Your Beautiful Home Could Be Making You Sick with Whitney Walker

The iDesign Lab Podcast | Where Design, Business, and Culture Shape How We Live and Build

Whitney Walker, designer, entrepreneur, and author, shares her journey from founding Green Smile to building sustainable design businesses l

Key takeaways

• Indoor air quality is critical—many beautiful homes contain toxic materials like VOCs and off-gassing finishes.
• Sustainable design goes beyond aesthetics; it requires transparency in material sourcing and manufacturing ethics.

Main topics

• Toxic materials in home design
• Indoor air quality and VOCs

Notable quotes

I didn't want my products to be made with that kind of energy. I felt like it was really important for true craftsmanship to begin with the craftsman...

Conclusion

Whitney Walker's story underscores that true sustainability in design

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) This is iDesign Lab, a podcast where creativity and curiosity meet style and design. Curator of interiors, furnishings, and lifestyles. Hosted by Tiffany Woolley, an interior designer and a style enthusiast, along with her serial entrepreneur husband, Scott. iDesign Lab is your ultimate design podcast, where we explore the rich and vibrant world of design and its constant evolution in style and trends. Speaker 4 (0:31) Welcome to the iDesignLab podcast. Today, we are joined by Whitney Walker. What if luxury and sustainability could actually live under the same roof? Well, today, Whitney, designer, entrepreneur. author and a visionary who has spent decades transforming the way products and homes are designed and manufactured. She's here to challenge the way we think about design, responsibility, and the future of home building. Welcome, Whitney. Hi, Tiffany. Thank you so much for having me. First of all, thank you. So let's start at the beginning because what fascinated me in doing research for this podcast was your, you know, long history of building businesses in the design community. And so you have that entrepreneurial spirit as well as that design philosophy. I was blown away that you were the founder of Antique Drapery Rod because that was, you know, a go-to for me for so many years. So I like just, I feel like I'm meeting like a celebrity in my world here, but you really have such a rich career. So let's start at the beginning and when you joined this industry. Speaker 3 (1:50) Well, I started college in 10th grade and I started my first business at 17. I come from a family of entrepreneurs. My mother owned a well-known riding stable. My father's mother owned a cosmetic company, Barbara Walker Cosmetics. And then my mother's mother was involved with a group of women on the North Shore of Chicago who all handled their own investments. They were sort of well-known for their group. So I grew up always knowing that I would have a business. And I think that's a really key difference for a young woman is to know that she has a future in business as a young child. And my first business was called Green Smile. And I did interior landscaping. I was studying horticulture at the time, which was a passion of mine, as yours. Everyone loves Speaker 2 (2:39) gardening, of course. Speaker 3 (2:40) And this was, we did interior landscaping. And then after two years, I opened an architectural digest and I saw an editorial spread. Well, actually, the entire magazine had been dedicated to zero plants. And I read and grabbed all the other issues and realized it was, you know, farm bars, late 70s, plants everywhere. And I turned to a friend of mine, Judy Cunningham, who founded Mesa Designs, which is, Speaker 1 (3:07) I think they're in seven countries. They do like Speaker 3 (3:09) all the Saudi Arabian palaces. And I said, Judy, plants are going to go out. She said, no, you're crazy. And so she bought my contracts. And so that was the first business that I sold. Speaker 4 (3:23) That Speaker 3 (3:23) is so... Speaker 4 (3:24) I love that you shared that you're from a long line of women entrepreneurs. I feel like I am too. So Speaker 2 (3:32) you're sitting in Dallas today. Where did all this start? Was it in Dallas? Speaker 3 (3:39) In Dallas. You grew up in Dallas? Well, my family's British, technically. Okay. Three of my grandparents were born in Great Britain, but my parents were born in the U.S. And so I was raised on a horse farm here in Texas, but I did have to commute to schools in town. But it's a great place to be from, and it's also a great place for women to do business. There's a lot going on here. Very Speaker 4 (4:06) resourceful Speaker 3 (4:06) area. Speaker 4 (4:08) I feel like Florida's the same way. Agreed. Very aligned. Florida's Speaker 3 (4:11) a great Speaker 4 (4:11) place Speaker 3 (4:12) for women to do business. And you both have been involved in so many businesses for so long. So incredibly talented. I love your work. I love your website. Thank Speaker 4 (4:21) you. Thank you so much. After Green Smile, I went into interior Speaker 3 (4:27) design. And I was really lucky in that there's sort of three different ways to start as an interior designer. One is to graduate from school and hand your cards out. And then another way is the way that I did it is a lot of people liked my... parents and my grandparents taste. And, um, and I would say, well, you