In Ask an Influencer, Business of Home explores the creator economy. This week, we spoke with Virginia-based designer Valerie Darden of Brexton Cole Interiors (@brextoncoleinteriors).
Looking back, Valerie Darden realizes her career began in New Jersey, where she grew up watching her mother work as an interior designer. “She’s the one who taught me all about design—ratios, color theory, all of that fun stuff,” says Darden. “I became kind of like an apprentice to her, so it was almost like a one-on-one education.”
When it came time to forge her own path, Darden’s trajectory initially diverged from design, as she started out working in special education and social work. But by the time she and her husband got married and purchased their home in Stafford, Virginia, her unofficial childhood apprenticeship quickly picked up where it left off—suddenly she was back on the phone with her mom, discussing furnishings and color choices for her new place.
This time around, Darden’s own design aesthetic began to emerge, and she was eager to share it. After launching an Instagram account in 2014 to document the process of designing her home, she soon began fielding design requests from followers and partnership inquiries from brands. Eventually, she decided to lean into the former route, establishing her own firm, Brexton Cole Interiors (named after her two sons) in 2017. Along the way, she continued to cultivate her online audience—which today numbers 333,000 followers on Instagram and 11,600 followers on TikTok.
Ahead, the designer shares how she curates a feed that matches her design style, how to turn an online audience into a publishing opportunity, and why she makes a point to use her social media presence to forge connections with potential clients.
Finding an Aesthetic Balance
Darden describes her design style as a mix of traditional and eclectic. “I’ll have a traditional wallpaper that’s been in print for 200 years, and then a funny, modern piece of art in front of it,” she says. She has embraced a similar ethos in her social media feed: Her account includes a combination of professional portfolio shots, photos taken on her iPhone, and even snaps from clients themselves—offering an engagement boost to both of their accounts.
“Clients have sent me photos from their homes saying, ‘Hey, I really like this angle. You post it, and I’ll post it,’” says the designer. “[My feed is] a mixture of professional and very amateur.”
When posting iPhone photos, she opts to edit with the VSCO app. The software allows her to sharpen and brighten grainy photos so she can incorporate off-the-cuff design moments into her feed without sacrificing its overall quality.
Landing a Book Deal
Over the years, Darden has fielded questions on social media from followers across the country in the midst of their own renovations and redesigns, with topics ranging from how to choose a rug size to the best methods for selecting historically accurate wallpaper for an older house. Last year, she came to the realization that when compiled, the inquiries acted almost like market research on her audience’s interests.
“One day I was talking to my husband, John, about it, and I was thinking, ‘Why don’t I just put it all together in a book, and answer all of those questions—just every design question under the sun,’” says Darden.
The end result is her upcoming book, Beautiful Living, which is divided into sections corresponding to different spaces in a home, each featuring how-tos based on the questions she received from followers. Not only did social media help inform the book’s content, but it also gave her leverage in securing a publisher.
“When I pitched the book, they loved the idea, but then they said, ‘We’d love to know a little bit more about you,’” says Darden. “I showed them the social media following, and that was pretty attractive to them. It’s a win-win.”
Step in Front of the Camera
As with many designers, Darden’s social media feed consists mostly of home decor inspiration and past projects. She also takes care to sprinkle a bit of herself in her feed—as a rule of thumb, she makes every fifth or sixth post a photo of herself. For a more informal feel, she’ll hop on Instagram Stories and record a quick video of herself sharing interior design tricks or checking in from one of her projects to talk about what she’s working on that day.
“I like to get in [Stories and posts] just so people know me,” she says. “Often [potential clients] will contact me from social media and say, ‘Hey, I’ve been listening to [your] design tips, and I already feel like I know you.’”
While Darden’s business started out with clients gained entirely from social media, that has changed over the years as her firm has gained traction, with leads now coming in from media coverage and referrals. But across the board, the designer says, it’s still those drawn from social media who seem to convert more readily to clients, and then gel almost immediately with her working style.
“[With your work published] in a magazine, [people are] only seeing a couple of photos and a write-up,” says Darden. “With Instagram, they get to watch your Stories, hear you talk. I post a little bit about my life there, they hear my ridiculous New Jersey accent—they already know you a little bit, and they know what to expect.”
