Good Neighbor Podcast: Pittsburgh

E85: Transforming Houses into Homes That Feel Special: Designing Spaces with Jamie Cassara

• Leila Carter & Jamie Cassara • Episode 85

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What makes Jamie Cassara with Cassara Interiors a good neighbor? 

What makes a house truly feel like home? According to Jamie Cassara, founder of Cassara Interiors, it's thoughtful design that enhances your quality of life. Walking into a well-designed space feels distinctly different from entering one that hasn't been carefully considered—a difference that can transform your daily experience.

During our conversation, Jamie takes us behind the scenes of professional interior design, dispelling common misconceptions along the way. While many confuse decorating with designing, Jamie articulates the crucial difference: "Anyone can be a decorator... whereas design goes much more into the space." True interior design involves technical expertise, spatial planning software, construction knowledge, and even the psychology of how spaces affect people emotionally.

Jamie's journey from experimenting with furniture arrangements and 90s-era sponge painting to establishing her boutique design firm showcases how passion evolves into expertise. After earning her interior design degree from Purdue University, she spent a decade specializing in luxury kitchen and bath design at Chicago's Merchandise Mart—experience that now forms the foundation of her practice. When COVID hit, Jamie rediscovered her love for creating tangible, physical spaces that people can touch and feel, ultimately leading her to launch Cassara Interiors after relocating to Pittsburgh.

Kitchen and bath renovations remain her specialty, though her services range from virtual consultations to single-room makeovers to complete home transformations. What sets her approach apart is unwavering communication and customer service: "Our goal is really just to make your home feel special to you." This client-centered philosophy has fueled organic growth through word-of-mouth referrals in Pittsburgh's relationship-driven market.

Ready to transform your space into one you truly love? Visit Cassarainteriorscom or follow Jamie on Instagram to see her latest projects, and schedule your initial 15-minute consultation directly through her website.

To learn more about Cassara Interiors go to: 

http://cassarainteriors.com/

Cassara Interiors

(412)805-9425

Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Lila Carter.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of an interior designer? One might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Jamie Kacera, with Kacera Interiors. Jamie, how's it going Good? How are you Very well? Thanks so much. We're excited to hear all about you and your business, so please tell us more about your company.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so Kacera Interiors, we're a boutique interior design firm. We work on projects that could be virtual Sometimes it's just one room. We can work on a full home and most of what we do. We do a lot of kitchen and bath renovations and our goal is to kind of help our clients create a space that they love. We like to create flow and organization in the room, kind of take the burden off of them and help them design their space that feels comfortable and a space that they're proud of. Really, we believe that good design enhances the quality of life. You feel a difference when you walk into a space that's well designed compared to a space that really hasn't been thought through very well. So, yeah, our overall goal is just to kind of really create spaces for our clients that they love to Very cool.

Speaker 2:

So how did you get into this business, Jamie?

Speaker 3:

How did you get into this business? So I, when I was younger I guess we'll go back to when I was younger I used to kind of rearrange spaces in my own home to try to make it better in my parents' home. Actually, I did the sponge painting on the walls, all those things that were in back in like the 90s, early 2000s but and that kind of gave me a desire to want to better at it. So I decided to go to school for it and learned quickly that there is a lot more to interior design than just moving around furniture and sponge painting walls. But um, I went to purdue for four years, uh, got my bachelor's in interior design and then moved to chicago and started in luxury kitchen and bath in the merchandise mart. So I worked in it was basically a kitchen bath custom furniture. We were a partner to a lot of interior designers and architects and industry representatives.

Speaker 3:

But I did that for about 10 years and really got a ton of experience of, you know, the bread and butter of most homes, which is kitchens and baths.

Speaker 3:

So at a certain point I got a little bit burnt out 12-hour days just hustling, you know when you're kind of building your career.

Speaker 3:

I actually took a step out of interior design for a little to help my husband run his business which was a media service company, and I kind of just took interior design and moved it kind of more of like digital design, which is very different. And it was great to be in that space for a little because I understood, I learned and understood how to run a business, what all goes into it. And then eventually, when COVID hit kind of, I realized how much I missed doing design and doing interiors and having that tangible, you know thing that you can touch and feel, and I kind of missed that. So I went back into interior design and eventually when we moved to Pittsburgh about three and a half years ago, I just decided to just go for it and start my own company and kind of put together all the knowledge that I've had over my 10 plus years experience in the design world, plus another four or five in the business world, and that's kind of how it started.

