Six years ago, Carol Davis combined two decades of design experience and an innate marketing talent to launch Interior Home Store. Since then, the 5,000-sq.-ft. Sherman, Texas, retail and design business has enjoyed consistent year-over-year growth, and projects sales of $1.25 million for 2007.

Assisting as co-host for the event will be her husband, John, who made the decision to join her in the business shortly after retiring from a career in the restaurant industry. Despite referring to it as a “leap of faith,” Davis was well prepared for this chapter of her life, having spent many years building a design business and client base in her North Texas town. With John by her side, she was confident the two of them were ready to handle the responsibilities of such a venture.

She's also no stranger to hard work. “My folks worked long hours to raise five children,” she said. “I worked at various jobs from age 15 until I landed my first real job at age 20 in a major furniture and design store where I sold furniture, consulted with clients and even assisted with the purchasing.”

Her first go at retailing took place in 1981 in the form of a 1,000-sq.-ft. storefront that she rented for $300 a month. She recalls spending half of her investment on building improvements and half on her inventory of “mostly decorative accessories.” She also advertised for quality antique furniture to sell on consignment and to dress up her displays.

“Money was tight and an advertising budget was almost non-existent so I started looking for ways to advertise for free,” Davis said. To promote herself as a design expert, she paired her natural gift for public speaking with an informal slide presentation of her favorite design tips, and pitched it to “every club, sorority and church in town.” Next, she inquired about teaching a continuing education interior design class at a local college and ended up doing it for five years — complete with class field trips to her favorite completed design projects.

She took it to another level when she approached a local TV anchorwoman/morning talk show host. “I met with her about presenting a few decorating ideas and ways viewers could improve their homes,” Davis said. “This exposed me to a much larger audience than my advertising budget ever could.”

During the 1980s, Sherman and the surrounding Red River Valley area thrived, and so did Davis's business. Soon, however, the day-to day-responsibilities of purchasing, inventory tracking and staffing began to take her away from doing what she loved, “helping clients decorate their homes.” So she decided to scale back on retailing and spent the next 10 years growing the design side of her business.

Today, the advertising budget is bigger, but the dollars are spent with much thought and careful planning. “As soon as a new client walks in our door, we greet them, get to know their needs and then ask how they found our store,” she said. Some of them find out about the Interior Home Store courtesy of the store's moving billboard, a 16-foot, photo-wrapped delivery trailer -— pulled by a Hummer. The Davises also produce local television commercials and advertise in Texoma Living, a local lifestyle quarterly. “We've seen instant results from this investment with calls from new clients whom we had difficulty reaching before now,” she said

Carol oversees these and other marketing efforts as well as the daily retail operations, design consultations, purchasing and staffing. John is responsible for receiving, service, delivery and installation. “He also determines what and when upgrades are needed for our computers, software programs and cash registers,” she added. Rounding out the full-time staff are a retail sales manager/visual merchandiser, a drapery designer, an administrative assistant and an office manager/bookkeeper. Three part-time employees assist with design, delivery and sales.

“Our average customer ranges in age from 35 to 65 years and includes middle- to upper-income professionals who have little free time to shop because they work full-time and are busy raising a family,” Davis said. “They recognize the importance of getting professional advice and guidance when making purchases related to their home and appreciate the personal service they receive when they shop in our store.”

They also appreciate the keen insight and familiarity with their changing tastes that Davis has developed after 30 years as a designer in the community. “Decorative accessories of all types are consistently strong performers, but upholstered furniture is where we saw the most rapid growth this year,” she said. “Table lamps are another one of our fastest growing categories with The Uttermost Company as our most popular lighting and home accent supplier.” She said Interior Home Store recently became one of the company's newest decorative lighting showrooms.

“We decided to add decorative lighting because of the growing popularity of hanging decorative chandeliers in every room of the house,” she said. “It also filled a void that existed in our area for this type of product, and since we contract remodeling projects, it was a natural fit. During one of our latest kitchen remodeling projects, we installed a small chandelier in the client's pantry instead of the standard flush mount light and replaced the wood pantry door with a glass French door.”

On the design side, Interior Home Store offers an in-home consultation service for $95 per hour. And though Davis attends classes to keep her design accreditations up to date, she said the best education comes from her clients. “The most enjoyable and exciting part of my job starts when I first become acquainted with a new client and their family,” she said. “The greatest compliment I am given is when they express confidence in my ability to help them make decisions regarding their home decor. What a joy it is to make a family happier with their living quarters. That kind of word-of-mouth advertising is priceless!”

Juggling the daily responsibilities of running a store and a design business while accommodating the needs of clients, staff, suppliers and their private lives keeps them busy, but for now the Davises are enjoying their success. “John and I both understand that growing a business takes long work days and vacations that are generally timed around furniture markets,” she said. “The biggest challenge is not letting the small stuff get in the way of the big picture. We strive always to show appreciation to our great staff and to give thanks to our wonderful clients who have made our success possible the past 26 years.”

Interior Home Store of Sherman, Texas, is celebrating a record-breaking year with a champagne holiday reception and invitation-only open house this month. The store's designers have decorated 12 chandeliers from the store's new lighting collection in different Christmas themes, in addition to decorating the rest of the store.