Dallas Builders Club Ep 5 - Interviewing our designer Maria Mock with Spice Designs

Getting to know Maria Mock with Spice Designs and talking why designers are so important in the industry. Talking design trends, whats coming and going in and out of style and much more. 

Dallas_builders_club on IG 
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Building Company is Dean & Co. Custom Homes and on IG as DFWCustomHomeBuilder and on TicToc as DFWCustomBuilder

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

This guy looked like a lobster. I'm not kidding.

SPEAKER_04 0:01

Remember the video we made testing out the drone thing? Yes. Bro. So red. And like now I'm in the yeah, now I'm like red and like yeah, it's just you don't tan very well. Honestly, your face kind of looks shitty right now. It looks like ghosty. That hurts, dude. You know, like it's like you did all that work and like you still kind of big shit. You know what?

SPEAKER_02 0:18

I hope you cut yourself in the arm again. That was the Lord. That was that was the Lord. I almost threw that thing across. My favorite thing is how you took out your anger on the board. Like it's the board's fault.

SPEAKER_04 0:29

Well, no, it was that that thing was sticking out, and the edge of it is like literally shaped metal. Yeah. Right? So you walk too close to it and it could have got a client. It could have got any that's what I'm saying. So immediately I was like, well, that was a stupid thing to have up there.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

So for now, when you're looking for a dry erasement, there's a hundred, there's a hundred drawers over there.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

We'll be all right. Yeah. Uh we're growing. Okay, cool. So everybody's probably like, hey, who's the good-looking lady that you're talking to? And it is Maria further ado.

SPEAKER_04 0:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

Maria. Maria Spice Design.

SPEAKER_04 0:58

Who, just so you know, and let me just give her her little flowers entry, flowers and her flowers, uh, has probably designed a couple hundred homes in South Lake and Westlake, which are two of the most premier, prestigious neighborhoods, not only in America, but definitely in Texas. Um, and Maria was the designer at Atwood Custom Homes, still is, while I was working there. And she was kind enough to, I'll say it, help me when I went off on my own because she knew I needed help and she didn't want me to fall on my face. And so she said, I'll help you design and that thing sort of thing. And we couldn't live our lives without her. I tell everybody that uh Matt and I are basically we build Legos, and she tells us where the Legos go, what color they are, how high they're gonna hang, and all of the intricate details. And I love her because when I speak up and say, Hey, maybe this idea, she'll tell me, Shut up, that's a bad idea. That you're you're just talking like a true man and you need to stay in your lane. So, Maria Mock, without further ado, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 1:53

Maria's great. I remember when I came down here, I you don't know anybody, right? And one of the first people you introduced me to was Maria, and you pitched her to me as like work mom. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:02

And that couldn't be I don't pitch her like that in front of her, just so you know, because I would never want to mean Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

But that couldn't be more the the truth. Like you, you know, we we kind of discuss like South Lake is a is an area where everyone seems to like have roots down here. Um, you know, people really appreciate when someone was born here, went to school, is a dragon, all those things. So you come in from a different state, a different area, and I mean you don't really naturally fit in. Right. Um, you were one of those people that's like as soon as I came down here, it's like, oh, cool, I I I have a friend. Um, so that's it was the Michigan accent. Yeah, it was the Michigan accent. Obviously, you know, the northern world, yeah, yeah, with your connections to uh, you know, hockey in Canada and all those good things. My long A's and my affinity for Tim Horton's coffee fit.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

There you go.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

It did fit right in. Um but yeah, we we like to talk about all the time. Like Maria has just become a non-negotiable in the business. Yeah. Um, we've we've tried other options and not to knock on anybody, but no, no, it's just it's just Maria is so builder-friendly builder-friendly, client-friendly, checks all the boxes, and it gets to a point where she's so much more than just the designer. Uh, it may it she just makes me far more comfortable going into a project knowing I have her because it's just a person who has seen it, done it, been there, made that mistake. Yeah, a ton of builder knowledge, uh, ton of resources, very good with all the vendors. Um, it it really is a a smooth process. And we stress that to our clients and why we bring her on.

SPEAKER_04 3:33

Yeah, and she's, you know, she comes to the meetings every week, you know, and she makes time for us and she's you know, she's present and she works through a lot of problems with us that a lot of designers might not, you know, be willing to make that time. Or um, you know, it's just it's something that as a young company who who we really are trying to make a name for ourselves, obviously, we want someone like her on our team. And and she was fortunate enough to work with us. So Maria, why don't you tell everybody just or us, you know, just casually, like, how did you get into the business? I I know there was there's a story there, uh, kind of with you designing your own house, or or walk us through that.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

Yeah, well, I actually my passion for design started when I was in college and or actually probably freshman year. And my dad was building a multifamily project in Dallas on Swiss Avenue. And he was in commercial real estate, and he was doing some investments. And anyways, he was building this project, and my mom was doing the selecting, you know, as the partner in the of the project. And all of a sudden I was just like, she had all these carpet samples, and you know, back then it was linoleum, for mica, you know, all these samples out. And I was like, no, no, I think this needs to go here. I like this. And she was like, I didn't ask you. And I was like, Well, I'm just, you know, I just immediately like enjoyed it. And so helped helped on that. And I was like, you know, when I first thought I was gonna go to college, I told my parents I was gonna major in dance because I had danced all through my childhood.

SPEAKER_05 5:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

And my dad sat me down and was like, so you wanna own a dance studio? And I was like, no. And he was like, So you're gonna be like on Broadway? Are you gonna be a roquette? What are you gonna do? And I was like, How are you gonna transition into real life? How does this make money? Yeah, exactly. How are you gonna make money? How are you gonna support yourself? And I was like, Okay, guess I'm not gonna major in dance. Dream shattered hard badly. Yeah, and so then he was like, Real estate, you need to get into real estate. And um I just kind of went back and decided the interior design kind of fit in with the real estate, you know, kind of aspect. And my major actually was in housing with an interior design minor. So um from the University of North Texas. Nice and um, yeah, so then as life would have it, I had children, married, moving around the country, and um, it wasn't until we moved back to Texas from Michigan?