know, I can redo this room for you. And, uh, and so I started doing real interior design and I had a gift, a very lucky gift from my family and that they knew a lot of people with phenomenal properties. So I was, uh, I was able to have some really amazing clients. when I was young in my early 20s. And I went off to New York and I studied at Parsons for a while. I dropped out. Wow. And then I had some great clients up there. And then I came back to Dallas and was great in interior design. And then I renovated restaurants. And then I started the antique drapery company, which was 1992. So I'm dating myself on that one. How did Speaker 2 (5:39) you start that? Did it Speaker 3 (5:41) fulfill a need that you saw? Yes. When I had been doing interiors, I had some really great clients with some phenomenal properties. And I was going to Rome to buy the hardware, especially because I was doing a lot of Mediterranean. Correct, which Speaker 4 (5:59) was very heavy in influence. It was down here. So we're speaking the same time period, too. Yes. And Speaker 3 (6:05) it's still huge there. Very. I realized that it took forever to get it shipped in from Italy, and we could make it here in Texas. So for Speaker 2 (6:13) people who are watching and listening to this podcast, explain exactly what antique… Decorative, yeah. Speaker 3 (6:20) You know, Speaker 2 (6:20) what the company is. Speaker 3 (6:22) Actually, I have an Amazon website page, author's page, and it has where I started was in historic hardware, which I did some for a lot of museums. We did some hardware for the cloisters and places like that. Beautiful. We actually used hand forging. So what I go do, I dive deep. I dive very deep. I'm actually a certified welder. So I really wanted to research how this hardware was made, the hardware that we were buying at antique auctions, things like that. And so I hired in some welders. And first I was having it made on the border in Mexico with different welders. But then I got involved in casting and then I got involved in, you know, the finishes and how toxic everything was. And when I would travel to other countries, I would see just as an example where metal goods were made, where the conditions were just absolutely horrifying. And I didn't want my products to have, if you can, it's okay to say it sounds a little bit. woo-woo, but I didn't want my products to be made with that kind of energy. I felt like it was really important for true craftsmanship to begin with the craftsman and the quality of materials and the quality of their working space and how the craftsman felt about their work. So when we started the Antique Drapery Ride Company, we made everything authentically. And I have a book, if you're interested in antique hardware or especially Mediterranean hardware. It's called The Art of the Antique Red Riding Hood. It has 2,400 years of famous paintings with window hardware or wall hardware. Amazing. Speaker 4 (8:10) And Speaker 3 (8:11) that's really what my passion was for it. And then we did casting, and we got into plastic casting, which is where I really got started to get more aggressively Speaker 4 (8:19) eco. Speaker 3 (8:20) But Speaker 4 (8:21) your finishes were always Speaker 3 (8:22) amazing. Well, our finishes were all water-based, and that was a major two-year production to move into paints that were eco-responsible. And then later on, my father and I developed a patented paint made out of up to 96 % food ingredients. Speaker 2 (8:45) But Speaker 3 (8:46) that Speaker 2 (8:46) alone must have taken up a tremendous amount of your time. And resource, yeah. That's a major, huge company with, I mean, hundreds and hundreds of SKUs. Speaker 3 (8:57) Well, we did have 48,000 SKUs in all colorways. Unbelievable. I had between 60 to 200 employees for 24 of the 25 years that I owned the company. I started in 1992 and then I sold it 2017. And it's still operating now. It is. A little bit later. Yes, it is. Not quite the same, but they still make some quality products. When you sell a business, as you know, serial entrepreneurs here, you sort of have to walk away. Let it go. Yeah. Walk away and just it's no longer your responsibility. And as I said, they still make some nice products. I also built Anastova, which is textiles. So we make actually the world's finest quality certified organic linens in the world. And I had to visit 21 mills in Northern Italy. Speaker 4 (9:51) Oh, I'm sure that was Speaker 3 (9:52) such a problem. It was a tough job. Speaker 4 (9:55) A really tough job. Yeah, that would have been tough. Speaker 3 (9:59) Ate my way through all of North Carolina. Exactly. And it was huge. And no shortage Speaker 4 (10:04) of inspiration, I'm sure. Speaker 3 (10:07) Oh, Speaker 4 (10:07) incredible. Speaker 3 (10:08) I Speaker 4 (10:08) mean, Speaker 3 (10:08) the mill that I work with is a multi-generational mill, North of Torino. And they are so, so fine a quality. It's just incredible. And I can't actually name the other companies that they produce for, but they're all of the highest. uh quality you know textile companies in the world they're really amazing um i know everyone you know that really really wants qualities they're going to go to northern middle east there's a few places in france also but but i had done sourcing in india and china peru