New Jersey-based designer Karen Wolf and her team are responding to the COVID-19 crisis by offering weekly, educational online webinars dubbed the “Design Pop Trend Series.”
This week’s webinar scheduled for 5 p.m. EST on Wednesday, April 15 will take a look at common home office challenges and will be followed by Q&A. All are welcome and invited to join via Zoom, Meeting ID 892 8854 7326. The series continues next week with a presentation on art for the home.
“I’ve been toying with doing a trend series for a couple of years,” relates Wolf, principal and owner of nationally recognized Karen B. Wolf Interiors and a leading design blogger who was scheduled to participate in the High Point Market Authority Design Bloggers Tour program this Spring. “I had been researching videographers and trying to figure it out when the crisis came about and I thought, ‘That’s enough. I need to put something out there to help people. I don’t sew, so I can’t make masks, and I’m still trying to support my business, so I don’t have time to volunteer at a food bank, but this is something I can do for my community. I don’t believe this is a time to ask people to pay you for things. It’s really a time to share your knowledge and give back, so this is my way of paying it forward every week. Maybe one day good things will come from it, and if not, at least I’m staying relevant and engaged in the industry on a personal level.”
The first installment of the series, by all accounts a smash hit, launched last week, and a recorded version of the event which focused on color trends is now available on YouTube for those who missed the debut. In creating the presentations, Wolf draws on her background in Fine Arts and in trend analysis. (She got her start in the home business as a forecaster in the trends division of Spiegel Catalog years ago). Following an experience with an infomercial company, where she was at the forefront of determining what products would succeed in the channel, she launched her eponymous design firm with a focus on incorporating what’s current in the marketplace in a timeless way.
That was in 2007 at the height of the Recession. “I was a Recession designer, and unfortunately, I think I’m going back to my roots right now, which is not exactly ideal, but I’ve been there and done that, so I know what’s involved,” she relates.
In the early days of her design business, like most, she relied on word of mouth. “At the time, I had young children, and it was pretty easy to get into a network of people because you’re involved socially. Now, it’s going to be much harder because social interaction is not so easy to have. “We’re all vulnerable right now and launching these webinars was not an easy thing for me to do. It’s a big, scary thing and I want people to really benefit from them, so I’m putting a lot of time and effort into my presentations. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what people want to hear, what will help them and why the information would be important to them. My goal is to provide valuable tips on how to live aesthetically and comfortably in our new normal.” For more information about the series, follow Wolf via Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn, or visit kbwinteriors.com.
