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Calvis Wyant Podcast
Design Before You Build: Blake Sutton on Custom Home Interiors, Budget, and Timeless Design
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- 51:32
About this episode
When should an interior designer join your custom home team, and what can go wrong when design starts too late?
Blake Sutton, President of Est Est Interior Design, joins Tony Calvis, Jr. to explain why the architect, designer, and builder should collaborate early. They discuss translating inspiration into buildable plans, using premium materials where they matter most, balancing form with function, and creating an Arizona home that feels personal without becoming trend-bound.
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- 00:00 We want to be timely and timeless, not trendy, we want to adapt to modern, methods and materials and products to make a homeowner’s life as easy as possible. But mostly we want to build timeless homes. One of the things I appreciated most about this conversation with Blake is how practical his perspective is on a very creative part of the custom home process. Blake Sutton is the president of EST EST, a Scottsdale-based interior design firm with a long history here in the Valley, and we talk about what homeowners should understand before they start designing or building a custom home.
- 00:32 We get into the importance of assembling the right team early. How interior design affects budget and construction, and what it takes to create a home that feels personal, functional and timeless. With that, please enjoy my conversation with Blake Sutton from EST EST. Blake, it’s great to see you. Good to see you, as always. And yeah, I’m excited to talk with you about EST EST, as well as the partnership that we’ve had with Calvis Wyant and the mutual homeowner experience that we provide.
- 01:03 Right? Absolutely. So, let’s first cover EST EST and the background. I’ve heard your journey here. You’ve told me, but I’m probably missing some of the key pieces that led you to EST EST and ultimately to the role that you’re in now. So maybe we just start there. The company was started in 1959 by two gentlemen. Pat and Bill. They were fairly unique in the design industry in that they didn’t name the company after themselves. You know, they had an early vision that they wanted the company to live past their tenure.
- 01:36 But they were unbelievable guys. Very creative and kind of pillars of the design community here in town. They hired my dad. Tony, in the late 70s to come work for them. So he moved here from the Illinois/Chicago area. And my parents purchased the company from Pat and Bill in the early 80s. Dad ran the business for almost 40 years. And I started working with him in 2010. My father and I shared an office for 13 years, and I took over leadership of the company, about three and a half years ago when he passed away.
- 02:10 We are a full-service interior design firm. We do everything from new construction, ground-up, working alongside architects and wonderful builders like you guys, to full renovations. We also work with homeowners who’ve purchased property who just need light updates and need to furnish it. We do some commercial projects, some hospitality as well. But the core of our business really is luxury residential. My personal journey, I grew up in this industry with my dad and doing what he did. And I had the opportunity to experience it firsthand growing up.
- 02:41 But I actually went to school and got an engineering degree in construction management. I knew I always wanted to run a small business. I love this industry, but I’m not a designer myself. In my time learning how to build custom homes and being a part of the industry, I knew that I loved it. And in 2010, my dad called and said, hey, come help. We were bouncing back from the housing crash taking place in 2008 and starting to grow again. And so I stepped in to help run operations.
- 03:10 My vision was always trying to create as much alignment as possible between us and the partners that we work with: builders and architects. So I spent a number of years, working on crafting processes, doing everything we can to make our builders’ and architects’ lives easier, but also to focus on improving the client experience. And that’s something that I continue today. Now as president of EST EST. Let’s talk about the EST EST name. Yes. There’s a story behind the name. What is it? So as the story goes, in medieval times, monks would travel from town to town in Europe, sharing the gospel.
- 03:44 They would send a runner ahead to the next village to see what accommodations were like. If the accommodations were good, the runner would leave a note outside of town that said EST, which means “it is.” But if the accommodations were great, they would say EST EST, “it is, it is.” In the old language, when you repeated a word, it added emphasis. And so the loose translation for the name is “it is, it is,” or “it is the best.” Wow. Okay. All right. So Pat and Bill. They came up with the story. They found it in their travels in Europe.
- 04:14 They were doing custom homes in Paradise Valley in the late ’50s and early ’60s and importing products from Europe, back before Mediterranean was really the main style in Paradise Valley. Yeah. So it’s incredible foresight. Without a doubt. It also has a longevity that still makes the name, applicable today. Absolutely. So when you joined originally, your dad asked you, “Hey, we need some help. Come over here.” You were working with him for 13 years.
- 04:44 Was there a succession plan? Did you know this would ultimately be the small business venture that you were seeking? Or did it just naturally occur as your responsibilities grew with the business? Responsibilities to the company grew over time. Initially, I was really focused on the designers and adjusting processes and fixing things internally so things ran smoother. Over time, I started to take on a little bit more of a business development role, interviewing with clients, writing contracts, doing those kinds of things.
- 05:15 There wasn’t a planned date of transition. Unfortunately, life happens. Dad had a battle with cancer that forced things to accelerate faster than anyone had hoped. But by sharing an office with him for 13 years, really learning the ins and outs of the business, and being passionate about what we do for people and helping make their lives better, that led to, I wouldn’t say a seamless transition, but it was fairly smooth. Much better than it could have been.
- 05:47 Yeah. What were some of the things that you knew you had to preserve in that legacy? Things you saw implemented during your time prior to taking over the company and knew, these are the core DNA values that… Yeah, I mean, the most important thing has always been hiring great people. So we bring in people who are passionate about what they do. You know, we set egos aside and really want to get to know our clients and craft something that’s custom for each client.