which actually has some fabulous colored iron cottons um and i was trying to build something that was really not just eco responsible for the planet but very responsible for my clients, for me, something that was, if you understand the production and you go to visit a factory, let's just say China, India, Mexico, Peru, even Italy, you'll see production for the U.S., which involves dioxin bleaches. Right, I know. From outside sizing, toxic dyes. And then you see everything else for the EU, Japan, Australia. Unbelievable. Speaker 4 (11:20) So you were kind of ahead of your time, I feel like. I mean, I feel that's on the forefront now, especially in the last five or six years. But I don't think that everybody was as in tune as obviously you were 20 years ago. Where did that where did you start to realize like that aha moment that something has to change here? Speaker 3 (11:42) The difference between a decorator and a designer and a manufacturer. as you know, are huge. And I consider myself a designer's designer. That's what someone else used to call me, you know. And I'm the person who makes things in a factory for the designer to sell to their client. Right. And when you're involved so closely with every single step from where the product's sourced to what the materials are to the people who are making it, To how it's finished out and how it's packaged. And what your legacy is going to be 25 years from now is are you going to make your client sick? Are you going to put boots of paint that causes ADHD or cancer? Or are you going to make hardware that's coated with a finish that's made out of a high BOC clear coat that when it's put in a window and is exposed to a lot of sun. Speaker 3 (12:45) Sunlight. Hair. It starts to off-gas. I mean, so you're building an environment for your clients, and it's either going to be a healthy environment, you're going to understand why, or it's going to be an environment where you sleep in sheets with dogs and bleaches, which have, according to many people, a direct link to breast cancer. So I'm one of those people who... really dives deep. I know, but I love and Speaker 4 (13:12) have such an appreciation for that. And I feel like as we've been doing this podcast, that is something that really does come up a lot is people, we are in such a wellness driven world right now, our modern society that, you know, wellness needs to start right in our home. We're all, I mean, obviously your body is your temple, but. Your home is the next best thing. And according to EPA, indoor air is three Speaker 3 (13:42) times more toxic than outdoor air. Speaker 2 (13:44) Was there like an aha moment in your life where you realized that you wanted to take that direction with everything that you're doing? Or was it something that was instilled in you as a child? Speaker 3 (13:57) Yes, it was actually sealed immediately with a child. My parents were a little bit the well-educated hippies. And I will share, Speaker 4 (14:05) we're horse people. Speaker 3 (14:07) And one of the first experiences that I had with a toxic environment was we had some beautiful horses in our stable and one of them died and the vet said he was poisoned. And we knew where we bought. all our feed from. And I went with my mother and my little brother and our bar manager and I all went to this huge warehouse where the feed was made and all around the edge of this mountain, these bulldozers to... Speaker 4 (14:43) move the feed before it went into Speaker 3 (14:45) the hopper to be bagged. And there was all this rat poison. Speaker 1 (14:50) And Speaker 3 (14:51) the rat poison was being mixed in with the horse feed. Speaker 2 (14:56) And Speaker 3 (14:57) that's what the horse died. Several other horses were sick. Of course, my mother went through the roof. I don't want to go there. Speaker 4 (15:05) I'm understood. Speaker 3 (15:08) And so that was an early experience. Also, another early experience was with food. We went to health food stores. And I really understood the difference at an early age between food that never goes stale. The chemical experiment. So if it doesn't mold, it's probably bad for you. So things like that. We sort of grew up in that environment. Speaker 4 (15:31) So when did you realize that this was something that could be brought into? the, you know, like interior design industry, this philosophy? Speaker 3 (15:41) Well, when I was painting murals, and I was really not a great mural painter, but I hired a lot of great mural painters, a lot of people wanted to do historic preservation. And so they wanted to do restoration with paints that were made the same way that the paints were originally. And you would think that would be more healthy, but it wasn't. In fact, They use lead. They use mercury. I mean, we know how many famous musical composers suffered from lead poisoning because they were using lead pencils to write their music with. So a lot of the older ingredients were really toxic. So I'm sort of someone who looks at the ingredients of everything. I walk into a room and I could tell polyester from, you know, literally 50 feet away. And you mentioned... Paul Watson, Captain Watson, Sea Shepherd earlier, when you see what materials like polyesters, which are so huge in design now, I mean, I've actually met designers who don't really understand what the difference