Interior Designers: Delegate Art. Keep the Profit.

Interior DesignHer · Podcast Feature · February 2026

Sarah Hurt, founder of Seattle Art Source, sits down with Douglas Robb of Interior DesignHer to talk through the business case for handing art off to a specialist. She also explains why that delegation is a strategic move, not a shortcut.

Interior DesignHer creates business education for interior designers. In particular, they have a soft spot for solopreneurs and micro-businesses. Douglas Robb hosts the show. He brings his background helping designers with operations and marketing into candid, practical conversations about running a design studio.

Sarah opens by tracing the origin of Seattle Art Source back to her own frustration trying to find approachable, original art. She describes how, almost by accident, that search turned into a business built specifically to serve interior designers. From the beginning, the model has centered on designers. For example, there is appointment-only service, in-home mockups and renderings, an industry discount, and a deep sensitivity to the fact that art is just one detail among the dozens a designer is juggling on any project.

The conversation covers a lot of ground. It explores why art functions as a finishing layer on a luxury project — the same way a marble supplier or a custom furniture maker does. Also, it discusses why being artistic doesn’t automatically make a designer comfortable sourcing art for clients. Sarah and Douglas talk through how she flexes to fit different working styles. She works with designers who want to be walked through every placement. She also adapts for those who simply say “surprise me” and let her run with it. In addition, they get into the financial side: how the designer discount works, why Sarah keeps her pricing public, and how art creates a natural, recurring reason to reconnect with past clients as their homes and tastes evolve.

Sarah also shares how her process is built to prevent the most expensive mistake in art buying — a piece that doesn’t work once it’s actually hanging in the client’s home. She prevents this through in-home previews and a commission process refined over ten years and hundreds of projects.

Listen on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube.

Website: interiordesignher.com

Seattle Art Source works with interior designers nationwide to source, commission, and install original art for residential and commercial projects. Get in touch to learn how art can become part of your design process from day one.