Zoe .Grant & Madeleine Biache shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Zoe & Madeleine, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What do you think is misunderstood about your business?
A common misconception about the interior design world is that it’s just choosing beautiful things. Behind the scenes for every beautiful item that goes into a home we’ve looked at a dozen, fits with everything else and physically fits in the room, edited to three choices, created an AI mockup, gotten client approval, double checked the timing, invoiced, ordered and made sure that it arrives on time and in one piece. 95% of the work to make a home beautiful happens without the client ever knowing and that’s the way it should be.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
We are Zoe and Madeleine and together we are DBD Lifestyles, an interior design firm rooted in the idea of whimsical luxury. The idea that home can be colorful and fun and sophisticated at the same time. Too often sophistication and luxury is relegated to beige and fun is considered juvenile. We’re breaking the mould and creating spaces that are both whimsical and grown up.
We began our journey with design in 2022 with our award winning Maine colonial home and quickly found an audience nationwide but concentrated in Central Florida -since then we’ve been fortunate enough to work on over 50 homes and vacation rentals. We love to work with quirky one of a kind pieces -bright floral wallpaper, a dragon chandelier and a Princess Tiana dining table have been some recent favorites and we are always on the hunt for the perfect accents for our clients.
In 2025 we began designing luxury wool rugs with the rug manufacturer RuggleUp and it’s been a very fun creative process. We hand draw every single rug sitting at the kitchen table and it’s incredible to watch the artisans bring our drawings to life in wool, silk and Alpaca. It’s even more incredible to see our rugs in homes and furniture showrooms.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who taught you the most about work?
We’ve been so fortunate to have so many excellent mentors -our parents get the first acknowledgement and they really showed us what it looks like to build something from scratch and launch it into the world and the time and dedication it takes. We’ve also been very fortunate to have been so embraced by the interior design community and see how other designers and brands operate -it’s been the biggest blessing to be able to ask those questions on the nitty gritty of running a design business vs the fun part of choosing beautiful things.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
This is a tricky question because we are often told we’re pretty fearless but the fear of being too much or too out there. The fear of being judged for creating content for the internet -thankfully we have a very supportive online community on Instagram and TikTok but just like everyone else it’s scary to be in front of a potentially unlimited audience. Lately we’ve been getting over this fear and it’s been incredibly freeing. We’ve found our people doing this and it just goes to show that when you lean into who you are you find your people and your calling.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
The idea that you need to have a blank slate for a designer to work magic. We want to incorporate your Grandmas quilt, your art, your family photos and make your home feel like you. So many in the industry insist on having a blank slate to work in and our take on it is that it’s the clients home -not our ego as designers. A beautiful home is only beautiful if it has your memories in it.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. Are you tap dancing to work? Have you been that level of excited at any point in your career? If so, please tell us about those days.
We really, genuinely are. We absolutely consider ourselves the luckiest people in the world to get to do what we do and who we do it with. From working with interior design clients to designing rugs and creating home inspiration and behind the scenes videos. We love how we get to make our clients houses turn into their homes and how creative we get to be. It thrills us to think about a family sitting on a couch we chose or a family making vacation memories at and Airbnb we designed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dbd-lifestyles.com
- Instagram: @dbdlifestyles
- Facebook: @dbdlifestyles
- Other: We’re on TikTok as @dbdlifestyles
Image Credits
Bellisey Collective Media
Glass Poet Studio
