Dani and Tay both became well known on social media for their eye for design and decorating spaces that went viral. They teamed up and became best friends when they found out how similar their goals and work ethic were. Now they’re hired internationally to design other people’s spaces and they want a collection they can use for their projects.
How and when did your brand, partnership and creative journey come to life?
D: Over a year ago, Tay sent me a DM on instagram and we have talked every day since then. We’d spend our time helping each other with social media since the industry is extremely closed off and secretive. Tay was my only friend doing social media at the time so it was nice to have someone to talk to about it and get advice from. Because we were in the same niche and love to decorate, we started talking more and more about design and my projects in general. Tay made the jump, quit her full time job and joined me! We’ve now decorated 2 full projects together and are flying overseas for our third. I’m so excited to see what’s in store for us in 2023!
What have been some highlights in your journey?
D: Getting to know Tay as a person and as a designer has been so much fun. We’ve traveled together, had endless sleepovers, endless laughs and definitely have struggled together. And this is exactly why we’re so close and makes our friendship strong. Being able to travel together and decorate a client’s home in a completely different state has definitely been a huge highlight.
Seeing Tay’s beautiful home for the first time in San Francisco has been a huge highlight as well, it’s so weird to see something online for years and then see it in person.
Honestly everything has been a highlight because with Tay, there is never a dull moment. But getting to know who Tay really is and creating something with her has been the biggest highlight.
Tell us a bit about your capsule collection with Otto Studio. What was your inspiration behind these patterns?
D: Even though the average eye would say that Tay and I have a similar style, we think otherwise and with this collection we wanted to find a way to mix our true personal styles into one. When we were brainstorming we came to the realization that the perfect way to describe both of our styles would be something straight out of Alice in wonderland and that’s when I knew this was going to be good. Something unique and whimsical yet elegant.
T: We’ve had trouble finding fun yet classic renter-friendly wallpapers we can use for client homes. We wanted to make something that’s not on the market and brings some fun Gen Z/Millennial style to vintage patterns.
What made you want to partner with Otto Studio?
D: Being able to create something with a small business run by women is empowering! Tay and I are both business women and there couldn’t have been a better option. Otto Studio cares about the quality, product and every little detail they put out which I seriously respect and admire. They also have an amazing creative team that is helping make our visions come to life!
T: My first collection with Otto Studio is something I’m so proud of, and the quality is really something I want to show off because it truly is the best peel-and-stick wallpaper I’ve personally ever used. I wanted to do a second collection and bring in Dani because we work design projects together and we wanted to have wallpaper we can use in our own design projects!
You are both designers and have worked a lot with peel-and-stick wallpaper. What do you think differentiates Otto Studio compared to other wallpaper brands you’ve seen in the market?
D: You don’t often find peel-and-stick wallpaper that isn’t thin and textured. Otto Studio’s wallpaper feels like real, traditional wallpaper since it’s textured and extremely thick. Just by touching the paper you can tell it’s good quality. Otto’s wallpaper isn’t super sticky and doesn’t easily rip like most peel-and-stick wallpaper products I’ve used!
T: I’ve used other brands and I thought that renter-friendly wallpaper meant you were stuck with thin plastic that you could see texture through and that just was the way it was! But I was really shocked the first time I installed Otto because it’s actually surprisingly thick and covered up my wall’s texture, along with being actual paper so it didn’t reflect and accentuate blemishes in the wall – it actually made my wall look even better.
What would be your one piece of advice for someone considering DIY wallpaper?
D: Having an extra hand is very helpful especially when applying wallpaper. Try to get a friend or someone to help you when doing so! Always order an extra panel just in case something goes wrong and if for some reason you don’t have a smoothing tool, put a credit card inside a sock and now you have a perfect wallpaper smoothing tool! Otto Studio adds a squeegee to every order.
T: If you have an older house, walls are not completely straight. Houses shift and settle so you need to account for wonky walls. Make sure you give yourself a few inches of extra wallpaper around the edges.
People typically focus more on feature walls but we think there’s so many ways to use it. What are some ways that people can use wallpaper that haven’t been fully explored?
D: Wallpaper can be used for many things, not just walls! You can cover the insides of drawers in a chest or a dresser. My favorite is using wallpaper as a huge art piece or “painting” and frame it with a thrifted frame or panel molding! You can also add it in fun places like a ceiling or columns.
T: I have a project coming up where I’m taking wallpaper from my first collection and I’m going to lay it on my desk, then seal it with polyurethane so that my desk has this beautiful design on it and it’s as easy as laying down a sheet.