Consign & Design’s Nanci Smith Brings A Lifetime Of Experience

Nanci Smith of Consign & Design has had a lifetime of design experience. “My mother was an interior designer in Washington, D.C. Growing up, I pretty much trailed along with her to all the design stores. I just always did it for friends, and then I wanted to do it for a career,” Smith recalled. “That’s how it started.”

As an adult, Smith worked in department stores for 25 years. She saw them combining and decided that it was time to begin her own business.

“In 2001, I opened a small store, 3,900 square feet. Now its 2017, and I have one store in Wellington that’s almost 8,000 square feet, and a store in Palm Beach Gardens that’s 8,200 square feet,” she said.

When Smith started out in 2001, there weren’t many furniture stores nearby. A drive to West Palm Beach was necessary. There are now chain furniture stores nearby, but Consign & Design has established its own niche.

Smith’s store has everything needed to outfit a home. She has a complete wallpaper and fabric room, a team of painters, a license with a cabinet company, and is able to remodel kitchens.

“We can do anything from a remodel to a room arrange,” she said.

Smith attended Kent State University in Ohio and studied graphic design and marketing, which helped her create her vision.

Approximately 80 percent of her clients are local, and about 40 percent are equestrians. As Consign & Design became more popular, clients would ask Smith, and designer Cheryl Rappolt, to look at their homes and help pick their paint colors and other design options. Offering interior decorating services was a natural evolution.

“The first thing is to sit down with a customer,” Smith said. “Find out what they’re looking for. Are they looking for a change in design? Are they’re looking for something completely different than what they have up north? Do they just want a couple of rooms arranged and adjusted? Is it a small project or a large project, and what is my time frame?”

Smith creates design boards, gives clients a few different options, and then works from there. The insight she gains from the design boards helps her with designing the next room.

An ideal project, she said, is when the customer knows what they want and is willing to let the decorator take the lead. “If you hire a decorator, you should let the decorator go as much as possible,” Smith said.

Every week, Consign & Design receives a new shipment of product. Approximately 80 percent of the store’s goods are consignment, with 20 percent new. Smith focuses on gift-type items during the equestrian season and visits Atlanta annually for more items.

At Design & Consign, the approach to a project is not aggressive.

“It always starts with putting a design board together that the clients are going to be happy with,” Smith said. “We work really easy with the customer. We’re right around the corner. We can be at your house at a moment’s notice. We can bring the wallpaper and fabrics to you. You can come to us. We do anything from color consultations only to full room designs and full remodeling. It’s just a matter of how big your idea is.”

Smith enjoys installing a project without the client, so the end result, along with any extra touches that are added, is a surprise. It’s all about seeing the reaction for Smith.

Once she was working with a lawyer, redesigning his office. He warned her that he wasn’t easily impressed.

“He walked in, literally had his hands over his head and was jumping up and down calling his girlfriend about how beautiful it was,” she recalled.

Since then, she has worked on multiple offices and homes for that client.

A successful project requires good communication. Letting someone know what you really want, Smith said, is imperative and can be done through pulling pages from magazines, gathering fabrics, coming to the store to look at fabrics and wallpaper, and together coming up with a plan for the home or office.

“We’re always willing to work with the client to make sure they’re happy with their home,” she said. “If there’s anything they’re not happy with, we’re right around the corner and can switch it up.”

In her spare time, Smith has a passion for working with, and for, dogs. She and her company work with various groups, including Big Dog Ranch Rescue and Danny & Ron’s Rescue to help animals in need.

Smith has two dogs, including one that was adopted from Afghanistan. Smith saw an article about an animal rescue in that war-torn country with a picture of Bethanny, an Anatolian shepherd, who is now four years old.

In the store’s efforts to support animals, Consign & Design participates in Small Business Saturday and carries calendars from Danny and Ron’s Rescue, in addition to making donations.

Consign & Design is located at 13857 Wellington Trace in the Wellington Marketplace. The store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. For additional information, call (561) 798-5222 or visit www. myconsignanddesign.com or www.facebook.com/ConsignDesign.