Good Neighbor Podcast: Bergen
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Bergen County
Good Neighbor Podcast: Bergen
Ep. # 93 From Psychology to Interior Design: Beatrice Tokayer's Journey
Have you ever walked into a space and immediately felt at ease—or conversely, inexplicably uncomfortable? That's your sensory system responding to your environment, and it's exactly what Beatrice Tokayer, owner of BRT Interior Design, has built her unique interior design practice around.
In this fascinating conversation, Beatrice shares how her journey from Montreal to Bergen County, coupled with her psychology background from McGill University, set the foundation for her innovative approach to interior design. When her middle son was born with sensory needs, Beatrice's personal experience catalyzed the development of her specialty in "sensory design"—creating calm and balanced spaces customized to individuals' sensory profiles.
What makes Beatrice's approach revolutionary is her understanding that everyone has sensory preferences, not just those with diagnosed sensory processing disorders. She explains how she evaluates whether clients need more stimulation (bright colors for those who tend to "veg out") or less stimulation (calmer palettes for the easily overwhelmed). Through careful observation and questioning, she crafts environments where clients can truly find comfort—because as Beatrice puts it, "if you can't find comfort in your environment, your body doesn't feel right."
The design process combines color psychology with spatial flow considerations. Rather than imposing trendy aesthetics, Beatrice takes a collaborative approach, explaining the psychological reasoning behind her design choices while offering options that maintain sensory benefits. Her services range from full project management to "design in a day" packages for smaller spaces. She prefers starting with one room, comparing the designer-client relationship to dating—you want to ensure compatibility before tackling multiple spaces.
Beyond her design services, Beatrice is passionate about education, creating blog content to help others understand how sensory design benefits everyone from families to institutions. Want to learn more about how your environment might be affecting your well-being? Visit BRTInteriorDesign.com or find her on Instagram @brtinteriordesign.
BRT Interior Design
Beatrice Tokayer
560 Sylvan Ave
Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632
(917) 484-0789
eatrice@brtinteriordesign.com
brtinteriordesign.com
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Doug Drohan.
Speaker 2:Everybody, welcome to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast coming to you, live from Bergen County, brought to you by the Bergen Neighbors Media Group. I am your host, doug Drohan, and today I should say bonjour, because we are joined today by Beatrice Tokayer. I hope you know I was trying to say that with a French accent. That was terrible. But bonjour, beatrice. Beatrice is the owner of BRT Interior Design and based in Bergen County, so welcome to the show, bonjour.
Speaker 3:Bonjour and thank you for having me. It's an honor.
Speaker 2:Bonjour and thank you for having me. It's an honor. Yeah, I would love to just dive right into your background because you have a great story as to why you started this business. It's interior design, but it's sensory design which we want to get into. And I mentioned you're from Canada, so you're from Montreal. Obviously you speak French. How did you go from Montreal to New Jersey?
Speaker 3:So my now ex-husband is American and when I met him I was living in Montreal and I swore I would never leave, because at the time I thought Montreal was the greatest city and I could be independent and do my own thing. And then, boom, I met him and next thing I know I'm in New Jersey.
Speaker 2:So okay and burden County.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:So then, when did you so you? You went to college in Canada, mcgill university. You studied psychology. But how did you get go from psychology to uh, to interior design?
Speaker 3:um, well, I loved, I loved psychology. I actually, uh, felt that only certain classes really taught you about human behavior and people, and I was always fascinated by people and how they behave, and I'm a good judge of character and I have high emotional intelligence. So I loved psychology, but I felt like it wasn't enough. And once I moved to New Jersey New Jersey I decorated my condo and, you know, did my own thing, and then somebody said, did you get a decorator for this? And I said, no, I did it myself. And they said you should study this.
Speaker 3:So, you know, I started to study interior design and I really liked it, but I'm your type of person where I don't do the typical thing. I like to be different. And so I felt that if I'm going to be doing interior design, I want it to be different. I don't want to be just like anybody else. But I didn't know what that meant. I didn't know what that was, and so I just did regular interior design. I learned and got experience and then I developed my niche when my middle son was born.
Speaker 2:Okay, so how did that niche come about? So your niche is sensory design. We could talk about well, what does that mean? Sensory design?