- 06:16 It’s not a cookie cutter solution. It’s not something that comes out of a magazine or a catalog. Each piece is picked intentionally, for specific purposes. We have a commitment to excellence. We want to do a fantastic job for every single client, and we want to treat each client like we’re, you know, spending our own money on our own home. So some of those values are things that I always thought was incredibly important. We want to Carry through. I think the other thing is just balancing responsibility with creativity. It’s one thing to design something that’s beautiful.
- 06:47 It’s another thing for it to be able to be built and for it to be in budget. And so we put a lot of effort into making sure that all the information is provided so that everybody on the project can be successful, the client can be happy with the experience and love what they’re doing. You know, the builder, is not chasing information, has everything they need to do a wonderful job. And we honor the architecture that’s, put together, to make sure that the inside and the outside are harmonious, not competing with each other. Yeah. So I, I’ve heard, from many different people that some of the best designers come out of EST EST.
- 07:20 Yeah. Right. Any company is going to say, yeah, we hire amazing talent. What do you do that you think is different for hiring that amazing talent and cultivating it? Well, I think it’s a combination of things. I think one is really understanding, people. So most people who come out of creative fields, struggle with structure. And so we have very defined processes and ways to organize information that when someone’s worked here for a period of time, they develop great habits because they do things the right way, and it allows them to take that creativity and harness it in a way that’s going to be successful in the long run.
- 07:57 I don’t expect people to come in day one, especially when they’re fresh out of school and be able to, you know, run a custom home. We put them in a position where they can learn alongside other unbelievably talented professionals with experience, and they get on the job training for a number of years. before they’re running projects themselves. We found that model has been really successful and growing. You know, a team that’s that’s talented and passionate about what they do. The other thing is just recognizing that, you know, this isn’t for everybody.
- 08:27 I may interview 50 people before I find 1 or 2 that I think are a great fit for us. You know, culturally. Going into the homeowner journey here: a homeowner comes in, they are looking for an interior designer, and they have a place here where they are going to get really strong systems as well as the creative side. What are some of the early questions that you keep hearing over and over again as new people step into the door? Where is the homeowner mindset in terms of what they are concerned about in those early conversations?
- 08:58 You know, first and foremost, always is, design style. We want to make sure that, you know, we’re a good fit for them as far as what they’re looking for creatively. And our firm is, you know, different than most. We don’t have a look that we sell. So I sit down and kind of show them our portfolio. And you can see across all the designs that we do in all different styles. Quality design has certain things that are, inherent regardless of style, understanding scale and proportion, understanding how to balance a room, how important lighting is.
- 09:31 You know, some of those timeless elements that we bring to each design style is really important. But to me, like the key is helping them understand that we want to get to know them, how they live, how they want to use this home, and understand that we’re going to custom create the perfect space for them. Those needs for each buyer is different. So the first question is always like design style. Is this a good fit? And I can comfortably say that we worked in pretty much every design style possible here in the Valley. That’s not something that scares me.
- 10:00 The next question is usually comes down to things like timeline and budget. And, you know, how do we know what this is going to cost for us to build this home? And that’s where I can sit down and show them how we organize information and how it’s going to allow us to get accurate numbers to our contractors before they ever break ground. So they can have confidence that if they’re committing to build a $5 million house, that’s not going to cost them eight. You know, we take budgeting very seriously. I always joke and say, we’re really good at coloring within the lines when we know where they’re at.
- 10:29 And that’s where collaboration becomes so important. So when they hire a great builder and a great architect, we can all sit down at the beginning with all of our shared experience and give a pretty accurate idea of what it’s going to cost based on the design, style and things that they’re looking for. But then we get into the nitty-gritty of picking actual materials, and we try and stay faithful to, those budget numbers and honor, you know, the parameters that they set for us. You know, beyond that, we start to get into things like communication style and how often do we need to meet and all those kinds of things, but we create a natural progression for them and really try and try and take the, stress out of the design process
- 11:04 with something they can really look forward to and enjoy as they go, step by step design in their house. Yeah. So the homeowner is coming in, they’re going to be hiring someone that they’re going to need to work with for one, two plus years, and then they’re going to have to live with that decision and literally live with the decision for multiple years after that. Yeah. How do you build the rapport quickly, and how do you keep it lasting so that the project is always exciting the entire way through, and you can see that progress?
- 11:35 Building relationships that are built on trust is the most important thing that we do. The vast majority of our clients are referral-based. So when they hear about us or come to find us, they have usually talked to someone they trust who said, “You really need to give them a call.” It might be a builder, architect, realtor, vendor, landscaper, tile guy, or someone they have a friendship with who has had an opportunity to work with us in the past. I think the most important thing we do to quickly connect is really just listen.
- 12:04 In our first couple of meetings, we are not proposing design solutions to the client. It is really an opportunity to get to know them and how they live. If it is a new build or a remodel, either way, we want to sit down, look over the floor plans with them, and talk about the different spaces. How do you use the kitchen? Do you like to cook? Do you entertain? Do you cater food in? What things do you like to cook? What is working well for you in your home now? What is not? How much time do you spend indoors? Do you have pets? Do you have kids or grandkids?