Speaker 2:

What a cool journey you have. So are there any maybe myths or misconceptions that you'd like to talk about today when it comes to the design industry?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of times people say, oh, can you come and decorate my home? And I think that's definitely part of interior design. But interior if I think there's difference between a decorator and designer, right, Anyone can be a decorator, you can kind of figure it out, Whereas design goes much more into the space Understanding, you know, using technical programs to lay out the space, understanding you know the basis of construction, the psychology of the space. I mean there's just a lot more. I think that goes into interior design as a whole. And then obviously, the decorating is important at the end of it, just to kind of we always call it styling here, but kind of just finish off the final layer. So, and I think, yeah, so I think that's one thing I've come across a lot is just, oh, you're a decorator, Like, can you help me decorate my home? And kind of just let and just educating our clients and people.

Speaker 2:

that that is a little bit different than just, you know, putting some faces on a display now, do you do the styling aspects at the end of your projects or do you have a separate interior decorator that you hire?

Speaker 3:

so it depends um. I'm currently working on a project we just finished and I'm helping them with their styling, so I do have a styling package that I'll do. Um, styling in itself is it is a whole another beast in the interior design industry. Um, because I'm a solo designer, I actually have started talking to local stylists. That's what they do all the time. They're more of the decorator's stylist. They help with photo shoots and things like that and they kind of come alongside interior designers and kind of help take that off our plate so that we can focus on more of the design aspect, and then they can kind of pull in the styling.

Speaker 2:

Very cool. So who are your target customers, then, as we're thinking of marketing as the heart of every business, and how are you currently attracting them to the firm?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I so I mean when I, when I came in here, like I said, kitchen and bath is my bread and butter, that's kind of what I know the best. I'm always, and I think, moving here I had a couple of friends who knew that about me, so they referred me to their friends or parents or whoever. So I've gotten a lot of. I kind of got started there. And then Google I've gotten quite a few referrals from Google and a few from Instagram as well. So it's kind of one of those things. It's been very organic and I think Pittsburgh's kind of one of those markets where if someone, if you, do a great job for someone, they'll refer them to somebody else and they'll take their word for it and they'll just hire you. They don't even look at other designers but, um, most of the time, but yeah, I mean a lot of, it's just excellent, and so have you ever thought about maybe doing your own podcast to reach your target audience?

Speaker 3:

um, I, I think podcasts are great. I think right now my bandwidth is not there yet. Um, I would love to you know eventually. I have a couple of freelancers that help me out right now but, um, as I continue to kind of grow, it might be a side hustle for me. Um, but I think right now we a lot like we've kept busy just by word of mouth and just through Google and Instagram. So, um, until I get to the point where I might want to bring another level um to the business, that is something on the back burner.

Speaker 2:

And outside of work. What do you do for fun?

Speaker 3:

I love running, reading. My husband got a camper, so we've been traveling in the camper and just traveling in general or getting together with friends. My daughter's in kindergarten now, so a lot of my free time as well. But yeah, those are a few things.

Speaker 2:

Oh, very nice.

Speaker 3:

And so, jamie, please tell our listeners one thing that they should remember about Coursera interiors I think just one thing to remember is that, I mean, our goal is really just to make your home feel special to you and kind of our customer service. I think it's one thing that throughout my career, we realize how important customer service is. You know when people don't get back to you in a timely manner or when, or communication. So I think we some things that we do really well during a project is communicate and and kind of really our goal is to make our clients happy at the end of the day and make it a space that they love. So we will do that, you know, no matter what make it a space that they love.

Speaker 2:

So we will do that, you know, no matter what.

Speaker 3:

And how can our listeners learn more about Casera Interiors? You can visit us on our website, caserainteriorscom. I also post a lot of updates on projects, or even some projects that we're working on, on Instagram so you can kind of get a snapshot of, you know, some of the types of work that we do and the process and things like that. If you go on our website and you just I always like, before starting a project, I always like to have like a 15 minute chat just to learn a little bit more you can schedule that directly on my website, click on the link and then schedule a time to talk with me and then see if I, I you have a space that I can help with.

Speaker 2:

Excellent. Well, Jamie, I very much appreciate your time today and having you as a guest on the show. We wish you and your business the best moving forward.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the good neighbor podcast to nominate your favorite the best moving forward.