Patricia Harman is an interior designer and sole proprietor of River Oaks Designs, Inc.
WHAT CONSTITUTES AN INTERIOR DESIGNER?
“There is legislation where I can call myself a designer because I am an allied ASID [American Society of Interior Design]. They have licensure that they are working on right now so those who have been practicing for a while will have to sit for a board exam like other professionals. I prefer to call myself a designer.”
WHAT DOES SHE DO
AS THE OWNER?
“I design spaces and interiors for clients. A lot of the work I do is in new construction, helping people choose the layout and feel of a house — how it’s going to look, how it’s going to flow. I do floral designs and trees. I design window treatments and then have a seamstress make it. Or I’ll design an application of how to install tile.”
WHAT IS HER
BUSINESS FOCUS?
“Most of my work is traditional. I mostly enjoy work that’s classic, that doesn’t look faddish or like someone else did it.”
HOW LARGE IS HER STAFF?
Harman employs one assistant and a part-time bookkeeper.
WHY LOCATE ON
THE SOUTHSIDE?
“I chose Philips Highway because so much of the materials involved with what I do are right on Philips, from the tile to the flooring companies to the furniture stores. And a great deal of my work is in St. Augustine.”
WHAT DEMOGRAPHIC DOES SHE SERVE?
“The majority of my work is residential with a great deal of my clients being retirees and empty-nesters. My client base reaches down to Daytona, but I don’t go too far north of Jacksonville.”
HOW DOES SHE FIND BUSINESS?
“All of my work is referrals. The builders I’ve worked for, I’ve worked with for a number of years. With the continuing construction boom in Jacksonville, you have a fairly constant feed of people coming to Jacksonville that are having homes built. If it’s a second home, the client will need new furniture, new accessories and new draperies. Because the economy in Duval [County] is still strong, new construction has not been hurt.”
WHAT DOES SHE LIKE ABOUT THE WORK?
“The nicest thing about this job is that every day is different. To give you an example, the other morning I had a client who had lived in her house for some time and needed to take what she had, rearrange it and create a completely different look to her room, using her things. Some days I’m making florals for another designer. The next day I could be accessorizing new construction.”
WHAT IS HER BIGGEST CHALLENGE?
“The business aspect. Paperwork is my least favorite.”
WHAT DOES IT TAKE
TO EXCEL?
“One thing about interior design is that it is an encompassing field. There are members of the interior design community that become sales representatives or furniture reps. This is a service industry and a people industry. If you’re not able to speak to people and communicate your ideas, it makes working pretty difficult. I have customers that apologize to me because they can’t envision what it looks like. What I say to them is that, ‘You’re the reason I have a job.’ If everybody could do this, they wouldn’t need me. It is an art form in that there’s so many elements involved. Each one is key to putting it all together.”
HOMETOWN
Jacksonville.
RESIDENCE
Harman lives in San Marco with her fireman husband, Sam, and her stepdaughter Caitlin.
EDUCATION
For 15 years, beginning in senior high school, Harman worked in some type of design job. She continued arranging floral designs and atriums while pursuing a nursing degree at Jacksonville University. When her penchant for color and style blossomed during her last year at JU, she decided to change majors. Harman now holds an associate degree in interior design from Florida Community College at Jacksonville.
BLUEPRINT FOR DESIGN
“I left her [former employer] and started my own company. I branched out from florals to work with builders on finishes, merchandising model homes.”
PERSONAL INTERESTS
A true Southerner, Harman loves barbecue and good sweet tea. She also enjoys gardening, watching the sun set, Reader’s Digest or seeing “Gone with the Wind” one more time. Harman brings her half-Persian, half-Calico cat to work every day.
— by Monica Chamness