Founded in 2017, Design-Art is a growing interior design firm specializing in multifamily projects. Under the leadership of founder Grace Machado McClurg, the company has expanded from a solo operation to a team of ten. With Grace’s background in hospitality design, she brought high expectations for professional systems and workflows. At the same time, she needed solutions that would work for a small, growing business.

Finding the Right Solution for a Growing Business

When Grace launched Design-Art, she faced the challenge of building efficient systems without the extensive resources of her previous employers.

“I had been working in multifamily for the prior 3-ish years by the time I started the company. And before that had worked solely in hospitality design with hotel and restaurant work globally, and around the country,” explains Grace. “My experience starting my own company came with high expectations for professional systems and standards from my time at larger firms. My challenge was how to find programs, standards, and processes that would work for a small team?”

Project: Banyan Flats
Location: Dallas, TX
Client: Banyan Residential

Having used various specification platforms in previous roles, Grace had a clear vision of what she needed and what she wanted to avoid.

“What I really wanted to find was something user-friendly with template capabilities where every spec I wrote went into a library automatically,” says Grace.

“This would allow specs to be reused across multiple projects and give junior team members a resource for making selections. I also wanted the ability to add manufacturer information once and have it link to our local suppliers without having to re-enter contact details every time.”

After evaluating several options, Grace discovered Gather through an online search.

“We’ve tried pretty much everyone on the market and landed on Gather. It was the best of all worlds.”

What Made Gather Stand Out

The decision to choose Gather came down to several key factors that distinguished it from other platforms Grace had used.

"First, I would say, was the site's visual nature and the simplicity of the interface. That was a breath of fresh air coming from past experiences."

Grace also appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with a company at a similar growth stage. “I liked that we were both starting out in our respective companies around the same time and growing together,” she says. “Having that direct connection, being able to bounce ideas off each other, and having input on features that would be most useful. That really resonated with me.”

Project: Alta Uptown
Location: Chandler, AZ
Client: Wood Partners

Seamless Onboarding and Implementation

Grace’s team transitioned to Gather with ease.

“Yes, super easy,” she says of the onboarding process.

“The help documents are incredibly comprehensive. I honestly don’t feel like the team needs much training at all. Especially the younger team members who are so familiar with technology. It’s so straightforward that I can give them an example, and they just know where to go and what to do.”

Transforming Project Workflows

Implementing Gather has significantly improved Design-Art’s workflow from start to finish. The team uses the Clipper tool for initial brainstorming, pulling product selections into projects that can be easily organized, grouped into areas, and archived once final selections are made.

“Once client approvals are received, the team finalizes specifications with detailed information like care and maintenance requirements, exact finishes, and fabric selections. Once the spec is done, they’ll mark it as specified, and then the purchasing agent knows they can now create a purchase order for those items.”

“We have the lead times in there too, so the purchasing agent can go through and sort it based on lead times and start the purchase orders for the longest lead time items first,” explains Grace.

Perhaps most significantly, Gather enabled Design-Art to expand its services to include purchasing.

“We weren’t purchasing initially when we adopted Gather. And so because of that ease, it allowed us to take on the role of purchaser on our projects. In a more cumbersome system, we might have had to just continue outsourcing it. It became another revenue stream for us. So that’s huge.”

Project: Banyan on Washington
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Client: Banyan Residential

Client and Team Collaboration

Gather has also improved how the team collaborates with clients and each other.

“I think some clients like to be more involved than others. And so the ability to invite clients to a project, I would say, was a positive for those wanting more visibility,” Grace explains. “Generally, it has helped us keep our clients informed without necessarily sending weekly summaries. It’s nice they can get real-time updates as we go through.”

For internal collaboration, the cloud-based platform gives the whole team easy access to project information.

“Everyone having visibility and access to the project. Being able to check in at their convenience rather than us having to schedule a meeting to go over updates is really helpful,” says Grace.

Project: Harwood on Cave Creek
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Client: Quarterra

Looking Ahead

As Design-Art continues to grow, the team is exploring ways to further leverage Gather’s capabilities. This includes more extensive use of custom fields and templates to standardize the specification process even further.

When asked what she’d say to another firm considering Gather, Grace doesn’t hesitate:

“I would say, if you’re looking for something that is easy to use but can also produce robust specs, like what is required by hospitality brands, then Gather is the software to use.”

In describing Gather in just a few words, Grace calls it reliable, simple, and growing—a perfect match for her company’s own journey from startup to thriving design firm.