The Designer’s Lounge Retreat
SPRING 2026
May 12–14
This spring, we're gathering again in Milford, Connecticut for three days centered on the deeper work of running a design business: deep-dive sessions with industry specialists, honest peer-to-peer exchange, and a creative reset that comes from stepping out of the day-to-day.
This spring, we're gathering again in Milford, Connecticut for three days centered on the deeper work of running a design business: deep-dive sessions with industry specialists, honest peer-to-peer exchange, and a creative reset that comes from stepping out of the day-to-day.
What You’ll Learn
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We offer a range of solutions designed to meet your needs—whether you're just getting started or scaling something bigger. Everything is tailored to help you move forward with clarity and confidence.
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Hannah Levine specializes in transforming early-stage home décor concepts into thriving, strategically built brands through product development, sales expansion and customer engagement. With over a decade of experience across the home décor value chain, she brings the systems, insight, and operational discipline that distinguish brands that scale from those that stall.
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Brooklyn is breaking down how interior designers can use social media as a strategic tool—not a time-suck—to expand visibility, attract aligned clients, and show the depth of their work.
She’ll walk through what content actually matters, how to create it without losing your mind, and why storytelling is the difference between being “another designer” and becoming a brand people follow. Expect practical guidance, mindset shifts, and a clear sense of how to show up online with intention.
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Ideal clients don’t chase. They choose.
Sarah exposes the hidden gaps in your brand that are quietly repelling the very clients you want most.
In this session, you’ll learn how luxury brands signal trust, authority, and ease long before a client ever hops on a call. Spoiler : your website & brand marks are more important than you think. -
People can’t trust who they don’t know. Show up on video. Make yourself the obvious choice.
Gwyn will show you how to show up on camera in a way that feels genuine, magnetic, and unmistakably you — the version people immediately connect with.
She’ll be breaking down how strategic video builds trust and familiarity not just with clients, but with builders, architects, collaborators, and the entire design community. -
If your pricing makes you nervous, your proposal is not doing its job
In this small-group session, Erica will break down the structure and strategy behind pricing that reflects your value, not your fear.
You’ll see how premium firms present numbers with confidence, clarity, and zero apologies.
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Item descriptionYour next level isn’t a new tactic—it’s a new operating system
In this session, Dalia will dive into the systems, support, and strategic outsourcing that pull you out of the weeds and put you back in the creative seat.
She'll show you how to delegate with intention, protect your time and finally run your business like the leader it needs and not the assistant it has. -
A premium pipeline filters first, converts second.
This session will reveal how to attract inquiries that are already aligned — and guide them into becoming committed clients without ever feeling salesy.
Melissa will break down the operational touchpoints that create confidence, reduce friction, and make the ‘yes’ feel natural.
Ok, what does that mean?
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We offer a range of solutions designed to meet your needs—whether you're just getting started or scaling something bigger. Everything is tailored to help you move forward with clarity and confidence.
-
Hannah Levine specializes in transforming early-stage home décor concepts into thriving, strategically built brands through product development, sales expansion and customer engagement. With over a decade of experience across the home décor value chain, she brings the systems, insight, and operational discipline that distinguish brands that scale from those that stall.
-
Brooklyn is breaking down how interior designers can use social media as a strategic tool—not a time-suck—to expand visibility, attract aligned clients, and show the depth of their work.
She’ll walk through what content actually matters, how to create it without losing your mind, and why storytelling is the difference between being “another designer” and becoming a brand people follow. Expect practical guidance, mindset shifts, and a clear sense of how to show up online with intention.
-
Ideal clients don’t chase. They choose.
Sarah exposes the hidden gaps in your brand that are quietly repelling the very clients you want most.
In this session, you’ll learn how luxury brands signal trust, authority, and ease long before a client ever hops on a call. Spoiler : your website & brand marks are more important than you think. -
People can’t trust who they don’t know. Show up on video. Make yourself the obvious choice.
Gwyn will show you how to show up on camera in a way that feels genuine, magnetic, and unmistakably you — the version people immediately connect with.
She’ll be breaking down how strategic video builds trust and familiarity not just with clients, but with builders, architects, collaborators, and the entire design community. -
If your pricing makes you nervous, your proposal is not doing its job
In this small-group session, Erica will break down the structure and strategy behind pricing that reflects your value, not your fear.
You’ll see how premium firms present numbers with confidence, clarity, and zero apologies.
-
Item descriptionYour next level isn’t a new tactic—it’s a new operating system
In this session, Dalia will dive into the systems, support, and strategic outsourcing that pull you out of the weeds and put you back in the creative seat.
She'll show you how to delegate with intention, protect your time and finally run your business like the leader it needs and not the assistant it has. -
A premium pipeline filters first, converts second.
This session will reveal how to attract inquiries that are already aligned — and guide them into becoming committed clients without ever feeling salesy.
Melissa will break down the operational touchpoints that create confidence, reduce friction, and make the ‘yes’ feel natural.
A LOOK INSIDE THE SPRING RETREAT
The Designer's Lounge Retreat isn't about keynotes and name badges in a sea of strangers.
It's an intimate gathering on the Connecticut coast—a creative reset with business strategy that actually moves your practice forward.
The presentations give you frameworks and strategies you can implement immediately. But the real transformation happens because the speakers stay for every meal and actually want to talk shop.
The magic?
It's in the dinner conversations that go so long they shut restaurants down, or in the casual hallway moment when someone mentions exactly how they solved the problem you've been stuck on for months.
This spring, we're gathering again in Milford, Connecticut for three days centered on the deeper work of running a design business: deep-dive sessions with industry specialists, honest peer-to-peer exchange, and a creative reset that comes from stepping out of the day-to-day.
What past attendees had to say about the retreat
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I really enjoyed the retreat. The speakers were knowledgeable and good at imparting their expertise, but the gold is always found in between the learning where you can chat about how making those changes will impact your life
— Dalia Soles, Design Assisted
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In addition to the setting and the food: getting to meet so many other designers that are in the same phase of life and building their businesses… it's so impactful to hear how others are doing x, y, and z.
— Mary Bourke, Walsh Bourke Interiors
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It resonated with me and what I am trying to achieve. I took so many little things away from that talk. It changed how I will do business going forward
— Kerry Seely, Kerry Seely Design
OUR LOCATION
Milford is a coastal gem where New England charm meets laid-back luxury. With its walkable downtown, historic homes, and over 17 miles of shoreline, it’s the kind of place where you can grab oysters by the water after a morning of boutique browsing. It’s effortlessly pretty—and an easy train ride from both NYC & Boston.
A retreat designed to support the decisions that move your business forward and to explore the future of our industry together.
This spring, we're gathering again in Milford, Connecticut for three days centered on the deeper work of running a design business: deep-dive sessions with industry specialists, honest peer-to-peer exchange, and a creative reset that comes from stepping out of the day-to-day.