- 12:32 Starting to learn all these kinds of things really makes a difference in helping us come up with the right solutions for them. The more we listen, the more we are able to connect and address needs and concerns. Then we have this first big meeting. We call it the litmus test. In that meeting, we take a large conference table like this and lay out lots of products for them to touch and feel. Usually by the time that meeting is over, the client is in love and eager to start progressing through, and all the fears have kind of been set aside.
- 13:03 So I think the core at the beginning is really listening, engaging, and getting to know the clients. Then we show that listening by presenting things to them that help them connect and start to build that confidence. Yeah. It’s, it’s obviously tough to see that from the conference room we’re in right now. But this is an incredible office with a lot of those materials. So, yeah, can you quickly walk us through what went into the design of the studio where, you know, homeowners are going to be able to come in touch, feel, you know, experience these things not on a screen or on a printed sheet of paper, but in person.
- 13:43 Yeah. I’ve always believed that textures are one of the most important things in the design process. How many times you walked in a space and you just want to kind of reach out and touch that fireplace or that texture on the wall? They convey so much and they really differentiate, a space from being average to being fantastic. So to me, textures are everything. So when a client comes in, we want to show them products. We want them to be able to touch, feel and kind of explore. Every client’s different. Some want to see tons of options.
- 14:12 For some people, it’s very overwhelming. They’d rather have things narrowed down to like a good, better, best situation. So we custom craft, you know, our presentations to meet each client where they’re at. But as we bring them through, we have an extensive resource library where they can touch and feel products. They can see all different tile examples, wall applications as well. But we want them to feel comfortable. So in our office, one of the big things that we did is create lots of open workspaces in our resource library. It allows our designers to lay out projects as they’re working with, and to pack things up.
- 14:44 They get to, get inspiration from others on people that are working on projects. But for me, when I bring clients through, they can see active projects in various phases of design and quickly come to an understanding of what they will experience as they work with us as well. So they may see one table with the floor plans laid out with red lines, making adjustments to, you know, either furniture layouts or where fireplaces can land or adjusting room sizes. The next table to look at may be a loose material presentation that’s got wood flooring options and some stone and some tile for fireplaces.
- 15:14 And the next maybe, you know, fabrics with inspiration photos for furniture. And so they go through the space they get to experience and see what’s, you know, ahead of them as they move through the design process. Yeah. So, being a creative field and being, you know, such a personal project for these homeowners, what sorts of, I guess situations or, character traits bring a homeowner into a flow state when it comes to their interior design.
- 15:44 When do you see the homeowner just absolutely nailing it in terms of, you know, making progress, feeling very confident in their choices, being able to see the big vision even before, you know, any sticks have gone into the ground. It’s really different for every client, because they come from different backgrounds and have different levels of experience. So, the experienced clients, you know, they can start to see things very, very early on as we’re first laying out materials and showing them concept photos, they can start to grasp what’s to come and start to gain that level of excitement for, For new homeowners who are doing, like, their first custom home.
- 16:19 There’s different stages that kind of help, illuminate things for them. The first material presentation, when it goes from just looking at paper drawings and, elevations to getting to touch and feel products is a really big step for them. As we complete the specifications, we’ve done all of our details and drawings and elevations. There’s an opportunity to create, renderings for them as well. And for those that are really hesitant, like that’s the moment when they can really see what their space is going to look like once it’s built and make final adjustments and be really, really happy with, what’s coming down the road.
- 16:49 Homeowners that have done this before obviously have a leg up. Yeah, but we work with homeowners from all different walks of life. You know, we help people with their first home. We help people with their last home and everything in between primary residences, vacation homes. So we meet. It’s not like I said, we meet each client where they’re at. We’re not trying to sell them something that they don’t need. We want to custom tailor each, each home to really make their life, the best it can be in the space that they’re at. Yeah. So all the while, they’re doing this, you’re building out the design workbook? Yes.
- 17:21 Which is a massive little book. You’ve got a binder this thick. Yep. Yeah. So I think, you know, it’s, it’s easy to forget just how much work not only goes into this but needs to be recorded, to then be referenced later. Yeah. The what is the level of effort when, when a homeowner is doing their interior design? How many people does that involve? How many thousands of decisions are being made? There are different levels of design in our industry.
- 17:54 There are a lot of people who call themselves designers who do not provide the services that we do. We believe it is our responsibility to fully design a home, with every detail accounted for, before they ever break ground. That way, the contractor has an opportunity to plan and contribute to the conversation. We can make adjustments when it is not costing the client money, make the build process smoother, and make sure the home is going to be fantastic at the end of the day. In order to do that, we have to literally document everything. It is one thing to have beautiful ideas, see inspiration photos, and create a Pinterest board.
- 18:27 It is another to be able to draw every single space, accounting for ceiling details and lighting layouts, how the cabinetry is all going to come together, what the spacing needs to be between elements, how we are going to transition from space to space, and understanding building codes. What can we have around a fireplace and what can’t we? What can go in the master bathroom? What materials are appropriate indoor versus outdoor? There are a thousand decisions to be made, and it can be overwhelming for a homeowner the first time. But that is what is great about working with a firm like us.
- 18:55 We have been there and done that so many times that we break it down into bite-sized, manageable chunks. We guide them through the process so they are not being forced to make decisions under timeline duress. We can move at their pace and comfort level and guide them through the process to make sure everything is accounted for. When we deliver this big book with drawings of every single room from every different angle, with every product labeled and correlated, they have confidence in what they are getting, and the contractor can take all that information and give them accurate pricing on what this is going to cost at the end of the day.
