Everything They Didn't Teach You in Design School. And Then Some.
Interior Design Is a
Business of Trust.
Crispin
Butterfield
B.A.I.D.
F O U N D E R | D E S I G N E R
Born in Ottawa, Ontario and raised on the Manitoba Prairies, Crispin is an award-winning interior designer, founder of Urban Theory Design, and creator of DESIGNLIFEINC. With 20 years in the interior design space under her belt, she has made her mark with many large-scale residential and light commercial projects spanning Canada's Western Provinces. As an interior design tastemaker, she delivers an effortless take on fresh, modern, & polished environments that perfectly pair with elevated and approachable lifestyles.
Crispin understands the grit and commitment to excellence it takes to run and manage a successful interior design business, and she's sharing it all including the 'humanity' behind authentically working with people and running high-level design projects right here on the DESIGNLIFEINC. platform.
Design is her passion, but mentorship is her purpose.
Her huge heart for mentoring other designers on their own journeys is a true reflection of a genuine call to service & leadership and her desire to leave a greater collective design legacy.
So glad you're here.
F E A T U R E S & A W A R D S
You don't have to go it alone.
The reality is not every designer wants to work for a firm today. Many designers are setting off on their own after dedicating years to another company; some are even discovering a second career after decades in a different field.
My goal is to help encourage and inspire you to successfully step up and run your own elevated interior design business. My own journey involves some incredible successes and of course, some fairly big failures. And reaching 20 years in my own career in 2023, I finally feel ready and excited to share what I've learned and developed for myself and our company with other emerging interior designers.
My own business quite literally started by happenstance a few months after graduating from design school. I realized immediately although school had provided the technical skills required to be a designer, I had zero knowledge when it came to actually 'being' a designer in real life. We weren't taught anything about setting up & organizing projects, pricing and valuing our services, working with real-life clients, find & managing trades, budgeting project costs, writing proposals, promoting ourselves, providing top-tier service, the mindset required to attract and manage high-level projects, and the list goes on.
It wasn't until many years into my career I found my own variation of mentors and sense of community that helped round out my strengths as a business owner. Imagine if I had access to these resources earlier on? Mentorship would have been an immeasurable gift. I wouldn't have doubted my own abilities and place in the design world nearly as much for as long as I did.
I know you understand just how that feels - doubting yourself when you know you're talented and have so much to offer, but don't even really know where to start.
It can be really lonely starting out on your own... but it won't be now that you're here!
If this is you,
hang tight.
The practical help you've been looking for from within the industry is here. My promise to you: no gimmicks, no salesy pitches, no fluff. Just rock-solid professional experience, advice, and genuine honesty & insight.
After 20 years of honing how I run my own design business, I've compiled the best of the best resources for every new and emerging interior designer to take and adapt for their own use. The very same templates, guides, and real-life experience that has shaped my firm are now yours.
You don't have to struggle through it all - I have been where you've been, and I'm here to help you get to where you want to go.
Do it different. Do it better.
Elevate the industry.