SPEAKER_04 6:10

Because you live in Michigan.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

Um moved back in 2000 and um just building we're building our first house in South Lake in South Lake. And I just started getting back in the groove and was like, okay, I mean, I had actually over the course of moving around, we had bought spec homes and that kind of thing. So I kind of got to do a little bit of that every couple years. Um, but then when I was back in Dallas, I was like, okay, I'm staying here. This is gonna be home. And I just kind of got the itch as my kids got older and in school I had free time again. So I was like, hmm, I guess I could start my career at 40, you know. I don't know, it's kind of crazy, but I did.

SPEAKER_04 6:59

Yeah. And so did you design your first house when you came back down here? Like were you the designer on that project?

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Well, it was a spec house.

SPEAKER_04 7:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

And um some of the selections had already been made, but I got to make most of the selections. And the designer that I was working with, it was kind of funny because she was not happy that I didn't like some of the things that she had selected.

SPEAKER_02 7:17

Designers never want anyone to step in on their place. And I get it.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

Like they were like, like, you know, she was like, I had this whole play and envision for this kitchen, and I was like, Yeah, I don't know. I don't like it. I don't like it. I this is not what I want. And I think main mainly because I have a pretty traditional, simplistic, timeless approach to my design that I personally prefer. Um, this there was a lot of faux painting going on at the time. This is like the beginning of the Tuscan era, and so I was like, eh, no, that's just not really me. Yeah. So, anyways, I built that house and then um was moving into another house, which coincidentally was a spec house. And um, I got to do the majority of the selections on that. And then I was working with the builder. Atwood.

SPEAKER_05 8:03

Atwood, I think, right?

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Well, uh no, actually, it was Freeland Custom Homes.

SPEAKER_05 8:06

Oh, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

And um John worked for them and he was my project manager and we became friends. We're talking way back. Yeah. Um and it kind of just from there we became friends, we're working together. I started my business, and we just it kind of started from there.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

That's cool. I always love, I mean, Maria designs for us on client builds and spec builds. And the with the spec builds, right? We just it's full control to her. You know, we're just like, here's the budget, let us know when the stuff comes in. But I always, you know, with us and the portfolio that we have so far, I I always just like I like the spec houses, right? Like everything just makes sense, everything flows really well, everything's very timeless. Um, you know, you just walk in and you're you're like, yeah, it doesn't matter if um it's 30 years from now, like this is still gonna look good.

SPEAKER_05 8:51

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:52

Um it's just it's it's the eye, you know. You have it. Uh obviously, that's that's why you've been so successful and why you've done so many houses.

SPEAKER_04 8:59

And that's why when we sell uh mid-project, which we always do because we're awesome. Uh when we sell mid-project to a homeowner who wants to change colors and kind of like do their own spin on it, it's like don't touch it. We're gonna finish it and we're gonna finish it how we said we're gonna finish it and how we designed it. And then if you want us to come in and paint these cabinets a different color after we get our pictures, we're happy to do that. Yeah, you know, no, no, no, no, we stand by what we believe in, which is Maria's desk design. Yeah. Um, so you've been in the business now designing in South Lake area for what is like 10 years, 15 years? What has it been?

SPEAKER_00 9:36

Probably 15.

SPEAKER_04 9:37

15 years, yeah. Okay. And uh obviously I work with you at Atwood, which was probably I started there five, six years ago, something like that. I don't know. It's time's flying, I feel like it really is. We've been in business for damn near three years. Wow. That's that's yeah, that's ways. That's like six, seven years ago. Wow. Okay. Don't do the six seven. I got kids, dude.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

You can't say shout out to Parker and Cameron. Six seven. You know what's uh funny about that? I don't I don't even want to get into last night. My kids were in the bathroom and whatever. We're just you know doing family stuff, and my my I had my shirt off, and I guess that one of the tattoos on my back, there must be a six seven, I think, on the license plate of the car or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

And Cameron is like, oh, he's like, you have six seven on your back. He's like, Look, Parker, six seven.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

You know, so now I need it's you know, it's a thing with the kids, you know. And now it's a thing with me too.

SPEAKER_04 10:25

Every time I hear it business meeting podcasts, my three-year-old kids are doing it, and they know I don't I don't like it, so they're like they're like look, give me that look, and I'm like, dude, stop. I don't even know what it means.

SPEAKER_02 10:35

I just know what it's like.

SPEAKER_04 10:36

You know, there's all kinds of gossip on the internet that it's all kinds of weird stuff. So who knows?

SPEAKER_02 10:39

Who knows? I have a question for you. Um, so what would you say? Um, I mean, I already know the answer to this, but when you have someone that is designing a custom luxury home, like you know, I always think about you when I think about this question, but it's like, what what do you think is the biggest mistake that they can make when they're doing that?

SPEAKER_04 11:00

Um the biggest mistake when designing the home?

SPEAKER_02 11:06

When when they're trying to build a like when you're trying to build a luxury home, a a big home. Like to me, I honestly, the first, the, the most basic thing, I just think like if you're not using a designer, oh, it's gonna be it's gonna be choice overload. You you need somebody to to drive the boat, to lead you, to give you, do you want option A or do you want option B? If you're just presented with the whole alphabet, you're gonna have analysis paralysis and never gonna be anything done.