- 19:29 We explore different things with our clients. There are always dreams and aspirations a client would regret not exploring in the design process, but they may not ultimately be within the budget that they want to build. The analogy I have always used is going out to dinner and looking at a menu that says market price next to lobster. Until the client knows what market price is, they do not really know if they want to have lobster tonight or whether a steak sounds great.
- 20:02 The same is true in design. We had a client recently who fell in love with a slab, and we knew that it was way outside the budget range we had talked about. This slab was $20,000 or $25,000 a slab. But he loved it. Until he could see what that slab cost in relation to how many pieces he would need, he would not have been comfortable going to an alternative, which he also loves, just not quite as much as the other. But it did not make sense for him to pay five times as much for his countertops. For some homeowners, that might make sense.
- 20:32 Until we explore that, we do not know. But we do not want the client to look back with regrets and say, “I wish I had looked into this or explored that opportunity.” We go through the design process and show them all the things they love, but give them alternatives that are also going to be reasonable and fit within the budget, so they can make informed decisions every step of the way. So how do you recommend, to your homeowners the balance that they should have in terms of where they should spend big and where they should they can cut corners or take the cheaper options so that they can make room for the stuff that they really love.
- 21:05 Well, we don’t we don’t ever cut corners. And we don’t wrong. Choice of words. We do not cut corners. We look for high-value items in certain areas. There are certain areas of the home that are always going to have the highest ROI when it comes to the investment. For a homeowner who is going to be in a home for a long period of time, we really do try to focus on the main spaces where they are going to spend the majority of their time. From a resale perspective, there are a couple areas that are key, and oftentimes these things overlap. As I walk through the progression, we want to make sure that when you first open the front door, that first impression when you step into the space is unbelievable
- 21:39 and draws you in. Some of this has to do with architecture, but a lot of it also has to do with the design work. When you are standing in your kitchen and great room space, where you spend the most time with your family and guests when you are entertaining, we want to make sure that space is unbelievable. Your primary bedroom and primary bathroom, where you start your day every day and wrap things up before you go to bed, we have to make sure that space is beautiful and peaceful. If you work from home, we need to make sure your office is perfect for you. It is going to make your life easier, not harder.
- 22:09 A powder bathroom is another area. It is a small square footage, but it is a space that is easy to dress up and a place your guests are going to frequently see. Those are some of the key areas we want to make sure we are investing heavily in. In other areas, where we can step back a little bit secondary bedrooms, guest rooms, secondary sitting spaces we can be smart about the materials that are used to make sure it still looks beautiful and has a very high perceived value. We balance the budget in that way to make sure those key impact areas are truly special and that there are memory points.
- 22:40 Someone walks away and goes, “That fireplace was unbelievable. Did you see what they did with the ceiling as they transitioned from this space to that space?” We want to make sure there are memory points in it to balance things out. Yeah. So you mentioned the coordination between the interior designer, the architect, the builder. When should a homeowner consider it? Consider finding an interior designer. In the process of building a custom home.
- 23:11 So we believe, deeply, that you should establish your entire team, before you get far down the road at all. And that’s the interior designer, the architect and the builder. Correct. So, architect, you have to have on board in order to design a home, that us as designers, we can get involved as soon as that first floor plan lands. Doesn’t need to be final, does not need to be submitted to city. But for us to see the initial planning so we can be in some of these meetings, understand the whys behind the floor plan being laid out. The way it is, is really beneficial for us to get to know our clients and how they’re going to live in the space, and I encourage every single client to get a builder engaged very early on as well.
- 23:47 You know, builders provide incredibly valuable, communication in the pre design and the pre-construction phase, helping us with things that are, you know, buildability and design, how to streamline by certain things, and depending on the, the needs of the client, you know, having a contractor involved early is crucial to making sure certain elements are be successful. So we like to get all three of those on board the next in line, the other two to me really big parties. Maybe not as early as those three, but well before construction begins.
- 24:19 Is having landscape architect involved? Once we know what’s going on in the interior, we want to make sure the inside and outside are going to flow seamlessly and that they integrate really well. And then the other is low-voltage. No, technology is a huge part of life today. And we want to make sure that we’re accounting for any systems that are needed, to streamline lifestyle for the homeowner and having a, low-voltage guy involved to make sure that we have enough space, set aside to hold equipment, that the wiring is going to be run where it’s needed. All those kinds of things is very helpful as well.
- 24:48 So this may be obvious, at least in our space. But, maybe you can help illustrate the intensity at which it happens. But what what sorts of experiences will a homeowner have if they bring in the interior designer too late into the process? You know, the biggest thing that people don’t realize is how many decisions they have to make. You know, if we’re doing a design on a home, that’s let’s say it’s 5000ft². Our design process frequently will take 4 to 6 months.
- 25:18 The ability to see what your home is going to cost before you break ground is incredibly valuable. But in order for us to do a four- or six-month design phase, we need to get started, you know, with the floor plans first being developed in order for you to have a completed design, by the time you get permits, if you wait to get to the designer, one of two things is going to happen. Either you’re going to start construction before you have a completed design and you’re gonna have cost uncertainty, or you’re going to be delaying your project, for when you’re actually going to break ground.
