Pam Kofsky first entered the remodeling world by volunteering her design skills when a local synagogue was building an addition. That first job was complimentary; the next one she billed for. “At that point I had a business and I needed to make money,” Kofsky says. Soon she was truly in the game, with certifications and, eventually, design awards for Elegant Interior Designs.
Kofsky’s designs aim to combine functionality and elegance. Much of her work comes to her via remodelers who approach her about designing a job they’ve been hired to build. She is responsible for design and space planning, steering clients through product selections to create the look and feel that meets the homeowners taste and lifestyle.
With her strong design sense, Kofsky says she looks at things differently from a contractor who is purely focused on how the structure will be built. Hers is a more holistic sense of what the finished spaces will look and feel like—complete with furniture and decorative elements. And with experience from a previous career as a tax consultant, she is adept at guiding remodeling clients through the budgeting process.
Takeaways
- Some homeowners hire Kofsky directly, then use her as a resource to find a contractor to build the project. To market her services and draw in new clients, Kofsky conducts regular speaking engagements and has mastered the art of social media.
- “A lot of remodelers resist hiring a designer because they don’t want to incur the additional expense,” she says. “But the project would be so much better if they did.” Kofsky enables contractors to offer more choices. “They want to knock out an update,” she says. “But if they could give homeowners more choices, it would be amazing.”