SPEAKER_04 11:28

Yeah, and then you're gonna do it, and then it's gonna look like shit, and you're gonna be like, oh, I I don't really know, you know what I mean? I I refuse to build without a designer.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Yeah, just that's just no using a designer is key for sure. Um, because you don't, I mean, I think it's so easy now with social media and people get on Pinterest or Instagram, and then all of a sudden, like every house kind of looks the same. Like people are just going, Oh, I really like this. I I can't tell you how many times over the years it we go through like phases where there's a house that takes off on Instagram and everyone loves it. And like during that next three year period, every homeowner will show me the same kitchen. Oh, it's just a good one. And I'm like, I okay, I can't. I've done it so many times and now I'm just not excited about it at all. And so I think without a designer to maybe put their own spin on it, make it personal to them and not just be a copycat. Um, meaning because now you know, uh people that post on the internet, they'll give you all their resources. Oh, I use this. I mean, they just they come to me and they'll go, Oh, I want this. And I'm like, okay, we could we could do better. We can do that, but we can do better. Let's make it your own. Let's make it for you.

SPEAKER_04 12:38

Let's let's have your house be the one that people are sharing, saying I want this. You know what I mean? Exactly. Not everything on the internet translates into real life.

SPEAKER_05 12:43

No, no.

SPEAKER_04 12:44

And well, and and also it costs a lot more than people think a lot of times.

SPEAKER_02 12:47

Well, hey, I mean, yeah, I want this. I'm like, that well, that's yeah. When anybody asks me, like, can you get this done? I'm like, what we can't, yeah. Do you can do it? Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 12:57

Do you want to pay for it? I mean, it's not like obviously our clients can pay for it, but do you want to pay for it? Because you know, just A touches B, touches C and changes E.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

You know what I mean? It's like, wow.

SPEAKER_00 13:07

Yes, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 13:08

So um, yeah, I agree. Any anything, anything is possible for the right budget.

SPEAKER_04 13:13

Yeah, and I think also like a lot of times when I'm designing houses and I'm sitting with the actual designer and we're sketching it out and we're designing room by room by room. A mistake that I've made, and that is something that we've changed kind of in the process is before we go to final CDs, I want to sit down with Maria and actually look at what we've designed and go through the rooms with her because there's a lot of things that she will catch that again, I just don't catch, right? Like whether it's the way a door swings or a way an entry looks or how long a hallway is, or you know what I mean? There's just so many little tiny details that I feel like you really need to have your designer put eyes on your plans before you finalize. Because once you finalize, they start charging you for every time you go and change it, right? You've already got printed out plans and all this stuff. And then your designer, you know, you can mark them up and you can red line them in that, but then you got to make sure everybody circulates those red lines. And so it's like it's really helpful to have your eyes on it before we go to final construction drawings.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

I mean, I don't honestly think that with most clients, I mean, even bringing me in during the design meetings is helpful because there's yeah, you know, even the designers get into a rut where they do the same, okay. Well, this is what we do here. You know, it's like a recipe. They've got to check the boxes of things. And I think some sometimes they lack creativity.

SPEAKER_04 14:32

Yeah. Um, and well, I do, I run into that a lot. I just I feel like those design meetings can be two, three hours, four hours long sometimes. I'm trying to respect your time because it's like they don't know what they want. And they're like, maybe I want the patio this long, maybe I want the table here, maybe other maybe we want a circle table, and it's just like I gotta let them kind of work out some of those bugs and then take it to you. And you know what I mean? I just try to respect your time because otherwise it's several hours sitting there going back to the city.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

I think you get like better trust with having someone with Maria too. She's such a good middle person in these meetings, right? Because a lot of times it'll be, I'm not saying that's actually like this, but it can be, you know, builder versus client or or what have you. And then you have someone like Maria come in and she can really just give a non-bias, like, hey, I've been doing this for X amount of time. I've seen this, it doesn't really work out this way. Um, there's just a lot of direction to be had. And I also feel like in the designer market, it's not necessarily a shot, but it's almost like the real estate market. Like, there seems to be a lot of designers just popping up out of nowhere. Like we're constantly solicited by, you know, young, typically young females, like, hey, I'm you know, new, I want to get into it. And it's like, hey, I respect you trying to get into it, but I really love the experience that comes with Spice Designs, Maria Mock. Um, you know, because even though you maybe have the ability to see what looks good and what doesn't look good, do you know how to work with a builder? Yeah. Because that's a whole different love language. Um you might be great with the client, which is what most interior design firms are, but are you great with us? Right. Um, because we really do need that middle person. We need someone that can be like, hey, is this, you know, the client wants this, we could get it done. Do you actually think this is a good idea? Is this gonna move the needle on the house? Uh, especially when we look at our specs. Um, you know, you have all of our budget numbers. Another nice thing that you just add to the the overall services is like, okay, well, where can we rob Peter to pay Paul? Like, do you think we should invest more in this line item and take it out of that line item because we're gonna be able to get a higher price per square foot? Or you'll come back and say, like, guys, don't, you know, don't, you're overthinking that. Like, just do this over here, take the 10K, move it over here. Um, and that's you only have that by doing this for a long time and seeing all these situations pan out.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

No, I think that's a good point, is that you know, when I started, I was doing it in the construction space, right? Because I was building my own houses and then working on remodels. And so I kind of that's just where I sort of when I started working and started my business, and I like the construction side of it more than I like the I hate to say like the furnishing side of it. I like that too, but I like being in the field, making decisions and seeing how things all come together. And I think that's something that a lot of young designers just don't get the opportunity to have that, you know, and it's like anything else, the longer you've done something, you know what will work and what won't work. And I'm very cognizant of well, how much is this gonna cost? And which again, a lot of designers will go, I don't care, I just want this. And I'm like, well, that's and it would look amazing. A hundred percent. We don't have the budget for that. So, you know, unless your home your client wants to come out of pocket, you know, an extra 20K to implement this great idea, why even you don't go there.