- 25:50 You know, our preference obviously, is always to plan as much as possible for construction starts to streamline things. Having said that, that’s not always the case. And it can create pressure on the homeowner to have to make decisions quicker than they may want to, just to try and meet the timeline that’s coming from the builder. You know, once construction starts, you don’t ever want your contractor have to pull labor off of the job site. So there’s a critical path that he’s going to be running through. And we want to make sure that we’re meeting his needs from a design perspective so that he’s not held up.
- 26:20 And that can be quite challenging if we don’t get engaged until, you know, permits have already been pulled. They’re ready to break ground. They’re they’re doing, you know, digging footings and pouring slabs and foundations. And we may be looking at the plan saying, hey, if we adjust this a little bit, it’s going to make the space feel so much better. But you already dug the footings, you know, are we going to pause and go and change that, or are you just going to accept the way things were laid out previously? But do you have a designer engage earlier? We can make these little adjustments and it saves time and money for the client for sure.
- 26:52 Yeah. And I think that’s important to call out is just how much time, money and options start to go the wrong direction. If you’re waiting, thinking I can delay this decision till later because I don’t want to get stuck with a decision now, but in reality it gives you more options. All these elements are all integrated. You know, homes are complex today. It’s not just a simple A-frame structure with, open space in the middle, you know, little things like wanting to adjust where a fireplace is going to land in the bedroom to optimize a furniture layout.
- 27:29 It’s also going to impact, you know, potentially your truss layouts, your lighting layout, for sure. where we want power in the space, your window package and door package. You know, one little decision that optimizes the space when it’s done in the planning phase is as simple as the architect dragging the fireplace over and making some minor adjustments. When it happens later down the road. You’re talking about significant time and financial, requirements in order to make a change like that. It snowballs one small change isn’t usually just one small change.
- 28:02 It impacts many, many different things that are all tied together. Yeah, yeah. The complexity piece is, getting more and more difficult to contend with, but with, with trends in interior design: what new trends have we been seeing across the Valley? So I give a talk to realtors frequently, and I tell them we want to be timely and timeless, not trendy, trends are typically dictated by what’s popular right now.
- 28:38 It’s something that people have seen on, Instagram or TikTok. They saw it in a magazine or a TV show and they say, I want to have that. Usually these products are manmade things that become very recognizable and tied to a specific period in time. Those are the kinds of things that five or ten years from now, you’re looking back and you go, I remember when tumbled travertine was really popular. It was in 2010, and it dates your house. We want to make sure that our designs are timely.
- 29:09 You know, we want to adapt to modern, methods and materials and products to make a homeowner’s life as easy as possible. We want to recognize their goals. Is this a forever home? Is this a we’re going to be here for five years. That makes a difference as well. But mostly we want to build timeless homes. We want to look beautiful 15 years from now, 30 years from now, 40 years from now. And that happens by using solid principles of design, not chasing trends. The reality is, for something to become a trend, it has to have been used multiple times.
- 29:40 And by the time it gets photographed, documented and become mainstream, it’s something that was selected by someone like us five, six, seven years ago. We’re on to something else by then. Big picture wise, we see, certain trends, you know, influencing the market today, that are they’re dictated by, you know, society and what’s going on in life. So when Covid hit, we start to see more and more home offices being requested, sometimes two in a house, spaces, in general, since I would say about 2007, have been influenced more and more by contemporary, so you’ll see larger room layouts, great room spaces where the kitchens connected to living, as opposed to previously where we saw lots of smaller, more intimate spaces.
- 30:24 Those high level design changes, happened slowly over time. The things that swing quickly are, you know what? Colors are popular. You know what material is, you know, is, trending right now? If I had to answer specifically about trends, kitchens are usually where it’s at. You know, the white on white on white kitchens that we saw for a number of years that I personally thought was really boring, are kind of out right now. We’re seeing warm wood tone swinging back in more, I’d say our most popular wood material right now is probably a walnut or a rough cut oak for our cabinetry, countertops.
- 31:00 We’re seeing lots of quartzes and quartzites, usually warmer tones as opposed to cooler tones. I’d say the most popular countertop right now is probably Taj Mahal. Having said that, three years from now, we probably won’t be using Taj Mahal at all. So for us, we really want to get to know the homeowner what they love and pick something that’s going to be unique for them, because they’re going to be in the space for three years. Typically, they’re gonna be here for ten years, 15 years. We want to make sure that they love it, over time, not because it was, you know, popular when they built their house. Yeah. So, so help me understand how you would guide a homeowner that brings in a Pinterest board
- 31:33 with a bunch of options that are, you know, are going to be dated by the time they even move into the house in some cases. How do you help them understand? You know, we can be timely in a lot of those creative decisions, yet still maintain that timelessness. There’s a really easy example, and it’s barn doors. So barn doors had a moment a few years ago. They’re very, very popular, very trendy. And so I would sit down with the homeowner and they said, you know, I love barn doors. I want to have one in my home. And I would I would talk them through the pros and the cons of having a barn door.
- 32:03 A barn door is functional artwork in a space. It’s best to use on a door that’s going to be open. The majority of the time. It does not seal. It does not prevent sound from transferring from space to space. It’ll block most of the light. So knowing that there’s places where it makes sense to use a barn door and there’s places where it doesn’t. If your office doors can be open the majority of the time and your office looks beautiful inside, and you want to have this beautiful door that can slide to close it when you need the semblance of privacy. It makes a lot of sense.
