Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle McClure and Catherine Skaletsky.
Danielle, Catherine, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We are a mother daughter design team. Catherine started the business about 15 years ago in Brookline. She grew into a thriving business with a clientele mostly west of the city. I (Danielle) Catherine’s daughter joined the business 6 years ago. A love and appreciation for beautiful homes, art, and antiques was instilled in Catherine by her mother at a very young age. My grandmother would take my mother to Zimmans, the local fabric store, and she would get lost in the bolts. She loved it then. As she grew up, got married, had a family she pursued other careers but always made her own homes beautiful and helped friends decorate their homes. It wasn’t until she moved from the North Shore to Brookline that Catherine parlayed her talents and love of beautiful homes into a business. With her passion and excitement, it didn’t take long for it to become a thriving business. Then, about six years ago, pregnant with my second child and burnt out of my job as a social worker, my mother asked me to join her. To be honest, I was a bit surprised. I had no design experience. I didn’t go to school for it and admittedly I was not one of those girls that grew up reading Veranda, going antiquing with my mother or daydreaming about how I would decorate my own house someday. It sounds cliché, but I think my mom saw something in that I didn’t or hoped at least that I had the design gene, as we call it, that spans several generation in our family. My great-grandfather started a clothing manufacturing company in the early 1900’s. My grandfather and uncle took it over and they became a manufacturer of women’s sportswear. My grandfather had a hand in all of the designs. But it was from my grandmother that much of our inspiration comes. Although it was not a career for her, my grandmother loved decorating and she had exquisite taste and was really ahead of her time. One of the many things I admire about my mother is her ability to think outside the box push clients outside of their comfort zone. She has taught me not to play it safe and I appreciate that. I think that came from my grandmother.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
We’d be lying if we said it’s always been a smooth road. Like any business, we have great days and not so great days. For the most part, we’ve been lucky but we are working directly with clients and in doing so are dealing with all different personalities, expectations, and budgets, which can be challenging. This business relies heavily on customer service and making sure the client is happy. That is of utmost importance to us. We rely heavily on our vendors to deliver a product we can stand behind and that meets/exceeds our clients’ expectations. Fortunately, over the years we have built wonderful relationships with our vendors, contractors, painters, wall-paper hangers, cabinet-makers, etc. We have an exceptional team that we are able to depend on. However, it does happen from time to time that the quality we and our clients expect is not delivered and then we have to manage the disappointment of our client and we do. The reality is we are not dealing with life and death situations. These are things that can be fixed and dealt with and we pride ourselves on being able to do just that. We are able to rectify these situations fairly easily because of the relationships we have built over the years.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Catherine & McClure Interiors – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We specialize in designing/decorating residential homes. Catherine & McClure assists through all phases of new construction, remodeling, or simply bringing new life into the clients’ current home. We provide our clients with:
• Theme & Palette: Developing the overall theme and color palette for each space drawing inspiration from the home’s character and settings, and the client’s personality.
• Finishes: Selecting finishes, including kitchen & bath fixtures, custom cabinetry, hardware, stone, tile, wood and carpet for flooring.
• Floor Plan & Furnishing: Developing the floor plan and furnishings for each room, including fabrics, upholstery, furniture, lighting, accessories, window treatments and the acquisition and installation of artwork.
• Project Management: Providing full service project management throughout, coordinating with contractors and architects, including scheduling, delivery, installation, and painting for all furniture and finishes.
We were having a hard time answering the question “what are you known for?” It’s a funny thing to answer yourself. To help us, we looked back at testimonials from clients over the years and there was a re-curing theme that I believe answers the question. What each client said in their own words was that we designed a space for each of them that was uniquely theirs and reflected their personality, lifestyle, and needs. When you look at our work, you see that no two homes are the same because no two families are the same. When someone hires us to design and decorate their house, we take that personally. I think the thing that sets us apart is how deeply we care for our clients and how personally we are committed to making sure at the end of every project, they are beyond thrilled. We go above and beyond to make sure our clients are happy.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are looking forward to the installation of three current projects as well beginning new projects. We plan to keep building the business and relationships.
Contact Info:
- Address: Wellesley, MA
- Website: http://www.catherineandmcclure.com
- Phone: 617-227-0700
- Email: info@catherineandmcclure.com
- Instagram: catherineandmcclureinteriors
- Facebook: Catherine & McClure Interiors
Image Credit:
Eric Roth Photography
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