SPEAKER_04 17:46

Don't get them in love with it, you know what I mean? I feel like there's a lot of designers, especially on remodels, because we remember we put out that remodel in Topy Club for that one guy, and it was a good remodel. Get his own designer. But I feel like she's kind of choking out that deal because she wanted to do so much and change so much. And it's like, I could have really given you the updated feel for your house that you wanted to, right? But I feel like your designer was pushing the envelope on so many things as far as restaining the beams and redoing. I mean, it's just like there was a lot of things that we could have worked around and made work, but the designer was pushing and pushing and pushing on all these little trickets and trinkets and you know, details. And a lot of times it's like, I mean, you could you could have done that little laundry room way later, you know. We could have, you know what I mean? You still could have got a job though. And you don't want that as a builder. I don't want my clients upset because, you know, if they don't have an idea to do this wall and that, you know, all this crazy stuff, then they don't be they're not sad about missing it, right? But if the designer's putting all these things in their head, and they're like, I want all these beautiful things that she keeps popping in my head, but I know I can't afford them. So, like, that's what I mean when I say builder friendly. She understands the budget. Yeah. Right. The budget is one of the most important things. It's the one thing that the husband and wife are constantly, constantly going like this on. Right. He's watching the spreadsheet and watching the pocketbook, and she's falling in love with, you know, a stone that they had to have to ship around the world to get here. You know what I mean? That kind of stuff. So that's just a huge, huge factor for us.

SPEAKER_02 19:07

Is that what you run into, Lemo? Like what would you say is the biggest thing between the husbands and wives when they're you do you you're in all these meetings with them?

SPEAKER_00 19:14

It's always done.

SPEAKER_02 19:15

It doesn't have to be husband and wife, but most of the time it's oh, it's always budget, it's always money.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

Because they, you know, as a female, you know, I want all the extras. I want the nice things. And it's just so hard when you go into some of these places and you there's so many options. And obviously, a lot of the options that stand out have a price tag. They stand out for a reason. And so I try to go, okay, well, if we want to use this particular wallpaper that's amazing, then maybe we need to dial back, you know, on our cabinet design or our countertops. You know, we try to like I try to work within all of those things to say, okay, we can get this look and how do we do that, you know, creatively.

SPEAKER_04 20:00

Speaking of wallpaper, I love wallpaper. Like I'm wallpaper's in. I'm an artist, right? Like I I love to walk into a room and be like, oh wow, you know what I mean? Like that I wasn't expecting that. And wallpaper seems to make a strong comeback because obviously we're putting it in powder rooms, we're putting it in ceilings, we're doing all kinds of uh where are you on the wallpaper? I I feel like you're a fan, right? Like I I love wallpaper, it's definitely something that's like come full circle and it's come back around, right?

SPEAKER_00 20:24

Like it's definitely come back around. I mean, it's definitely come back around just as people are gravitating away from sterile, you know, environments of white walls, everything, grays, they're wanting warmth, they're wanting color again. Wallpaper is an easy solution for that. But the the other part of that is that wallpaper today is so much easier to use than it was, you know, 25 years ago when it was like you'd have to strip the wallpaper. And it was like very laborious to do those things and cost, I mean, it was impacted cost-wise. So now it's just they just they can strip it, peel it down, it's no big deal. So it's not as big of a commitment, I don't think, for people. Um, there's lots of companies. I mean, there's still the the pillars in the wallpaper industry that make the best papers, but there's a lot of less expensive options for those people that don't have that budget.

SPEAKER_04 21:18

Yeah, and it really spices up a room. I I like love, I'm a huge wallpaper guy. Like I love it on back walls, I love it on ceilings.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Yeah, I see what you did there.

SPEAKER_04 21:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

Spice it up.

SPEAKER_02 21:27

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I'm I'm so glad we're over the like your house is supposed to look like a hospital phase. Like I don't want to see no gray.

SPEAKER_04 21:35

You know, I like the grey and it I'll say yeah, I hate the grays. But it's horrible. It reminds me of an apartment.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

You you mentioned we were talking about this earlier. You you're just such a big fan of all all the trend of the warmth that's there. You you can feel it. Like you walk in someone's house, and and if the right selections were made and the right stains and the right wall color, you know, it's it's it feels like home.

SPEAKER_05 21:57

It's a home. And it feels timeless. You know.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

I I love um I love the stairs that we did on a twenty eight ninety six with the tile risers and the and just the paint color and the railing. It's like I always you could stand kind of in that hallway off the master bedroom and look at it and you could just like you could just tell that every prom photo, every Christmas photo, like that stairway is gonna be a centerpiece of every family that lives there for the next however long you know it is.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

No, it was beautiful.

SPEAKER_04 22:26

That was one of my ways honestly one of my favorite things that we've ever done in any house. And that was a pivot too, because that was a single staircase. It was not designed modern staircase.

SPEAKER_02 22:34

I remember being lupe on the site, and we were sitting there drawing it out on the iPad. And it and it turned out, I mean, I just love that change. It does, it does. You can't, that is just a it's just that whole house was so well done. And I think a lot of it has to do with again the stain selections, the cabinetry, uh, all the all the white oak that's in there.

SPEAKER_04 22:53

Um, no one ever is gonna walk in that place and be like, wow, this is what are some trends that you guys think are kind of like fading out or like you know, maybe you know, because again, in in like 2000s, everybody wanted red brick, everybody wanted dark wood cabinets, and like now that's like get it away from me. What are some of the things like are all white kitchens gonna be like a thing in five years?

SPEAKER_00 23:14

I think that all white kitchens are kind of done.