- 32:32 Using a barn door, like for a bathroom space makes no sense at all. So understanding like the pros and the cons helps them to then go from the excitement of I want this to understanding where it’s appropriate. It’s not that trendy things can’t be used, it’s that you don’t want to rely on the trends to be like the strength of the design. You know, if a client came to me today and said, you know, I love this look, and they show me a Pinterest board with a number of different things, we’re going to look for, what it is behind the images that they love.
- 33:02 Is it the feel of the space? Is that the ambiance that’s created with the lighting? Is it specifically this exact material? I want to have my home because oftentimes when someone shows us an image, there may not even be one specific thing in that picture that they want in their house. I just love the way the space feels by looking through a number of images with them. We kind of grasp what those concepts are and we put together a palette for them that makes sense based on the architecture and style of their home. the budget that they’re working with, you know, how they’re going to live in the space to create that feel that they seek, without necessarily chasing specific trends to make that happen?
- 33:34 Yeah. So do you have a guided approach for what is form versus what is function and how much of that can overlap, or is it unique per homeowner? It’s different for every single homeowner. Okay. There are some homeowners most care more about, function than form, even though they may say the opposite. Or the reality is, when we start to get into it and say, okay, you want your kitchen, don’t have any upper cabinets, you know, we can show you what that looks like. But then we get into the nitty gritty of where are we going to keep all of the different things.
- 34:04 And all of a sudden they realize either I need to create additional spaces to store these things or, you know, maybe that look that looks beautiful in the magazine, is it really going to function for me on a day to day basis? Other homeowners are like, listen, I don’t cook. You know, I travel a lot. When I’m home, I bring in food and I go out to eat. I just want my kitchen to look beautiful. The form is more important to them than the function. But that’s a matter of getting to know each homeowner and really listening and understanding how they want to live in the space, which we put a ton of time into to make sure the final design is going to balance those things in an appropriate way.
- 34:40 I’ve seen your homes built over the last 15, 20 years. Ones that we’ve worked on, ones that we have. Not that I’ve just met homeowners who live in one of your homes. And every home I’ve been in still looks beautiful today because they’re built really well. And every homeowner that I know that has worked with you guys has loved the experience. Obviously, you know, we’re very proud of our work and, you know, love working with EST EST when we get the opportunity. But, you know, outside of Calvis Wyant, what is it about those relationships with the builders or the architects that really helps a project move in a positive direction, even behind the scenes from what the homeowner may be seeing or making decisions on.
- 35:22 So I think there’s a number of things that differentiate between, a great project. That’s that’s a really enjoyable process for the homeowner with fantastic results at the end of the day and one that is more challenging to get to, that beautiful finish line. First and foremost is building a great team. So having, builder, architect, designer on board early on, a team that communicates really well, is huge. I think the second and this is, kind of falls on the homeowner is being able to set good parameters, understanding what it is that you’re looking for, what’s important to you?
- 35:59 You know, sometimes that means spending time, you know, looking through images to understand style wise, you know, what you’re attracted to, what you’re not. But a lot of times it’s just taking the time to go space by space with your team and explain how you live, what you love about your current space, what you wish you had. What bothers you today, and then trusting your the team of experts that you’ve put together to help guide you through the process step by step? The homeowners who know how they live, wind up with a home that reflects that very, very well.
- 36:33 You know, we’re not trying to design something that’s generic, and is a one size fits all. We’re trying to customize details to make it perfect for you. So if you know that you, you know, love to cook and you bake a lot, and so we need to make sure there’s enough space to hold all of my, my baking supplies. We can plan for that if we don’t get into that level of detail. And you’re going to move in your home, and now you’re trying to figure out how do I use these cabinets and where am I keep my stuff? It’s it’s not, as great as it could have been, just as one, you know, small detail, but the sooner you put a great team in place in the in, the better you are able to articulate the things that are important to you, the easier
- 37:09 it is for your team to kind of step in and help guide you through the process to get you to an end result that’s going to meet all your needs. Yeah. So when a homeowner, has done the work and makes that house theirs. Yeah. What’s that experience like when they first walk in and they see everything completes and the furniture all in place and it’s. You know, there’s a there’s joy for sure. You know, they walk into a space and depending on complexity, this could be a two and a half year process.
- 37:37 It could be a four and a half year process depending on some site conditions. You know, there has been a long period of time of anticipation, for this day when they can finally move into their home, so they get their C of O and we show up with the moving trucks and we spend, you know, sometimes 3 or 4 days setting everything up so it can be just right. And they walk in that space and it’s like this, the sense of joy that everything they’ve been dreaming of has finally come to fruition. And for me, just as exciting. You know, I had the opportunity to walk with the homeowner for a home that we had done, in 2016, just last fall.
- 38:10 And they are still just as excited about their home today as they were when they first moved in. You know, they walk through and they see the beautiful architecture that captures their views. They sit in these different spaces that are intimate and created, you know, perfectly for them. And they still love this home just as much today as they did, you know, when they were first able to move in? You’ve been running EST EST for three, four. Years, three and a half, three. And a half. Okay. What do you see as the future for us? Where do you think it needs to go?
