Debbie Demboski Celebrates 30 Years Of Decorating Your Dens (& More!)

In 2019, Decorating Den Interiors is celebrating 50 years in business.

Tampa Bay-area franchise owner and decorator Debbie Demboski has been a Decorating Den franchisee since 1989. She is proud to be celebrating 30 years in business herself, as one of the company’s longest-tenured representatives. 

She says Decorating Den continues to be successful because clients appreciate that the business comes to them with a completely free consultation and no hourly fees, whether you want to update a room, a piece of furniture, your window treatments, or redecorate your entire home from top to bottom.

“There are not a lot of 50-year-old companies,” says Debbie, especially as home design businesses seem to be contracting because so many people now turn to online shopping. “But, Decorating Den is growing, and the last couple of years have been really tremendous for us.”

Debbie says one of the biggest benefits of working with Decorating Den is that her design studio gets parked right in your driveway.

Stocked full of samples of fabrics and colors, the Decorating Den van at your home or office means your designer will help you choose how to decorate your interior space while standing inside and looking at that very space.

That’s something online shopping just can’t do.

“So many people have a vision and get excited, purchase something and bring it home, before realizing that it just doesn’t work,” says Debbie. “Having a professional opinion can actually save you time and money. I will come to you and assist you in picking out something that not only fits your style and budget, but also works perfectly in your space.”

Debbie has a Bachelor of Arts degree in design and business from West Virginia University in Morgantown. She says she got into the interior decorating business when she was living and working in Atlanta and a friend became a Decorating Den franchise owner. Debbie went to work as a decorator for that business and, soon after, started her own franchise.

Debbie’s daughter, Sara McKenzie, has been her partner for the last five years. 

“Sara takes most of our new clients and has built her clientele to where she is now getting repeat business and referrals, as well,” Debbie says.

Sara and Debbie admit that their biggest competitor today is the online shopping craze, but once people try working with Decorating Den, they realize how much better it is than the trial-and-error process of buying online themselves.

“Every now and again, maybe the best product is from one of those online sites,” Debbie says. “But, Decorating Den has such vast product lines and we know the quality, size and proportion of all of those products.”

Decorating Den offers a “good, better, and best” mix of product lines to meet every budget.

“A decorator can help you so much versus doing it yourself,” Debbie says.

Why Decorating Den?

While other designers charge an hourly fee for their time, Decorating Den does things differently. Debbie says the reasons why her clients love working with Decorating Den are outlined in the following “NIFTY” benefits:

•N-National umbrella: Decorating Den has the buying power of a national company.

•I-In-home decorating: Design decisions are made in your home, in your existing lighting, working with what you already own.

•F-Free consultation: Not only do Debbie and Sara come to you, there is no cost for the consultation and never any hourly fees for their time.

•T-Training: Decorating Den provides opportunities for decorators to constantly update their skills and learn about the latest trends through conferences and working with other franchise owners in the region.

•Y-Your lifestyle: Your likes, dislikes and budget are Debbie and Sara’s highest priority, to be sure that your home reflects your personal taste — not theirs.

Jennifer Pressley became a client of Debbie’s when she lived in Apollo Beach and hired Debbie to decorate her home as her budget allowed — one room at a time.

When the Pressleys moved to FishHawk Ranch in Lithia just a few months ago, they immediately hired Debbie to begin decorating their new home, too.

“She’s amazing,” says Jennifer. “She really understands how to ask the right questions and get the feel of how you want to decorate the house. Coming into this house, I had no clue where to start.”

One of the first rooms they decided to tackle was Jennifer’s daughter’s bedroom. Jennifer says Debbie had to endure the 11-year-old saying, “No, I don’t like that,” to many, many options.

“Debbie’s so patient,” says Jennifer, explaining that she didn’t get frustrated, but just kept looking until she found the absolutely perfect curtains for the room.

Jennifer says that when she originally was looking for help to decorate her former home, she talked with several designers who charged $100 per hour for a consultation. “Debbie doesn’t do that,” Jennifer says. “The consultation is free and then her fee is ‘hidden’ in the cost of what you purchase.”

That’s why Jennifer says she has recommended Decorating Den Interiors to her friends. She loves working with Debbie because, she says, “She’s not pushy, she’s not expensive, and she works with you on a budget.”