SPEAKER_04 23:17

Yeah. Yeah. So again, we did that green kitchen or whatever shade that was. I forget it was actually a gray color. It was a gray color. But that was you know, we got a lot of hits on that. That was a cool, cool color. I love the warm tones, right? Yeah, give me some taupe, give me some, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 23:31

Like I think that clients are really wanting to make their home feel more homey and less hospital-like. You know, there's um there's there's something about you know, the modern design, you can still warm it up, but it just seemed like there's was a phase there for a while that every modern home I worked on was gray and white and chrome or stainless. And it just it didn't feel warm at all.

SPEAKER_04 23:59

Yeah, Betty and Damie's house is super modern, but it's got like a lot of warm tones. Like it was really well done. I mean, they yeah, it's it's one of those houses where you look at it from the outside and you walk in, you're like, oh wow, like this is I mean, the furniture, the way they designed it with the art and everything. Uh that was that was a really cool house. That was a cool.

SPEAKER_02 24:15

Yeah, well, uh, you know what helps is they had all the toe kick lighting and the good cabin LEDs. That's it. Yeah, if you're gonna go modern, exactly. That was my point, right? Like, even though they went modern, which was the design of the house and their selections were absolutely stunning. I think that those like toe kicks and all the LEDs they did and everything adds that warmth appeal to it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:33

Uh especially in that media room, yeah. Which is right here.

SPEAKER_02 24:36

Yeah, that was absolutely awesome.

SPEAKER_04 24:38

Yeah, killer. Um, so what's your favorite style of home, Maria? Like, if you had to design your own home right now, good question. What would you what would you be designing?

SPEAKER_00 24:46

Definitely a traditional girly. Really?

SPEAKER_04 24:48

Really? Over like a Mediterranean really.

SPEAKER_00 24:52

Um I'm definitely more traditional, but uh, I also kind of like a little bit of the hill country vibe mixed into it.

SPEAKER_04 24:59

Of course, yeah, okay. And the hill country vibe is really kind of a modern vibe. I mean, it's a it's like a rustic modern, but it definitely has a more modern.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

I do like some more natural, um, I like bringing outside finishes in.

SPEAKER_04 25:11

Yeah, like a beam that goes from the inside, extends to the outside, kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00 25:14

Yeah, and I like stone walls. Coming, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:17

It feels like a biased response. Hill country. Well, because her husband builder. We'll give Wayne a shout out. Wayne, since you said that you're not gonna come on the podcast, I'm gonna make sure you come on the podcast. Monashe? Yeah. Did I pronounce it correctly? Monashe. So Wayne is her husband or or Monashe. Yeah, boyfriend husband, long-term, whatever. He's great. He's a friend of ours. He's also a builder down in Fredericksburg. Shout out, Wayne. Retired NHL hockey hockey. Retired hockey player, good looking, will kick my ass, gray hair, all those things. I said it there. Now come on the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 25:49

Did you see him?

SPEAKER_04 25:50

He was holding the Stanley Cup. I did. That son of a bitch. He's like casually, like just posting photos on oh, just here. Oh, that's casual. I'm like, is this baby?

SPEAKER_00 26:01

He did. And I was so sad that I was not there to celebrate that with him. I was sick. I know.

SPEAKER_02 26:06

Damn, that's one minute. I'd have been on my deathbed. Roll me out there. Yeah, put it, put it on the I'd have just had a mask on.

SPEAKER_00 26:14

Give me that cup. I know. I'm hoping that maybe, fingers crossed, that um when the cup goes to Kamloops, British Columbia later this summer.

SPEAKER_02 26:28

Subtle name drop.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

Is that where it like it's a town?

SPEAKER_02 26:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 26:31

Um that we will be in Canada and then we can go. And I can have I can maybe. Yeah. I can't lift it up.

SPEAKER_04 26:40

I was gonna say that's pretty. It can't be pretty heavy.

SPEAKER_00 26:42

I I don't know. I think it's like 50 pounds.

SPEAKER_04 26:45

Yeah, it's yeah, it's gotta be pretty heavy. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

I'm just making that up. I have no idea. I'm just spitballing.

SPEAKER_02 26:49

What else you got, Matt, on your little spot fire list? Yeah, I want I got some rapid fire questions for you because I want to make sure that we can get some design trends that you feel are in and out. So marble or quartzite?

SPEAKER_00 27:01

Quartzite.

SPEAKER_04 27:02

Okay. I want to know why though, because because you love marble and I I totally hate it. I mean, marble's beautiful. It is, but it's worse than the album from a bill. Yeah, yeah. Talk about why marble is a pain in the ass. Because it has to be sealed.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

It's just yes, it has to be sealed. And it, you know, it's anything that's acidic or even cosmetics products like makeup removers or serums, that kind of thing, if you put it in a in an owner's suite, um can etch it. And that's a problem for people. They don't they want it to be perfect, and it's not going to be perfect.

SPEAKER_04 27:34

You could sneeze on marble and you'll see it for three months.

SPEAKER_02 27:36

I was just gonna say, if you if it's unsealed, you can just take a bead of water and drip it on there, and it will never correct it's like there forever.

SPEAKER_00 27:43

It's high maintenance.

SPEAKER_02 27:44

You know, you can imagine on a construction setting like just an absolute nightmare, and paired with the fact that it's super expensive.

SPEAKER_04 27:50

Yeah, and I also want to point out because this is something that dumb old me didn't know when I first started being a builder, is quartzite and quartz is a very confusing thing, okay? Yes, because you would think that quartz would be the real stone because it's the real word, but quartzite is the real stone from the earth, and quartz is actually man-made. Correct. Very confusing, very confusing. Also, it kind of doesn't make any sense. But well, I just wanted to point out it just is what it is. That's why it wasn't introduced into that equation because it's a man-made versus right.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

I mean, the the one negative for me with marble is the slabs aren't usually very big. And so if you don't want a seam on your island, that kind of thing, you're almost guaranteed if you're gonna use marble. I mean, you can find some, it's just not as readily available.

