Photo courtesy of Alex Hechart.
Alex Hechart, seated, and her mom Donna Woodfin work together at Home with Hechart. The duo selects and curates home decor for clients in Alabama and across the United States.
When Alex Hechart’s husband asked her what she would do if she could do anything, she said it would be decorating people’s homes to make them feel cozy and warm.
From there, Hechart said the idea grew, and she decided to go for it. She, along with her mother Donna Woodfin, launched Home with Hechart, a home interiors and e-design company in January 2020.
“Mom and I loved design,” Hechart said. “I grew up watching her reorganize and decorate our house. I would come home, and the sofa would be in a different place, and the lamps would be new. I grew up not loving it but grew to appreciate it more, and then I found myself always talking off work to [America’s Mart] market in Atlanta or Scott’s [Antique Market].”
Woodfin added: “It’s been such a fun challenge — getting to do something we love — and getting to go it together.”
Hechart and Woodfin said they believe every client is unique, and their space should reflect that. Their goal is to help their clients turn their space into a home with their inventory that includes everything from furniture, lighting, art and textiles with price points for different budgets.
While the women do have different tastes in decor (Woodfin likes modern clean lines, creams, whites and grays, and Hechart likes rich colors and textures), they collaborate their ideas and decide what will work best for their customers.
“We kind of mix them together to make the room have a little bit of both,” Hechart said. “Together we create a transitional style.”
Home with Hechart offers three design packages. The full-service design is the most extensive, and is for three or more rooms; partial-service design is for one room; and their hourly design services are for clients looking for party preparation, home styling tips or staging for a rental or real estate property.
The duo work out of Woodfin’s Mountain Brook home in a room they have converted into an office. There is a possibility of moving into another space in the future, but they say they are still looking for the right spot.
“We could be able to have clients come in the store and shop and also have a back office area to meet with clients and do shipping,” they said.
Most of their consults are done online. They have the clients send them dimensions of the space along with pictures of pieces they want to incorporate. They say one of their favorite things to do is rework special things already in the home to make it feel more alive.
“We have our first meeting with a client to talk about space and budget,” Hechart said. “I use software where I put the room together virtually to see how it will look in the space and create a shopping list. If it’s good with the client, we go ahead and order everything and ship it directly to their door.”
While some of their customers are hands on, many prefer to let Hechart and Woodfin handle everything.
“Some people want to be very involved in the process, and that makes it super fun and even more challenging,” Hechart said. “There is a mix of both extremes all the way in the middle as well. We can be as involved or not involved as people want.”
The ladies say most of their customers have found them online through Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and their website. They have also gotten several client referrals.
Not even a year into the business, they said they are both very surprised at how quickly it has taken off, but are also very excited. They said they are thankful that they’re very busy and have already hired their first full-time employee.
With the holidays coming up, they are also listing Christmas items on their website and will be offering a home decorating service for Christmas at an hourly service rate.
Some of their inventory is also available for purchase at The Mercantile in the Brook Highland Shopping Center off U.S. 280. Customers can also shop the inventory on their website, which is updated with new items daily and now has a registry option.
The whole thing has been a learning curve. While it hasn’t been easy, they say it’s been totally worth it.
“When you’re doing your passion and dream, work is so much more fun — it’s not all work anymore just enjoyable,” Hechart said.
For more information, visit homewithhechart.com or Instagram @homewithhechart.
