Owner Tricia Dabney said she had no idea that a one-year interior design project commitment in 2011 would lead her to open High Cotton Home & Design in Southwest Austin.
The store offers a variety of home decor designs, gifts and consultation services, something Dabney said sets her business apart from design centers and online retailers.
Dabney first got her start in the interior design industry about 25 years ago when she opened her own business, Dabney Designs, which primarily focused on installing and adorning homes with window coverings. However, the push to open a full-service interior design business came about seven years ago.
Dabney said she was asked to provide interior design services for a Port Aransas, Texas, neighborhood renovation project in 2011, where Realtors and builders were looking to freshen up the interior design of beach-style homes.
“What I thought was one and done turned into a massive dream blessing all rolled into one,” Dabney said. “I did 12 homes that first year, and the phone just started ringing off the hook.”
Dabney said she continued her commitment to the Port Aransas home design project over the next five years, completing 60 homes total. When the project was in its final phase, Dabney began to think about her next gig.
After some research, Dabney opened High Cotton Home & Design in May 2016 and within five months expanded into the vacant space next door.
“We have been well-received [by the community], and the [staff] has been quick to take the bull by the horns,” Dabney said. “I was raised with a “can-do” attitude, and I like people around me that have that same kind of attitude.”
While in college, Dabney said she worked at a design center and strived to make her store more inviting and affordable than those she previously worked at or visited.
“I don’t like going into stuffy design centers,” Dabney said. “I wanted the store to be different and a reflection of where I came from, which was growing up on a farm in Illinois.”
Nearing two years of business, Dabney’s plan moving forward is to continue to make people’s homes as comfortable as possible through her products and services.
“It’s very rewarding to be able to feather the nest or make people’s homes a soft place to fall,” she said.
High Cotton Home & Design
10827 W. Hwy. 290, Ste. 110, Austin
512-296-2423
www.highcottonhomedesign.com
Hours: Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., closed Sun.