SPEAKER_02 28:40

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 28:40

Armsite usually has some larger slabs.

SPEAKER_02 28:42

Yeah, you know that house that we built, the uh big alcove uh 2893, we had marble on the backsplash of the cooktop. And I mean, A, from an install standpoint, you have to be absolutely precise with all your measurements. You get one shot at that. There's gotta be a vent hood that goes up there, everything's gotta sit flush, get painted, be protected. So that's but B, I'm just thinking about man, if you really are a person that cooks a lot, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:06

You got bubbling things and grease things, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 29:09

I hope, yeah, how well does it hold up?

SPEAKER_04 29:10

So I think it's meant to like look worn in that area, right? Like kind of it's like a it's like a fireplace thing where you kind of want it to look more.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

Yeah, I think, I mean, it is what it is, and I do think that there's something about it being worn and used that it kind of patinas in its own. Yeah, I do like that in a way.

SPEAKER_04 29:27

Uh but I pret I prefer it worn and used because when people always like lose their mind when we're in solid marble and they're like, I sneezed and I can see drips and they haven't gone away. And it's like, calm down, Joe. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

I do try to really educate people.

SPEAKER_04 29:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:42

If they're wanting that as a selection, they gotta know what they're doing.

SPEAKER_04 29:46

Yeah, because they can fall in love with some, and then you know, you kind of give them a little education, they're like, Oh, I don't want to deal with that.

SPEAKER_00 29:50

Yeah, and some people are like, I don't care, it's good.

SPEAKER_04 29:52

Of course.

SPEAKER_00 29:53

Others are like, Yeah, it's not gonna be like I know myself, I'm not gonna like it.

SPEAKER_02 29:57

Yeah. Um, how do you feel about our the the trend with the arches? Are they are they beautiful, are they timeless, or are they one of those things that are they're becoming overused?

SPEAKER_00 30:07

Um I love an arch.

SPEAKER_04 30:10

Me too. I'm glad you said that because I was like, please don't shut down the arches. I love arches.

SPEAKER_00 30:15

I love an arch. I do think you can overdo it. And I think that was one of the things, you know, back from the 2000s, everyone was arched up.

SPEAKER_05 30:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

And um I think it's funny because you know, there was a time when people were remodeling that everyone was like, oh, box these arches out. You know, I can't have an arch anymore. And then it was now people are like, oh, let's add an art. It's just, you know, it it it all circles back around. I just think it's more of a um architectural feature. And I do think it's it's it's a nod to a European classic traditional.

SPEAKER_04 30:52

I I I like a less aggressive arch. You know what I mean? Like the older arches, like in the early 2000s or whatever, they were like like straight up full-blown arches, and now we're kind of like teetering it where it's not so aggressive, right? It's not so much of a half circle. You have the eyebrow arch compared to like the full radius.

SPEAKER_02 31:07

Yeah. Um yeah, but I mean they got to match throughout the house. So I knew you'd know the technical tool. Well, what I'm waiting for you to chime in. I'm like, save me here.

SPEAKER_04 31:13

I don't know what the hell the difference is.

SPEAKER_02 31:15

I mean, whatever you're gonna go with, you I uh do you feel like you gotta carry it throughout the house? Like if you're gonna have a full radius front door and you have arches in your house, you need to carry full radius arches throughout the house, or can you mix and match eyebrow and I kind of try to you keep it consistent, I just try to keep it consistent. I know. I I had that question pop up the other day with some framing that we're in a job, and it's like, all right, well, the front door is a full radius, you know, this is a full radius, this door you you don't why would you throw in random eyebrows?

SPEAKER_04 31:37

Yeah, but I you know, that's this is this is a good topic because I remember we were doing arches in one of these houses, and someone was like, Well, they have to be everywhere in the house. I'm like, Well, an arched custom solid solid door is very expensive. You get arched doors in general, they're extremely expensive. Uh, somebody fix her mic. Uh, the the players are right there. We can cut this out, no worries. Um just hold that. And I remember that being like a thing where it was like, well, no, we're gonna do these arches, but we're only gonna do them in like the living room, kitchen, and all the doors that are off the main living area, and the rest of the doors can be regular doors because they don't all need to be arch doors. And like the customer couldn't get their head around that. I'm like, it's a totally normal thing. Like the normal doors are gonna be normal doors, and like the main living areas can be the arches, but like you're gonna spend a fortune if you want to go through out and do arched doors and arched.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

I mean, I think it adds interest though, too. Oh, 100%. To be varied.

SPEAKER_04 32:30

Yeah, that kind of lets us know how long we've been live on the air with we good? Yeah, all right. There you go. I don't know if the clap thing's gonna help us when we go together, but uh we'll figure it out. There'll be a lot of clapping in there. Okay, so we forgot to clap at the beginning, which is okay.

SPEAKER_02 32:46

So if money is not an option, because I know one's more expensive than the other, at least I think it is. Would do you like the white oak or do you like the walnut? Oof.

SPEAKER_00 32:54

You know what? They're pretty much the same.

SPEAKER_02 32:55

Are they? Why do we why do we why do people do such little walnut?

SPEAKER_00 32:59

It's a dark white. White oak is the rift cut white oak was just because what was happening was as we were turning from paint into trying to reintroduce stain, people we went to white oak because it was the lightest, cleanest material to stain. And then, you know, people were just doing such a light, it was like, oh, we were just dipping our toe into adding stain back in. Well, as it's warmed up even more, you know, now walnut re-enters the conversation. And walnut is gorgeous. Gorgeous. I agree.