Franchises Throughout Central Florid

For the past 25 years, Debbie also has owned the regional Decorating Den territory license and can sell franchises from coast to coast in the central part of Florida.

“I just sold a franchise on the east coast,” says Debbie. “The new franchise owner is currently in corporate training. I’ll help her set up her business, go with her to her first few appointments, help her with marketing ideas and do ongoing training.”

In fact, Debbie says, franchise opportunities are available right here in the Tampa Bay area, too.

“There’s a new subdivision every time you blink,” says Debbie.

While Debbie and Sara currently cover everywhere from Odessa to the west to Thonotosassa in the east, and Wesley Chapel to the north to Lithia in the south, Debbie says that’s a large enough geographic area that could easily support a new franchise.

Debbie also offers her expertise, at no cost, to groups who are looking for a unique guest speaker.

“We constantly do free workshops,” explains Debbie. “One of my most popular talks is on decorating for the holidays. We can show before-and-after pictures, trends and talk about products.”

She says groups of Realtors, homeowners associations or any group looking for a guest speaker is welcome to reach out to her.

Decorating Den Interiors comes to you at your home or office in Wesley Chapel or New Tampa for an absolutely free consultation. For more information, call Debbie at (813) 982-2820 or visit DecDens.com/DebbieD.

Debbie And Sara Bring New Looks To Your Doorstep

Sara McKenzie (above) and her mother, Debbie Demboski, of Decorating Den take the hassle out of interior designing.

In 1994, Debbie Garner hired Decorating Den’s Debbie Demboski to decorate her new home in Tampa Palms. She had seen Debbie around, at church and at Tampa Palms Elementary, where Garner was a teacher, and she had definitely seen Demboski’s Decorating Den van.

She asked a few of her neighbors who had used Debbie, and they gave glowing reviews. It wasn’t long after that that Garner joined the club of satisfied Decorating Den customers.

“The thing about Debbie is that she comes to you,’’ Garner says. “She comes to your house and brings things to show you. If I needed some pictures, or a rug or a lamp, I didn’t have to go out and look for (them). She’d say, ‘Let me look around.’ I just don’t have that creativity and can’t see things like she can.”

Garner said she was able to choose items for her home from a wealth of catalogs and fabric and color swatches in the van, with helpful and reasonably-priced suggestions from Debbie, who re-did every room in Garner’s home.

Debbie manages a successful blend of convenience, styles and pricing, leaving many satisfied customers, and those customers, like Garner, drive future business via “repeat and referral.”

Debbie says working with Decorating Den has a number of “NIFTY” benefits:

N: National umbrella, as Decorating Den has the buying power of a national company.

I: In-home decorating, since design decisions are made in your home, in your existing lighting, working with what you already own.

F: Free consultation, because not only does Debbie come to you, there is no cost for the consultation nor will you pay hourly fees for her time.

T: Training. “This is a very fashion-forward, trendy business,” Debbie says, “so we attend conferences, have private showroom tours, and the decorators from all the regional franchises work with each other to share ideas and collaborate.”

Y: Your lifestyle, which includes likes, dislikes and budget, things Debbie makes her highest priority so that your home reflects your personal taste, not hers.

NIFTY definitely equaled SUCCESS in 2016, says Debbie, who is in her 27th year with Decorating Den, 25 of them here in New Tampa. “Last year was our best year ever,’’ she says.

Before and after.


Demboski doesn’t have a large, glittering showroom, but she has more than enough to meet the needs of clients on the shelves inside a van that operates as an effective  portable
studio.

“They call me because we’re a home-based business,’’ Debbie says. “So when people call and say, ‘Where is your store?’, I can tell them, ‘right in your driveway.’ I have a great selection. We could do a whole house with what’s in my van there.”

And she has.

With customers scattered all over New Tampa and Pasco, Hillsborough, Hernando and Polk counties — and even some as far away as Melbourne Beach (see below) — Debbie is always busy.

But, she has help these days — Debbie’s  daughter Sara McKenzie joined her team about three years ago.

“It’s now a mother-daughter-daughter business,’’ says Debbie, whose mother Phyllis Wilcher works as the Decorating Den regional secretary. “That makes it kind of neat.”

