Making Your House a Home

With Home & Willow Design, “Better Living Begins at Home.”  For this Fishers, Indiana-based design firm, creating beautiful spaces that empower homeowners to live their best lives is more than a job.  It’s a mission — and a passion.  As lead designer and founder Stacy Stater says, “Our homes are where we build our most important relationships; it’s where we escape, find rest, and refuel for the day. Home must be a direct reflection of our personality.”  

How does this dynamic team make a house a home? 

Design — and Home — First 

Home & Willow is an independent firm that puts design first — and has done so even before day one. As a child, founder Stacy Stater drew floor plans and elevations, selected furniture from catalogs, and dreamed of bringing her visions to life. Later, she earned a degree from Purdue University, not in design, but in financial counseling. She says, “Art was my strong suit, but I wanted to be a powerful businesswoman.” 

Stacy admits that may sound… well, corny now but it drove her to the finance world, which she says, “Nearly killed me on the vine.” The need to create led her back to her passion. Today, Home & Willow delivers design-forward, relationship-based solutions that enable clients to navigate the process with ease and achieve the results of which they’ve always dreamed.  

Personal Connections  

People often wonder how to choose a designer and if the professional will align with their particular style. Home & Willow does not specialize in any one “genre,” if you will. Rather, they specialize in you. Stacy explains, “We pride ourselves on getting to know the client and their specific desires.” While she focused on finance and design, there is more than a little psychology at play in her work. Through conversations, consultations, and an intense focus on the whys of clients, Stacy and her team “hone in on making their homes reflect their personalities and not ours.” 

“Our clients trust us. We know what they will love because we have built a relationship with them. They allow us into their homes, which is a very intimate, emotional endeavor.” Given the team’s extensive experience, keen eye for design, and creative minds, this trust gives the clients just what they wanted — even if they couldn’t have voiced it.   

And, Stacy adds, “Our designers are so creative. It would kill us if we had to do the same design over and over! We want it to be different each time. We want to get people out of their box” and into a space worthy of their  most important relationships and memories.  

A Valued Hub & Spoke Design Center Tenant  

Hub & Spoke Design Center tenants benefit from cross-traffic and referrals from peers in the design and construction industry. It’s only fitting that this is exactly how Home & Willow came into the community. 

Stacy and her husband were working on a backyard improvement project with Design Center tenant Outdoor Oasis. She noticed there was an available spot. But how would she make the industrial-esque concrete floors “homey” she asked before realizing: “Wait a minute: this is what I do. Let’s put down some beautiful carpets and rugs. Let’s put in cozy furnishings… An idea was formulated, and I didn’t sleep until it came to fruition.” 

Growth Goals 

Home & Willow has ambitious growth goals: more than half of the staff are seasoned designers who come with their own book of work and clientele. Springboarding from that, the team is also focusing on referrals. “We want every client to refer us to someone; eventually, we want every client to be a referral.” As a tenant, Home & Willow has seen an uptick in traffic as people visit the Design Center searching for solutions.  

Stacy says, “I know we’re going to crack open when people hear about us. We are preparing for that, and it’s going to be great.”  

Of that, there is no doubt. With a solid strategy, support from a strong community of like-minded professionals, and an unquenchable desire to build both beautiful homes and relationships, Home & Willow is poised, and prepared, for growth. 

Learn more about Home & Willow and our other industry-leading Design Center tenants.