SPEAKER_04 33:33

I mean, it's I I'm not a huge fan of it to be honest, in the kitchens. No, unless it's an accent, but I love it in meaty rooms and powder.

SPEAKER_02 33:39

I was just gonna say, like, if you have a dedicated bar room, like it's it's gorgeous.

SPEAKER_04 33:42

And yeah, in a in a dark kitchen personally, like, you know, I just you know, anytime you have a lot of dark, it just kind of feels more confined, right? That's why like a media room, you kind of want it to feel like combined and cozy. Yeah. So, but you know, just probably like that. But I do love walnut.

SPEAKER_00 33:58

Walnut is a little bit softer than white oak as far as durability. Like it'll nick a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 34:05

Oh, I I know, yeah. Um, yeah. It's a nice any of the the like the white oak and the walnut is just from a builder's standpoint, is it's just hard from protection. You know, you get cabinets installed, you know, you're three-quarters of the way through the project. There's still quite a bit of trades to come in to trim out, a lot of a lot of foot traffic, especially there towards the end. Clients in there a lot because they're getting excited. Protection is huge on us. Um you know, we go in there and and you know, I'll take RAM board on all the wood cabinets and and tape everything off. And um, but still the trades got to get in there and then they rip it off, it falls off, people bump into it. Um, I mean, I've talked to a lot of builders and gone back and forth about this. And you've even told me like we're one of the only companies that even go through the trouble of doing that. Most of them just try to protect it by telling the trades. But the biggest thing is them damn tool belts.

SPEAKER_04 34:54

Oh, dude.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

So, you know, you got anyone that's walking around and they got five pounds of players and and and they got uh yeah, tools and and they're not they're walking by and they're clearing themselves, but they don't remember the six inches of tools that are hanging off. And it's it's hard to match that stuff. Um, it's not like paint grade where you can just put some bondo on it, paint it, and call it a day. Yeah, no. Uh, and it's very, very expensive to fix. So job site protection is always uh is always an issue with that walnut and that white oak.

SPEAKER_04 35:24

Remember, remember that video we made that we never posted because I look like a heifer, and it was like we were talking about we were talking about um the white oak panel for the refrigerator that had like a little nick on it. Yeah. It was like, here's your options. Either we fix it and you completely ignore that it's there because it's really not visible, or the the client can be uh uh you know a bit of a pain in the ass and say, no, I want a new panel. Well, it's like that white oak is not gonna match this white oak. They have to come in in the same dye lot and the same cut, and they you know what I mean? Yeah, when you try to like swap out those panels, it never matches. It's just it's got a little bit of a different whatever to it, and it's like that becomes a bigger nightmare. So it's like if you do nick it, if it's something that because this was on like the lower edge of the panel, yeah, and it was just like a little nick off of it. And honestly, if you can fix that and live with it, that is the best way to go. You can wouldn't you agree? Because I can live with that. Some clients are like, no, it has to be perfect. I'm like, okay, well, we'll order 15 panels and we'll keep staying in them until one of them matches good enough.

SPEAKER_00 36:22

I mean, either that or you just have to do the whole if it's a you know a fridge freezer unit, then you gotta redo the whole thing so it all.

SPEAKER_04 36:29

Yeah, but I saw we've seen that on Moss. Remember Moss, and they did that, and it though the refrigerator looks different than everything else. And it's just like if you want it to be consistent, you gotta protect it and you gotta make sure you Well, and that's one of those things with panels.

SPEAKER_00 36:40

I mean, I love a panel appliance, yeah. But you do like and I know just over the years, they end up kind of getting chunked around in the house. Like it's it's almost like um I don't know, the protection for those kind of gets Yeah, and you can't lean them up against the wall.

SPEAKER_04 37:00

Like a lot of guys will lean them up against the wall and then they start to bow.

SPEAKER_00 37:03

Right, or they just get either taped up and stuck underneath like the dishwasher panel or whatever. And I do think that um they need to be even like taken off site, like either brought here or you know what I mean, just to protect them until it's time to paint them and then bring them back here.

SPEAKER_04 37:20

Yeah, because they get they just get as long as you have somebody that's gonna remember that they're off site and not be like, oh, we didn't have panels. I ordered four more panels.

SPEAKER_02 37:27

Or no, I got them in the back office. There, there's just it's it's such a high traffic, high use item. Like you think about the it the panels on the refrigerator, people are constantly on the poles and your kids and all that kind of stuff. So we want to deliver the purple.

SPEAKER_00 37:39

People on poles?

SPEAKER_02 37:40

Like your hardware poles. Oh, you know, polls. You said poles.

SPEAKER_04 37:43

You said people are constantly on the poles. I'm thinking, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:45

I know. I was like, um, yeah, it's one of those things where it's like, I'm just concerned about I'm just concerned about delivering the perfect finished product. And I know as soon as the house is lived in, everybody's gonna bump into those things and nick them. And it's just yeah, yeah, any of your natural materials, stone, wood, what have you, getting back to your conversation, are extremely hard to match if there's gonna be a mistake. Um, you know, and it's it's it's a natural material. So, like you just said, it's not it doesn't even come down to just trying to match the stain. It's like, is the is the grain, you know, gonna match the grain, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:14

That's the biggest thing. Like you could put the exact same stain on two two pieces of the same and it doesn't take the same, right? This grain is a little bit more rich and it's gonna take and it just and I'm telling you, it it creates a massive problem. It really does. You have to protect those.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

It does. I mean, you know, and that's even true with since we're talking about that, even with cabinets, when we um if we are doing stain-grade cabinets, is getting our trim material ordered from the same wood that the cabinets come from, because if they come from a totally separate entity, it'll be darker a lot of times or lighter not matching.