Speaker 3:So, basically, I design calm and balanced spaces, and that means something different for everyone, and so it's very customized and with that I use a sensory integration approach with color psychology and you know observing, you know interactions and dynamics, and the result is a calm and balanced space for the individual, or for the family, or for the child.
Speaker 2:Okay, so obviously there's certain colors that evoke emotion I know that in my advertising classes and red and blues and greens and yellows and browns. And why you would use certain colors in advertising? Because it elicits a psychological response. So I guess it's the same what you're saying If you have a sensory processing disorder or there's certain things in the environment that kind of set people off for want of a better word that there's ways of making it a calmer, uh, environment through the use of colors and through design and how you organize furniture. Is that what you're saying?
Speaker 3:kind of um actually I work with color psychology and slightly in a slightly different way. Um, certain people actually need some stimulation and so you want to use some bright colors for certain people, who tend to be those people who like to veg and be more, you know, relaxed.
Speaker 3:And and so, and other people who are overstimulated I tend to use some calm colors are overstimulated, I tend to use some calm colors. What I noticed that was very interesting is that initially I was going to specialize in sensory design for individuals with special needs and sensory processing disorder and ADHD, but over time I realized that not everyone has sensory needs, but everyone's got a sensory preference, and so this could actually be beneficial for everyone. Because, you know, certain people are very sensitive to clutter, certain people are very sensitive to certain colors, and so if we, if I, design a space according to what people feel most comfortable in, then you know that's where you know your environment, that's where you look for comfort, right, and if you can't find comfort in your environment, then your body doesn't feel right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's a good point because you notice, sometimes you go on vacation and you stay at a hotel, or you go to a spa or something like that, and just the minute you walk in, there's so many things that just you know either they calm you, they're meant to calm you and soothe you, or you go to some place and it's meant to excite you, and you know, to your point, there's a lot of psychology behind this.
Speaker 2:To your point, there's a lot of psychology behind this. But it also, yeah, if our home is a place where we want to be, you know, get away from the stresses of our lives, then that it does make sense, that this would extend to anybody, because we all have a sensory overload, whether we realize it or not. And to have a calm space in your home, whether it's your own, you know, the man cave or whatever, or it's your family room or it's your bedroom that makes a lot of sense to create an environment that is enjoyable and you feel connected. So when did you start your business? How many years has it been?
Speaker 3:So I've been an interior designer for a long time I want to say about 10 years but I created this niche I want to say more a very young age that something was different and I couldn't figure out how to help him. So it slowly, I slowly started to develop it from there.
Speaker 2:Got it, got it Okay. So I mean that's, that's interesting, and I guess you've seen a development, and the maturation of your business was kind of born from hearing what your clients are saying and understanding what people's needs are, beyond what your own family needs were. So tell me a little bit about your, your full service, like what you, what you offer, and what is crafting sensorized, because it's trademarked spaces. What does that mean? And then we probably touched on it a little bit, but because every designer, interior designer, will say I'll design a beautiful room for you or a beautiful home or help you with your kitchen. So what is sensorized spaces and and what are your services?
Speaker 3:So I I work flexibly, so I have different packages for different needs and it depends on what the individual needs. So it can be full service, where I take on the project from start to finish and I handle everything, and other than that, you know, I can be a consultant. I can also just give you the design and you can implement it. And I have another package which I love, which is called design in a day, and that's mostly for small spaces, where I can come in for about six hours and I can design a space for you and give you the links and at the end of the day you have the design in your hand. But that's mostly for small spaces right, right.
Speaker 2:So when you say you handle everything, project execution mean you hire the contractors, the painters, whoever it is they're redesigning a room.
Speaker 3:You handle all that oh yeah, I only work with one contractor and and heources to his team. He is so trustworthy. He's designed my house I've given him my friend's houses and he's reliable and he's fairly priced and he knows what I'm talking about and he delivers and I only work with him because I trust him so much?
Speaker 2:Do you want to give him a shout out or you want to keep that name private?