- 38:39 Well, our core, our core values and principles will never change. You know, we’re we’re committed to a great client experience. We want to collaborate with our teams. We want to bring design excellence, to everything that we do. And we want to make sure that we’re bringing integrity to the process, through faithful choice of the materials and their applications. As we look at all those kinds of things, and then we look at what’s going on in the market today, it’s kind of easy to see the big picture trends. There’s less and less land available today from empty lots for people to build new houses on.
- 39:09 But in those same beautiful communities, we see homes that are 40 or 50 years old, you know, community like Paradise Valley, one of the original luxury spaces in Arizona. You know, we regularly see tear downs today. They have awesome, beautiful views. But the home, you know, maybe the architecture is average or below average. And so there’s an opportunity for someone to buy a piece of land and make, you know, that space. You know, their dream home. We’re going to start to see that in other areas of town as we move north into North Scottsdale.
- 39:38 A lot of these communities didn’t exist in the 1970s, and were just starting to be built in the 80s and early 90s. That may feel like just the other day, but the reality is, a lot of these communities are approaching 30 to 40 years old now. And as we move into the next five, ten, 15 years, we’re going to see in some of these communities, you know, homes that were built in the late 80s, early 90s with unbelievable views, you know, torn down so that something new can be built in their place, or if the architecture is great, but the finishes are 40 years old, they’re going to come into these homes and maintain the architecture, but maybe swap out, you know, windows and doors to integrate modern technology.
- 40:17 But everything on the interior, the cabinetry, the flooring, all that kind of stuff get changed as well. So I see a large wave of comprehensive remodels and tear downs happening, you know, in this part of town. But we’re going to continue to see expansion on the outskirts of town. You know, not that long ago, Gilbert felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. Now it’s, you know, in the heart of the East Valley, you know, as we continue to expand and grow as a community, these, these areas on the outskirts will become, you know, feeling like they’re in town.
- 40:48 When I was a kid, we used to go to Rawhide, which was at Scottsdale Road and Pinnacle Peak, and driving to Rawhide felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. You know, 30 minute drive. Felt like Scottsdale Road was like a roller coaster. You’re driving through the desert to get this little western town that’s in the middle of nowhere. Pinnacle Peak is like the middle of Scottsdale. Now, we’re going to continue to see growth, in that way, some of these areas on the outskirts of town. So if you go out to somewhere like Peoria on the west side of town, you know, those communities are going to develop and grow.
- 41:20 And ten, 15 years from now, it’s going to be unrecognizable. You know, you could say the same is true of Tempe today. You know, when I went to college at ASU, it was an old, you know, college town. You go down today, it’s like a modern metropolis with high rises and steel and glass buildings everywhere. And it’s been transformed. We’re going to continue to see that, here in town over the next ten, 15 years. Is there a change in homeowner, expectation or desires with this growth that you’re seeing. Every year that goes by, every decade that goes by, the expectations for homeowners increase.
- 41:53 There is never a regression of, ‘Do I want less in my home?’ If you go back to the ’90s, custom lighting packages were not expected. There were bedrooms being built without can lights on the ceiling. I cannot imagine a home being built today without a lighting plan developed with lighting in all the spaces. The standards for air conditioning have changed. The standard for home technology has changed. If you go back to the ’90s, a home control system from a place like Crestron was incredibly expensive.
- 42:26 Today you can get a Crestron system or Control4 system, or something like that, that is really reasonable. And as AI continues to develop and technology gets less expensive, I think we are going to see technology integrated into homes more and more. Things change as the years go on, and homeowners expect more. The quality of the products that are available continues to improve every single year. So yes, I think the expectations of homeowners are only going to grow as time goes on. Yeah. So you brought up technology and I didn’t really cover it earlier, but that’s obviously a, a significant wave in terms of how we’re living and what we expect out of our home every day.
- 43:05 Yeah. Are there any unexpected or hidden, Unexpected or hidden outcomes when it comes to living in the space and using that technology that homeowners aren’t thinking about, but suddenly realize, oh, that’s very important when they come in to us. So to me, when you’re building a custom home like new construction, there’s certain technology, things like baseline that should be included in every house whether the homeowner says they want it or not, because it makes it’s so convenient.
- 43:37 And it’s easy to do when we’re starting from scratch. Simple examples are when you’re walking out of the house, whether it’s the garage or the front door, having a button you can press that changes all the lights in the home to a, in a way setting. so you do not have to walk through the entire house to make sure all the lights are off. Similarly, you can have a nighttime setting that’s in the master bedroom that you can hit one button instead of having to walk the whole house. It’s an easy one. Occupancy sensors in rooms to make sure that the lights are shut off. So if you’ve got kids who leave the lights on in the bedroom constantly, it’s really easy to put in a little sensor.
- 44:08 And if there’s no one moving around in the room for half an hour, the lights turn off. There’s efficiency, things like that are there are no brainers to me, you know, thermostats with temperature controls to make sure that, temperature levels are where you want them to be at. It can rise during the day and come back down when you’re coming home from work. You know, those things are easy. You know, the way technology is changing, from televisions to tablets and phones and stuff. A Wi-Fi network in a home is so important and something that’s frequently overlooked.
