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A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design  Business Podcast

1128: Barclay Butera:The Business Behind the Legacy

A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast

LuAnn Nigara

Business, Design, Arts

4.8786 Ratings

🗓️ 3 October 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today with Barclay Butera Sometimes on the show we are fortunate enough to speak with true icons of our day. And today, I am excited to chat with one of those designers—the legendary Barclay Butera. Today Barclay is back on the show to talk about the big picture, from the story of his first big break at a celebrity show house, the lessons he learned from scaling his business up to over 100 employees and then consciously scaling it back down. More About Barclay Butera Since 1994, Barclay Butera has been the creative force behind his prestigious design firm and flagship showroom in Newport Beach, California. His success in Newport prompted him to establish a second location in the exclusive enclave of Park City, Utah. Renowned for his approachable elegance and glamorous, chic interiors, Butera draws inspiration from a diverse range of influences including high-fashion runways, his extensive world travels, grand European architecture and the timeless allure of The Golden Age of Hollywood. Butera’s design signature is distinctive: classic with a fresh twist, seamlessly integrating traditional, transitional, and contemporary styles. His artful inclusion of heritage pieces blends effortlessly with distinctive furnishings, pattern-on-pattern fabrics, and bold textures—all hallmarks of his iconic all-American style. Over the past three decades, Butera’s passion for interior design has evolved into an impressive lifestyle enterprise, sought after worldwide. A landmark achievement in Butera's career came with the release of his “Yacht on Wheels” edition of the Rolls-Royce Dawn at the internationally renowned Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, CA. As the first interior designer in the 100+ year history of the iconic brand to collaborate on such a project, Butera crafted a stunning luxury convertible featuring crisp white and navy tones with teak and nautical accents, setting the automotive industry abuzz. In addition to his thriving interior design business, Butera’s venture into licensing has landed him an unprecedented number of the industry’s most respected partners including: Lexington Home Brands furniture, Kravet indoor and outdoor textiles and carpets, Leftbank Art, Eastern Accents bedding and luxury down, Jaipur Living rugs, Bradburn lighting, Mirror Home decorative mirrors, Napa Home & Garden accessories, Castelle outdoor furniture, Winfield Thybony wallcoverings, and YORK/MDC Interior Solutions commercial wallcoverings. Expanding his licensing empire, Butera launched a collection of luxury chandeliers and sconces with Fine Art Handcrafted Lighting and hand painted porcelain with Legend Accents for his new Barclay Butera Couture brand. Most recently, Butera introduced his eighth furniture collection, Montecito, with industry powerhouse Lexington Home Brands. A designer for the ages, Butera’s spectacular projects, extensive licensing collections, and luxury rental properties are regularly featured in global consumer publications, as well as shelter and lifestyle magazines. Connect with Barclay Butera ⁠Website⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠ Listen to Barclay’s Keynote presentation at ⁠Design Edge Orange County (Sept 18th)⁠ Grand Re-Opening of their Park City Design Firm/Showroom (Sept 25th) ⁠Design Biz Retreat (Oct 6th & 7th)⁠ ⁠High Point Market (Fall 2025)⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Other Resources Mentioned: This podcast supports the ⁠Savvy Giving Design Coalition⁠. Learn more about it ⁠here⁠! ⁠AWDB #717 Susan Wintersteen: Interior design firm standards in a nonprofit passion project⁠ ⁠AWDB #164: Susan Wintersteen- Savvy Giving by Design⁠ Other Shows Mentioned: ⁠AWDB #122 Barclay Butera- Mix Talent + Opportunity + Business Savvy = Epic Interior Design Business⁠ ⁠AWDB #507 Barclay Butera 25 Years of Beautiful Design⁠ AWDB #968 Overheard: Charles Pavarini, Leyden Lewis, and Maria Viola: How to Harness Creativity in Interior Design ⁠AWDB #1002 Power Talk Friday:Sara Kravet: VP Furniture at Kravet Inc.⁠⁠AWDB Scott Kravet⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0

If you want to work with high-end clients, you need to be high-end yourself, right?

0:07.9

Guess what?

0:08.9

Top firms know this.

0:10.8

Studio McGee, Corey Damon Jenkins and associates, and other leading interior designers

0:15.6

don't just rely on mood boards and sketches.

0:18.7

They use top-tier renderings to bring their visions to life,

0:22.7

because when clients can see the full picture, they say yes faster, with fewer revisions

0:27.9

and more confidence. If you're still piecing together inspiration images from samples

0:32.7

hoping clients get it, it's time to level up your presentations. High quality renderings, elevate your

0:38.6

brand, streamline your workflow, and help you close better and bigger projects. Want to present

0:44.8

like the best in the industry? See why top designers trust Duke Renders. Go to Duke Renders.com

0:51.7

forward slash Luan to learn more.

1:07.6

Welcome to a well-designed business.

1:12.4

My name is Luann Nigara, and I'm so glad you found this podcast. Together with my husband Vince and our partner Bill, we have grown our company Window Works from the ground

1:17.2

up. So I know and I understand the challenges you face in running your interior design business.

1:23.8

I also know that your talent alone isn't enough to ensure your success.

1:28.9

So on this podcast, we talk about strategies and practical steps to help you grow your business.

1:35.3

But make no mistake about it, we have our share of fun here too, mixed in with those aha moments that I love so much.

1:42.4

This isn't fluff.

1:43.5

Nobody has time for that. Whether you are a new

1:46.3

interior designer or a season designer, I am here to help you create and to manage the kind of

1:52.3

interior design firm that you dream of. It's straight talk and it's action. Are you ready? Let's get

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