Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Darla Harmon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

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Darla, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I learned Interior Design by attending an online design school called Interior Design Institution, IDI. It is out of San Francisco. I did this later in life, when my kids started to attend college. I have 5 children, so when the first 3 were heading to college I thought what am I going to do with my time? I still had two kids at home but the 4th was just about on her way to art school in Chicago. So while my 5th was finishing up high school I made the decision to go back to school for interior design. While I would study and take test online I would physically need to put designs together, price out items and make a budget. I would laugh that Lowes was my library! The lessons would teach each aspect of design. You then had to implement what you learned with this make believe family using the knowledge you just learned from the lesson. My final test was, and I got to choose, was finding a client and redecorating a room in their home. I put it out on Facebook that I needed a friend who was willing to let me come in and change a space in their home. Many of my friends did volunteer but I choose the one with the most work to be done… I wanted the challenge!

The program was designed to only take a year to complete. I just made it within that year. Still having one child at home, I was first mom then student , I also had knee surgery that year that put me back while I recovered. As I look back on my younger years, college years, I wish I would have gone to college for interior design, it is a timeless career. Then jumping back into it after my kids when to college would have been a little easier and quicker.

Design is such a personal request. When someone invites you into their home and wants you to make it just like the picture they have in their head… you better listen! So all that I learned about design: elements, lighting, paint colors, etc, the most important is to listen and understand what that person wants you to do in their home. Then comes what you have learn in school. How to pull it all together, weather it’s paint colors, or choosing fabric to make it all flow together.

I don’t like to think of something as an obstacle, I think of it as a bump in the road, a way of rerouting, a reason for everything. Whether it was my kids, and they are not an obstacles, like I stated I am mom first student second. I also thing we should never feel or think we can never learn more. There is always opportunities to learn more, you just need to look for them.

Darla, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My story is one of a stay-at-home mom, who loved those years with my 5 children. As my children grew and started heading off to college, I began to spend more time pursuing the things I love: cooking, family time, and of course–decorating. I have always enjoyed interior design; even as a child, I would play house in my basement, and whatever I could find to make a living room, I would rearrange it to make it feel cozy. So at 50, I enrolled in an online interior design school, The Interior Design Institution, out of San Francisco! I so enjoyed it! Soon after graduating, I started my own small business, Red Couch Interiors.

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Since then I have served numerous clients by helping them with their particular needs and bringing their personalities into their spaces. I’m most proud of how, at the age of 50, I began my own small business and how I continually help both women and men in all walks of life with their spaces. The other thing that I am most proud of is how I can bring joy into anyone’s life, no matter how old. A few years back a young mother reached out to me wanting to transform her dining room into a playroom oasis for her then 5 year old. We wanted to surprise him with all of his favorite things while keeping the atmosphere functional as a space that can grow with him. When he saw the room for the first time his eyes lit up as he joyously said, “OOOO! this is for me?!” I could tell he was plotting what to play with first! He was so shocked and excited, I will never forget his reaction!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I am a very people oriented person, I love wrapping up with a client knowing I have succeeded in bringing their vision into reality, making them happy with a space that is both functional and beautiful. I feel most creative when a client allows me to use my creativity to its fullest potential, with no limits!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I was a stay at home mom for 26 years, and I began to realize as my kids were leaving, I wanted to do something for myself. I started picking up new hobbies and concentrating on my passions. One of my passions was interior design, so I enrolled in an online interior design school, The Interior Design Institution. After graduating my goal was to work for myself, thus Red Couch Interiors was born! We began with staging homes for residential real estate, and grew into interior decorating. As COVID hit the staging side of the business began to wane and we pivoted to virtual consulting!