BUSINESS PROFILE: Designer decisions shape lives

PD DESIGNS

Owner: Patti Dickerson

When and why did you start your business?
I started my business a couple of months ago. My husband and I moved to Maricopa from Iowa last summer. I considered the options I had to use my degree in interior design (Art Institute of Pittsburgh) and decided I would get a lot of satisfaction and enjoyment out of starting my own business in my new hometown.

Explain your business in two sentences.
A full-service residential, commercial and health-care interior design service that provides as little or as much help as the client needs. I am able to do simple furniture space planning and color selections, or I can draw up construction drawings that include lighting, electrical/data, finish, fire safety and accessibility plans, as well as detail and elevation drawings.

How is your business doing?
I think people find it difficult to trust a stranger to come into their home or business and make decisions that affect, not only how the home or business looks and functions, but also affects the family or business budget. That is why I offer Maricopa residents a free one-hour consultation. They get a chance to meet me and pick my brain for solutions to their problems with no strings attached.

What are you most proud of?
The way I conduct my business. My only goal is to give my clients a space that meets all of their aesthetic and functional needs. If they don’t love it, we keep looking for alternate solutions. My clients can trust me to be fair, keep their safety and well-being as the first consideration, and keep them informed throughout the entire process.

Who has been the most influential person in your life?
Lisa Tucker Cross, Ph.D. I had her for several classes including my graduate thesis and my graduate design project classes. Although she was the toughest professor I had in my four years of college, she taught me the most about design, writing, organization and research. Most importantly she was the one who taught me how much responsibility interior designers have towards the health, safety and well-being of the people who work and live in the spaces we create. I eventually formed a lasting friendship with her. Every day I use some piece of information that I gained from her.