Speaker 3:Well, he's quite busy, but his name is Caesar and his company name is NCP.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay, nice, nice. So you have. Like you know, obviously when it comes to a home there are so many different rooms, so you could design one home and I'd imagine, if you design one home for somebody, chances are, if they love what you did, they're going to call you back in a year or two to say, hey, we've got this other room, or you know, they've expanded or they've moved. Does that happen quite often?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I just wanted to touch upon what you were saying about what does it mean to have a sensorized space? The room can look the same to anyone. They wouldn't necessarily understand that it's you know quote unquote sensorized. But I'm able to ask the client certain questions, to observe behavior. To you know, I have kind of like a sixth sense in terms of what is needed and the way that I design. It means that it's truly comfortable to them. Whether it's a kitchen with a client, I don't like to take on a full home or multiple spaces, because it's kind of like dating a person. We want to make sure that we get along and that we work well, and so I'll do one space at a time. And also, you don't want to overwhelm the person, so you don't want to say we're going to do all the spaces at the same time. Let's do one space and then you'll see how I work and then we'll continue from then, and my clients find that very helpful actually.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's great. I guess it makes sense because everybody's tastes are different and you know your recommendations maybe sometimes be like, all right, I trust you and they're not quite sure if it's going to be something that they like. And then you turn this. You know a playroom that you did for a grandmother in Teaneck and it's like whoa, that was amazing. Now what else can we do? So that totally makes sense. So let me go back.
Speaker 2:So you're in Montreal, by the way, was in quebec last year skiing in trombone, and I was actually in quebec twice. I went to montreal for the grand prix, for the canadian grand prix, with some friends. That's lovely. Last june, um, rained a little bit, was my first time in montreal and it was. It was great. And then, uh, when, yeah, in the winter, uh went to, uh trombone for some great skiing and had some good weather. It wasn't too cold and the snow conditions were great. So I heard they got some snow this year, which is nice. But yeah, so you know you speak a number of different languages, obviously French and English, and living listen, being in the Englewood Tenafly, you know Northern Valley area we have, you know we're near Manhattan. I'd say it's an international culturally rich area. Do you ever find that you can employ your many languages, or is it mostly always English? Obviously, it's always mostly English, but have you found a way that you've met people that speak Spanish, french or Hebrew, that you can connect with them on that level?
Speaker 3:No, so, funny enough, my contractor and I only speak in Spanish.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 3:And French is harder for me to find, but I do I? Do I speak with my son's friend's parents who are from France. We speak in French and it's been a long time since. I've written in French, so it's practice, but you know, kind of it's like muscle memory and Hebrew also. Whenever I can find somebody who speaks Hebrew, it just kind of comes out. So it's fun for me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you know there is. I had a French family. They live in Hallworth now they have a business called the French American Academy. It's in Jersey City and I think they opened one in Fort Lee as well. But they are French and started this French American Academy in Jersey City and they were on the cover of my Hallworth magazine earlier last year. Yeah, so, and you know, my wife speaks French. She studied French in school. We've been to France. Know, my wife speaks french. Uh, she studied french in school. We've been to france or france a number of times. We were two years ago we went to cote d'azur. So you know, and I try to I I don't. Really speak french, but I try, and I watch french films. But all I had to do was say bonjour and then she was like oh yeah, it's like oh no, no wait, wait.
Speaker 2:I don't really speak French, so what are you seeing in terms of trends in the industry right now? So there are quite a few interior designers in the world, and especially in our area, because you know, obviously they're attracted to the people that can afford the services and that want beautiful homes and have the space. What trends are you seeing? And obviously you stand out because you do something that's a little bit more niche, but at the end of the day, you are transforming a room for people in some ways, transforming their lives. But have you seen anything in the last 10 years like trends that are happening in the business, whether it's materials, colors, lifestyle?
Speaker 3:So it's funny you say that there's been a trend where it's very zen and so the furniture is very, you know, light colored, textured, very earthy, very California style. That's been a trend that's been going around for a while and it doesn't suit everybody Again if.
Speaker 3:I were to apply that to some of my clients. It depends on what room and what their needs are. I can apply any trend, but it depends on their needs. And there's also a new trend where the trim, the wall, the crown, molding and the ceiling are all the same color and it just it's like a bold pattern for for the space and that's beautiful. Um again, it depends on the space and the sensory needs and I'd be able to apply it depending on the person and the purpose of the room and you know what you were mentioning before in terms of, you know, clients possibly not liking the design, but, you know, showing them that it's sensory friendly.
Speaker 3:It's more of a collaboration with my clients. It's never me just showing them you know the design and saying this is what's going to help you best. It's basically me explaining to them the flow of the space from a psychological perspective and explaining to them why I designed it the way that I did and they can understand. You know my process and how I came up with it.