- 44:39 So it’s kind of thing that as you work with your low-voltage guy to make sure you can have coverage throughout the home, you know, sometimes that means you’re building in repeaters. But planning for that is huge. And then as technology changes, having the ability to try and futureproof by, you know, sometimes is as simple as running conduit. So we can pull wires as standards change over time to get to a space that without opening up walls. You know, we can do those kinds of things, to plan for the future, to make integration down the road easier. Yeah.
- 45:08 I mean, in addition to the efficiency component, this is really about making these homes more responsive. Yeah. You want to make life easier? When I was a kid, if I want to watch a movie, I had three pages of instructions and four remote controls. And if you didn’t push the right buttons in the right order, you were not watching a movie that night. It required a phone call to someone to come out and try and fix it. You know, the TV was as deep as it was wide, and you had a whole cabinet full of stuff to, to try and make a movie work. Today with technology, I could walk into space, pull up my phone, press, you know, open up my library, pick the movie I want, hit one button and the shades can drop down.
- 45:40 The lights change right level the TV pops on, goes to the correct input, pulls from your library, and the movie starts playing. It can simplify life and make things so much easier. You know, are we watching the same movie? Sure. Is the is the experience different? Drastically. Drastically? Yeah. So I want to be respectful of time, but I did want to cover your philanthropic side. So you have been with Teach One to Lead One for nearly 15 years. Over 15?
- 46:13 I don’t remember. When did I start with Teach One to Lead One? That’s right. I think it’s been 12 or 13 years now. Okay. Yeah. And you’ve been president of the Maricopa chapter? Yes. For the past five years. Yeah. What got you into that? And you know what? What has kept you so involved for so long? So Teach One to Lead One is an amazing organization. We go into public schools, during the school day, and we teach at-risk kids, what we call universal principles.
- 46:46 So it’s things that you and I may take for granted. But it is equipping these kids with tools to be successful in life. The school districts absolutely love it. You know, it changes these kids’ lives. And it’s done largely on a volunteer basis. So members of the community are going into schools in their neighborhood and spending, you know, an hour a week with students and teaching them, you know, these tools they need to be successful in life. And it changes their academic performance. It changes their behavioral performance. They go to school, they show up in class.
- 47:16 It’s an amazing transformation that takes place. And if you’ve experienced it once, it can’t help but make you a believer in how important it is for these kids. And, you know, a lot of times people think, especially when they’re living in Scottsdale like ours, you know, our kids are fine. But the reality is that, every single kid growing up, they have different issues that they’re dealing with. They may not be the same, you know, in school on the west side of town as they are, you know, in Scottsdale. But all of these kids, kids need adult mentors in their life that are helping them, adapt to the struggles that they’re dealing with.
- 47:50 And you’d be surprised at, the difference it makes in these kids’ lives. So it’s easy to become, an advocate. And it’s something that you know, I will continue to do as long as I have the capacity. How did you first find out about them? So one of my best friends was living up in Washington, and he volunteered to work with them up there and fell in love with the program. He moved back here to town and started the chapter locally. And so as we connected, I called a couple of people I knew who could help and was able to help them connect with the first school that we opened up with here in town.
- 48:25 We worked with Devereux, which was where our first classes were. I’ve been working alongside them ever since to help them grow organically as we reach out to more and more kids each year. And currently we have about a thousand kids that go through the program each year. Program each year. Wow. So it’s pretty amazing and it’s really, really rewarding. And, and, the adults who mentor almost get as much out of it as the kids do who are receiving the, the mentoring. You know, it’s a fantastic program.
- 48:54 Yeah. And what skill sets are you focused on for developing or are there, areas where you, you provide particular mentorship that these kids benefit from? So we teach what we call universal principles, which are things like integrity and self-control and compassion and teamwork, it’s a program that they can experience. So we play different games with them and do different role plays and watch videos and stuff, and the kids kind of get to try on these different character traits.
- 49:24 And as they start to experience these things and can see the benefits in their day to day lives, they start to engage more and more. And by the time they get to the program, you know, they’re making a difference. Not just in, their lives, but they’re actually impacting the other students on campus. The reason why we call it teach one to lead one is because we want to teach them. So they can then lead others. So it’s, you know, it’s not, you know, skills-based program where we’re teaching them, you know, how to swing a hammer or do something like that.
- 49:53 It’s really like, it’s character development. Does anything from your background, or I would assume things from your career, make a direct impact on how you approach these mentorships? I just, you know, I think that, you know, young kids, elementary, junior high, high school, it’s a really formative time of life for people. And so if you can reach out to people at that stage and help them go in a positive direction, like the difference that you’re making in their lives is unbelievable. If they can just avoid that mistake that leads to them dropping out of high school and they just they graduate and they go and get a job, or instead of barely getting through high school, they excel
- 50:30 and then they can get a scholarship and go to college. Like their life trajectory is completely changed. It benefits all of society to have kids, graduate and become productive members of society. And it’s rewarding personally to, you know, meeting with a kid who lacks confidence, and doesn’t talk a whole lot at the beginning of the program. By the end, you know, they’re opening up and they’re engaging with others like it. It feels great to see that change in kids’ lives. Yeah, well, that is amazing.
- 51:02 Blake, this has been fantastic. Where can people find you if they want to learn more about you or EST EST? Our website is probably the best place: estestinc.com. You are always welcome to swing by our office as well. We are located right by the Scottsdale Quarter. Just give us a call. We would love to connect. Awesome. All right, Blake, thank you. My pleasure. Really appreciate this. My pleasure.
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