. Samosa House. Drinks at Smog Cutter.
deKor: Design for the People
What led you into professional furniture Staging as a career?
It seemed like a logical next step for Isabelle. Running two stores and also servicing the many needs of her interior design clients keeps Isabelle fairly busy so she knew she needed another hand. Ruby began working with her in retail and started to stage some homes with Isabelle and she fell in love with the process. Not only do we love shopping and finding happy and colorful items that bring in emotion to bring out the best qualities of any room, but we work great together. Ruby is constantly learning from Isabelle and growing as a designer herself. We keep it light and make sure to always bring positive energy into each job feeling that positivity is huge when it comes to selling a home.
How would you describe deKor’s buying process?
Isabelle hits up auctions and also does shopping trips overseas. She’s very picky and it does take up a lot of time to source and find pieces that she loves and also that work with her price point which she tries to keep lower than most.
If you had a treasure map… what piece of furniture is worth an international crusade?Danish Mid-Century and old french farm tables and hutches. Rugs! Rug Addict!
deKor: Design for the People
If you could sum up deKor’s core values in one sentence what would that be?
“Design for the People” Everyone should be able to buy a rug or a sofa without spending their life savings.
If we had the chance to peek at your schedule, what would an average day look like?
If we are staging then it’s usually an 8-10 hour day. We start with a coffee 🙂 and load our truck with all the items (and then some) that we think we will need. We get to the location and start to unpack and map it out. After the hard labor then begins the fun, creative part. Once in awhile, we have to run back out to get something we might have missed. We’ll take a little break to eat lunch and talk about how wonderful we are. 😉 Then we beautify with all the art and accessories.
If we aren’t staging a house, Isabelle is either in the warehouse helping customers, or working on an interior or landscape project, driving to and from meetings. She does feel like she lives in her car, so glamorous! 😉
How do you see deKor evolving or pushing furniture Staging boundaries?
We are always growing and learning as a staging company. One of the things we’ve learned is to listen to our instincts. If we see red flags we listen to them. When you are starting out, you are hungry and want to work and that drive can be so helpful but it can also get you in trouble. We try to remind ourselves that we are a boutique company with a certain esthetic. It’s important that our clients are happy and that we deliver the best so we also have found being honest about what we do helps us to keep our clients happy. Staging is a creative venue and that means it’s also subjective. The thing that we think sets us apart is that not only do we bring in the young and hip buyer but we also deliver a “feel good” quality. We understand how important it is to make the home sparkle as well as allowing a buyer to picture themselves in the home.
deKor: Design for the People
What has been the most valuable nugget you’ve learned about business since working with deKor?
Kill ‘em with kindness. Being mad or upset doesn’t get you anywhere in this or any business.
What has been your biggest staging nightmare so far?
A “red flag” client ended up stealing a bunch of really wonderful inventory that wasn’t replaceable. It was one of our first jobs and the one take away is that we learned a lot.
What’s the next frontier for deKor?
We are keeping so busy with all that we have going on at the moment. But the possibilities are endless. Perhaps another store. 🙂
deKor: Design for the People
What’s your professional endgame?
Staying happy, healthy and true to ourselves. Helping to continue making living spaces glorious.
Many entrepreneurs struggle to turn their creative passions into successful careers. What specific advice does deKor offer the underdog?
Be open to do anything in the beginning to get your foot in the door. Starting out, you might have to work for free in order to build a portfolio. If you love it, keep going. Don’t whine while you do some heavy lifting! Make it easy to work with you and don’t let the crazy people get to you along the way. Keep going and be enthusiastic!
deKor: Design for the People
deKor LA
4222 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029
213.375.7627
Thursday-Monday: 11:00am-5:00pm
deKor&Co Ojai
105 S. Montgomery Street
Ojai, CA 93023
805.272.8675
Your Silver Lake Realtor
I’m a local real estate agent with The Shelhamer Real Estate Group, and It would be my pleasure to help you find the perfect property to call home in Downtown Los Angeles, or if you’re thinking about selling a house, condo, or multi-family building in, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Atwater Village, Glassell Park, Mount Washington, or Downtown Los Angeles, it would be a privilege to help you get top dollar for the sale of your property.
Let’s chat sometime. 310-913-9477 or contact me