Speaker 3:And if they don't like, for example, you know the wallpaper, then I offer different options, but the end result is something that they will love, that will be sensory friendly, so they will always love it. And it's more of a collaborative process because I want them to be involved and I never want to tell somebody you know what they need to get Sure.
Speaker 2:And then you also do a like a computer design to show them what it would look like.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, so I don't outsource that, I do that myself. I take pride in putting that together because I like to make the changes and I need to create models all the time. That's mostly what takes a long time me space planning and figuring out the psychology of the space and the flow and making sure that when they walk into the space it's not overstimulating. And which area can have, you know, more visual stimulation, in which area you know needs to be calmer, and I take pride in that. And so I love creating the renderings and what I'll do is I'll take them through the 3D space so that they can visualize themselves in it, and I find that helpful the goggles.
Speaker 2:You could actually be in a room and then move furniture around so you could see how it would look. You know you kind of. You know when you say 3D, you could actually be in the room and move things around. I don't know if that ever really took off. You know virtual reality and design. It's a cool concept because, again, you get to really beyond. You know what you have on a floor plan. Now you're actually stepping into the room and trying to see, if you like, the way things are and you can move it around and you know, has that actually become a reality or is that something more futuristic?
Speaker 2:I have never heard of that okay, all right, you know when, when I was working at viacom and we were pitched by a vr company, that was one of the things they talked about could be one of the applications for it. But we were talking about putting SpongeBob. You know, selling SpongeBob furniture and putting it in the room and showing people how it could look in their kid's room.
Speaker 3:But you know, there there were a lot of ideas back then.
Speaker 2:We're talking about 10 years ago or so, but you know, one of the other things I noticed is that you're you. One of the other things I noticed is that you have a lot of articles, a lot of blogs on many different things. So how do you design a bedroom, how to decorate Different things? Has that been something that you kind of grew with you, where you found like you had a um? You know you had an aptitude for, uh, creating blogs and educating people, or is that something that kind of um? You know? From the start, you knew you were going to do this when you built your company.
Speaker 3:So when this, when it's very interesting because if you ask me, you know, start writing content for your website, it'll take me a while. But when I came up with the sensory niche, it just kind of flew. The words flew out of my mouth just on paper, just boom, boom, boom. And I was so passionate about it and still am and I said I need to share this with the world because if this worked for my son, I need to educate people on what this is. And so I wrote a blog post just sharing my story, and I realized this can help everyone, and so my mission is to just educate the world on how this can help everyone Schools, institutions, health facilities. It's just, you know, it's amazing. And so I put out blog posts just to educate people.
Speaker 2:That's great. That's great. So, speaking of educating people, how would they find you? How would they contact you? What's the best place to find and reach out to you?
Speaker 3:They can go on my website BRTinteriorDesign. com and read all about me. I'm very open, very honest and you know I like to be relatable to people because we're all going through something and you know, and uh, also my instagram, brt and tier design and um, I'd be happy to chat. I find a lot of parents feel almost ashamed or embarrassed that they either feel this way or they have a child who feels this way. And speaking to someone like me who's been through this, is really it just it helps, you know, to know that you're not alone.
Speaker 2:Yeah, One of the reasons I have this podcast is to let business owners, entrepreneurs, know that they're not alone, because we all go through struggles of you know. Somebody yesterday on my show described it as a roller coaster. You know they can never go back to working for someone, but owning your own business is a roller coaster. There's financial freedom but there's not always financial security, so it's not for everybody. But I think it's important to know that if you have a passion and you feel like you could start a business, but you don't know where to start, you know you're not alone.
Speaker 2:And there's a lot of people out there that have kind of just said screw it, I'm going to go for it, and figured it out as they went. Other people were much more strategic and made sure that they had everything in all their ducks in a row, so to speak, before they opened their doors. So you know, but uh, in, in any form, it is a challenge. It is uh kind of like a special club and I think it's important to know that. You know we're not alone. You're not alone. Whether you want to be an interior designer, whether you've gone through things with your child, um, there's ways to overcome it and and turn it into a passion and a thriving business.
Speaker 3:Definitely, definitely.
Speaker 2:Beatrice. Well, thank you so much for joining us. Again, it's BRT Interior Design and you and I will be right back.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpbergen. com. That's gnpbergen. com, or call 201-298-8325.