A Freedom High and University of South Florida graduate, McKenzie grew up in the family business and says she always had a good sense for fashion. She also says that she held back from joining her mom because she wasn’t sure she could meet Debbie’s expectations.

“She is so good at it,’’ Sara says. “She can walk in somewhere and start spitting out ideas. It’s very intimidating (to try to follow that).”

After seven years working as a regional manager for a small retail chain, Sara decided to get certified as a decorator and joined her mother on a full-time basis.

She says she shares the same creative spark as her mother, and already has worked on a number of big projects. Like her mother, she says she likes to get the customer involved early in the process.

Garner said it is Debbie’s penchant for letting the customer lead the way initially that makes her a joy to work with, and why she keeps coming back.

When Garner moved to Cory Lake Isles in 2000, she called Debbie again to design her new home. And, 14 years later, after Garner moved back to Florida from New York in 2014, so she called Debbie to do her current home in Tierra Verde.

“She is really good at listening to her clients and understanding exactly what they want before she starts making suggestions,” Garner says.

Debbie’s first consultation is always free, and there are no hourly charges for the work she does.

Working With Windows

Debbie says that 70 percent of her calls are for window treatments, which also happen to be her favorite thing to provide for her customers. While there are plenty of carpet and furniture stores around, it’s harder for people to find window treatments they really love.

Sometimes, Debbie says, an entire room that a client thought needed to be remodeled can be given a completely fresh look merely with newly decorated windows.

“I can even help them with total renovation,” she says. “We have contractors that can remodel a kitchen, if we wanted. But, for the most part, people are looking for area rugs, furniture and bedding. We can do as little or as much as they’re interested in doing.”

Decorating Den is North America’s largest interior design and home furnishings franchise company, with more than 400 franchises across the U.S. and Canada.

Debbie not only owns her own Decorating Den franchise, she also is the regional director for Central Florida and manages 10 other franchises. And, while her own personal franchise is in the running for the company’s top franchise this year, so is her region, where she has helped train the franchise owners; she holds monthly meetings with them.

Four years ago, she was named Regional Director of the Year at Decorating Den’s company-wide international annual conference.

Debbie has a degree in design and business from West Virginia University in Morgantown. Prior to beginning her decorating career, she worked at a number of different retail positions. She says she got into the interior decorating business when she was living and working in Atlanta and a friend, Terri Erwin, became a Decorating Den franchise owner.

Debbie went to work as a decorator for Terri’s business and, soon after, started her own franchise before later buying the Central Florida region and developing it.

She says she continues to evolve as a decorator, as new styles emerge. She works hard to stay on the cutting edge, even after being in the business for nearly three decades. But, one thing that hasn’t changed, she says, is building relationships with her clients and fulfilling their needs.

She understands that sometimes people want a re-design, but letting go of Grandma’s old dining room table or Aunt Jane’s recliner can require a gentle touch.

“I try to work around people’s existing things,’’ Debbie says. “I’m more like, ‘Well, gosh, if you have this, then maybe we add some pillows or maybe we re-cover it or maybe we move it back here.’”

That doesn’t mean selling isn’t a big part of her business as well, but Debbie and Sara keep the pressure off. The bigger payoff for them is their happy clients.

Last year, one of Debbie’s clients was visited by her sister, and loved what Debbie had done so much she hired her to decorate her home…in Melbourne Beach.

Even though it was a three-and-a-half hour drive, Debbie decided to take on the task, and it was such a success, the sister recommended Debbie to her parents right around the corner.

“I probably drove six times, back and forth, at least,’’ Debbie says. “But it was worth it.”

Debbie says that the area most people like to decorate is not actually a room at all — it’s the space people see when they first walk into a home.

She has a vast network of places to choose her products from, including companies like Pendragon, Lexington and Century, to name a few.

“No other design company out there has 400 stores,’’ says Debbie. “And we have a good, better and best product mix. A lot of it comes down to people’s budgets and what they are looking for. Whatever that is, we can find it for them.”

Decorating Den comes to you at your home or office in New Tampa. For more information, call Debbie at 817-2264, or visit her on Facebook by searching “DecoratingDenbyDebbieD.”