SPEAKER_02 38:50

It'll look off. And and clients will sometimes become like obsessed with the whole matching things. Like a lot of times when we think about like staining stair treads, and you you have to you have to remind them like, hey, this is you know, this white oak is different portions of a single stair tread are gonna accept stain differently. But it's it's it's a natural product, it's not supposed to be perfect. Right. I mean, we're we're gonna get it as perfect as possible, but you're supposed to have that, like, this is not a man-made thing, like that's part of the look. Right. Um you can you can look at a stair tread and you know, the front of it, it'll be all the same stain, but the front of it will be slightly lighter than the back of it, and it's because that back wood, you know, it just it took to it differently, you know, it had a different grain in it or or what have you. Um but the f the finished product always looks great. Um, I think that we do, I don't want to toot my own horn, but I think that we do a really good job matching that. Our painters are great, they do a great job staining. I've been in quite a few other houses, and I remember walking in one and I was like, oh, I was like, we we're doing a good job. Yeah, you know, yeah. That's all I'll say is I I just looked at something and I was like, if this is acceptable, I'm like, we are, you know, we're we're really going above and beyond. Um but that's a whole meeting. I mean, we get the sample of the white oak and you go through it, and the painters and the clients approve it. Um, and those are just like the intricate details that involve having a designer on the on the project. Right. Um and and it's one of those tiny things, and it's one of many that go into just delivering a flawless product.

SPEAKER_04 40:09

Yeah, yeah. And there's a reason we wait until we have power and lights and everything else to start looking at that stuff. Then it looks different. Yeah, exactly. You bring it in with spotlights, and you're like, okay, cool, you picked it, and now the lights are actually in the house and it looks totally different. So, you know, there's a there's a rhyme, the reason and a method to the rhyme or whatever the damn slogan is I'm trying to say. I always mess up slogans like that.

SPEAKER_02 40:28

So the moral of the story is use a designer, not just any designer, use a builder-friendly designer.

SPEAKER_04 40:36

I don't want to say anymore.

SPEAKER_02 40:38

Yeah, I didn't say use Maria, I said use a designer, but uh use a designer like Maria.

SPEAKER_04 40:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:43

Um but uh the the time in the game, doing it for, you know, doing it for a while, being familiar with not only the aspect of yes, you can go in and you can look at three different things and you have the eye to say, like, hey, that's your best option that looks the best, but also being able to speak builder language, you know, you're you're on site with us a ton for for construction meetings, even, you know. Um, and and we really appreciate that. Um I I don't feel comfortable building any of these houses without having you. And we that's one of the first things we mentioned in our client meetings. It's it's pretty much non-negotiable. It's a pretty much a non-negotiable. Um not pretty much, it's a non-negotiable. Yeah. Um, we need our Maria.

SPEAKER_04 41:22

Yeah, yeah. I mean, if you want to bring me your lot and bring me your house plans and bring me your designer, fine. But if you're coming to me, where you we're going with who who we know and trust 100%. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:32

Well, I appreciate that. And it's been working with you guys. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 41:35

So you got uh how the how can the people find you and follow you? You got spice designs on Instagram?

SPEAKER_00 41:40

Instagram.

SPEAKER_04 41:40

Instagram. And you've got a website, but it's you know, it's what did you call it? A website?

SPEAKER_00 41:47

No. Earlier. What did you call the website?

SPEAKER_04 41:50

I don't I don't remember what I call it. Oh, I said I said that it's probably severely outdated, and Matt said that you could probably find the Oregon Trail on your website. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, you know what we didn't get. Instagram's the way to go, guys.

SPEAKER_02 42:01

Spice Designs is is the page, so go ahead and follow up, Maria. One last question for you. Has Pinterest helped or hurt the interior design game?

SPEAKER_00 42:13

I think it I think it helps. I mean, honestly, I think it gives because a lot of people come into building their home and they literally have no idea. They need they need somewhere to start. And I think there's a lot of good inspiration on there.

SPEAKER_02 42:27

Yes. Um direction.

SPEAKER_00 42:29

Yeah, it it's thought provoking. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:32

I was curious about it. It seems to be the the a big change in the interior game, interior design game. You know, you didn't have it X amount of years ago, now you do, and I feel like I know with our clients a lot of people are bringing you pins and pins.

SPEAKER_00 42:44

You know, it can get a little much because you can you can't execute everything that's on Pinterest. But um I do think that it is it's helpful even for myself, if I'm trying to explain a concept and I can show them something and go, I'm like this. And then they're like, Oh, I get it. Because people are visual. Yes, like they just they need to see imagery.

SPEAKER_04 43:07

Yeah, whatever helps me get to what the end result what you want the end result to be look like, the better, you know.

SPEAKER_02 43:12

I was just curious about Pinterest. I wanted to know more about it. No, well, bring your pins to life, buddy.

SPEAKER_04 43:17

Pinner.

SPEAKER_02 43:18

I see what you did there.

SPEAKER_04 43:20

All right, guys, that's a show, man. I hope you guys enjoyed the show this week. Uh Maria was our first guest, and she will not be our last. So we've got a whole line of people that we plan to have on, both vendors, cabinet makers, lenders, you name it. So uh we'll keep trying to throw this stuff at you and keep trying to help educate you guys, just having casual conversations around what we do. Uh, follow us on Instagram. It's Dallas Builders Club. Uh, we also have DFW Custom Home Builder. Got the same Dallas Builders Club on YouTube and uh TikTok. We got Spotify? Spotify. Yeah, you find the podcast on Spotify. No big deal. You find the podcast everywhere. I mean, it's everywhere now. We've got it plastered all over the place. So hope you enjoy it, and we'll uh we'll see you guys next week.