GET DAILY REPORT FREE
Baton Rouge native Laura Cedor was studying interior design at the University of Southern Mississippi when she had a light bulb moment: To be successful, she had to give 120% every day.
“What person wants to hire someone who is giving a B effort?” she reflects.
That attitude carries through even now as owner of Laura Cedor Interiors, where she calls herself “extremely hands on” from the start of each project to the finish. That means meeting with architects, interviewing contractors, reviewing landscape plans, and taking those late-night and early-morning texts with a smile.
“I like to know everything to help my client feel more comfortable during the process and make sure they get the end product that was sold to them,” she says.
“Some people would say I need boundaries, but I always like to know what is going on.”
As a mother of five children age 9 and younger, 35-year-old Cedor says she thrives in chaos. Juggling her business with the duties of parenthood is a challenge she enjoys, though she notes that her husband, Spencer, “pulls a lot of weekends on single dad duty while I work.”
Even as she focuses on creating classic, family-focused residential interiors these days, Cedor draws on what she learned in previous positions as an interior designer with Holden Architects, where she worked on diverse projects like a Naval dormitory, and at Street Collaborative, where she focused on food service design jobs.
“My knowledge of construction documents, design and construction sets me apart from other designers,” she says.
SHARED INSIGHTS
Strategy for managing a budget while delivering high-impact design
I like to set a budget! We make a design packet that shows price points of items that we recommend or that meet a client’s expectations. For instance, a client may show me a bathroom with a $50 tile in it. This tile is their dream tile! We want to ensure that this is accounted for when budgeting so they get their end look. We try to educate our clients as much as possible.
Trends I’m loving, and trends I’m leaving behind
I’m loving warm colors, textures, timeless prints, wallpaper, unique or old hardware, and unlacquered brass. When it comes to what to leave behind, trendy decisions are always a mistake. When designing your custom home, you want to do something that you will not have to go back and say that was so cool in 2020. I also think that all-white homes have to go. And accent feature walls? Don’t do it.
If I could redesign an iconic space—real or fictional
I would love to design something in Europe, maybe a castle. I love a large-scale project. I love mixing old and new. The antiques, the finishes, the old buildings. It sounds like a dream.
The next decade
My business in the next decade will have offices in other states and an online storefront. I also look forward to past clients coming back for additional projects.
Read more about young entrepreneurs bringing fearless flair to interiors.
