Why Small Businesses Matter in Ridgefield: Studio 251 Interiors

Why Small Businesses Matter

Shop small, do big things for your community

Why Small Businesses Matter puts a spotlight on the local merchants who donate their time, talent, goods, and services for the betterment of our community. The shop local movement spreads virally as local businesses who are “tagged” have the opportunity to share their story!

You're IT Studio 251 Interiors!

Three questions with Tara Kates, founder of Studio 251 Interiors.

Why did you start your business?

I have been an interior designer since 2002 and love what I do! I spent the last 18 years working for some of the best high-end luxury residential design firms in NYC with projects all over the country.

I had my daughter in 2015 and we lived in a small one-bedroom apartment in NYC. Craving some more space we started searching for a new place to lay some roots, visited Ridgefield in the Fall of 2015, and fell in love – we moved up here in March of 2016 and have never looked back. After commuting to the city for about two years, I started my firm officially in 2020 as a way to be closer to my family and daughter.

What a lot of people don’t know about me is that interior design is in my blood – several family members were designers and it has always come very naturally to me. What I love doing is having a client fall in love with their surroundings and so when I can create that for them – that is the best part of my day. Classic and modern, beautiful and functional – I do tailor everything based on the client’s wants and needs.

I still have projects all over – NYC, Florida, St. Louis, the Hamptons, and local here in CT. I travel wherever my clients need me.

What is your best-selling product/service?

Whether doing a renovation, building a home or even just moving into a new home - furnishing a house can be very daunting for most people. Many stores now curate an entire room like you see a mannequin with a complete outfit in a shop window. Like clothing, one size does not always suit all, and buying furniture is similar in the outcome. Because of the sheer quantity of home furnishings available now on the internet, it is very easy to furnish your home yourself. What a lot of these retail sites don’t tell you is that the size and scale of a room should determine what you buy.

They curate a specific look and it looks great on the website or in a magazine ad, then someone will buy it all and wonder why it looks weird in their space. It is my job and experience as a designer to understand that one size doesn’t fit all in the interior design world and when clients hire me I really listen to their needs and then they are amazed at how well things will work in their home. Paint colors that look great in your friends’ houses will not necessarily look good in yours.

The cool sofa that you just had to have may not be the best fit for your family room with 3 kids and 2 dogs jumping on it. All of these nuances are key in how I select and create spaces for my clients and why they come back to me time and again. You can see our work at www.studio251interiors.com or @studio251interiors on Instagram.

How many local businesses do you use to support your business (products and services) and can you name them?

I do try to shop locally whenever I can. I often buy accessories from several stores in Ridgefield for clients: Books on the Common always has beautiful coffee table books; She-la-la has fun smaller accessories; Monte’s Custom Works does a lot of custom woodwork for me when I need it; I am constantly shipping samples to clients at the UPS store, and I head down to Stamford for wonderful antiques at The Antique and Artisans Gallery, Avery and Dash and other shops around Fairfield County.

Tara would like to nominate Monte’s Custom Works to be featured next!

 Visit Studio 251 Interiors online here, and make sure to check out their Instagram page as well!

HamletHub thanks Fairfield County Bank for making our Why Small Businesses Matter series possible!