Today I interviewed Catherine Cooke. Cat is a designer. Not to be confused with an interior designer or an interior decorator. I can say that because she designs entire spaces, inside and out. She might say differently but in my opinion she designs vibes. She’s 28 years old and owns her own company that she calls Element Design Company. I’ve worked with Cat over the years and she’s also a good friend of mine. She is always positive and she always makes me laugh. She is super talented, wears a hat that says I Love Small Waves, and she drives a Jeep Wrangler that she has reminded me a on multiple occasions “It has mud tires.” She doesn’t know she’s being interviewed.
Cat: So you want to talk some houses. Get weird.
B: I do but first I want to talk about you. You’re a designer. Tell me about your job. What’s your favorite part?
Cat: The freedom to create what I want and also live my life the way I want
B: I figured you would say that. Is Charleston where you want to be?
Cat: Charleston is where I want to be, yes. I don’t plan on leaving.
B: If you got kicked out where would you go?
Cat: Probably another beach town on the coast somewhere. Either Wilmington or somewhere in Florida. Maybe in ten fifteen years I’ll end up back in California but ya never know
B: Tell me about California
Cat: I went to a design school in Los Angeles where I learned from very talented people, peers, and teachers. I was in a fashion degree but quickly realized I wanted to do interiors instead. A lot of the classes were the same so I decided to stick with that degree so I didn’t fall behind. I was there for only 3 years but I 100% wouldn’t be where I am without it. I use my education every day.
B: You know, over the years I’ve heard you refer to your parents quite a few times. Can you tell me a little about them, their furniture business, and their influence on you?
Cat: I grew up in my parents office, which was our home. There was constantly furniture samples and fabrics spread everywhere. Their lifestyle was influential because they were home when I got home from school, or they would be gone for weeks at furniture shows. Their life was not the ordinary 9-5 and it made me want that too.
B: I remember the first time I met your dad. He dropped by the office unannounced and I instantly knew he was a wild dude. I ran downstairs and grabbed a couple of beers and the next thing I knew, he was talking about smoking weed. (It’s legal where he’s from) When you walked in you were mortified and literally drug him out the door. But his work ethic and running his own company is different than the pot smoking dude I met over a couple of beers, which I think is important. You’ve talked about your parents always having their laptops open, even on family vacations.
Cat: Yes I definitely didn’t stand a chance against corporate lifestyle with the way my Dad lived his life and chose to raise me as well. None of my siblings have that lifestyle actually. We went on vacations but they never stopped working. They took work calls at the beach everyday.
B: I believe it. What I find amazing is your confidence in your design decisions. In architecture school, it’s different. If I’ve learned anything it’s that I’m wrong. No matter what. Think about it differently. Always think about it differently. Which I guess is a good thing. But tell me a little about your decisions and how you come to reach them. It seems everything you do turns out so cool but you aren’t doing something you saw on Pinterest or Instagram. I remember one time you had this idea and you were trying to tell me or show me and it just didn’t exist. Explain to me how this works.
Cat: I think that actually comes from an intense desire to make sure my work isn’t diluted by being like everyone else. So while I love to do things that are different, break the mold and are just in my head and not necessarily something you can find in reference photo, the main horrible objective is that I selfishly just don’t want to be like everyone else. There’s so much regular in the world, why not be different and funky and creative. Everyone always says they want to paint it white because they don’t want to get sick of a color, well you can easily get sick of white so why not paint it purple you know.
B: Like that time you decided to paint the entire room red. I seem to always refer to that one time because I remember you texting me and it was like, “Hey I’m about to jump off a cliff. Do you think it’s a good idea because I’m doing it regardless.” Everything except the floors was Farrow & Ball Eating Room Red No. 43. Everything. Do you find a challenge convincing your clients of these crazy ideas inside your head?
Cat: There’s a huge challenge convincing clients to do bold things. It’s why I haven’t really showcased my mediocre projects because I don’t want to continue doing that. I found a few bold and creative clients that trust me and are confident in my decisions and I think that just comes over time.
B: What’s it like when these projects come to life? When a project is complete and you walk through it. How does that make you feel?
Cat: When the project is done and complete to the way I initially thought of it in my head, it feels the exact way it did when I originally thought of it. I already walked through it and felt those feelings in my head so it’s more of a reassuring feeling honestly. It’s reassuring to know that everything I thought would look good actually does and I’m not just crazy.
B: You dad said you have tattoos.
Cat: I have ten tattoos. All not visible from the front side of me
B: Because I know a few of your clients, I find it interesting that like 4 of them are working artists. That’s pretty rad.
Cat: (Laughing) I made many jokes to one of my clients that I will only ever work with Artists from here on out
B: Are you an artist?
Cat: Hmmm good question Yea probably. I would probably call myself a creative
B: How creative do you have to be to start your own company and not know where your next paycheck is going to come from?
Cat: Wow good question. I think that’s more of a “how dumb are you to start your own business” cause right now I’m currently broke (as she laughs)
B: Gotta be comfortable being uncomfortable. Right?
Cat: You gotta be SO okay with being stressed as hell like 99% of the time
B: You say you’re broke but you’ve been to Europe twice in the past couple months.
Cat: I know right That’s half why I’ broke
B: You have any advice for young designers just getting out of school?
Cat: Learn from absolutely everything and everyone. Even how not to be or do could be just as important.
B: Kinda like a sponge
Cat: Be a sponge for intelligence not energy.
B: Do you have a pet turtle?
Cat: No I do not
B: No pets?
Cat: No pets actually. One day
B: If you had to name your top 3 design tools, what would they be?
Cat: A good group of people around you, stellar clients, and trustworthy gut
B: Literal tools
Cat: A laptop, a Farrow and Ball color deck, and a measuring tape
B: What about software?
Cat: Auto Cad and Adobe Google slides if you wanna be down and dirty
B: Who is your favorite person to work with?
Cat: My mother. She picked out an entire living rooms worth of fabrics for me on a job last year. Incredible
B: I’m going to let that one slide.
Cat: (Laughing again) You tried to trap me. Besides I thought we were going to work. Talk about houses and get weird.
B: Fair enough.
The (obvious) photos above were taken at one of Cat’s projects by photographer Katie Charlotte (who is also insanely talented) Instagram @kcharlottephoto. Cat’s Instagram is @elementdesigncompany. Two rad chicks.
