Local interior designer emphasizes the minor details

Photos by matt enloe

DESIGN. Scott Neste has worked in interior design for 20 years and has a client list that includes local businesses and residents.

Minor Details Design founder and interior designer Scott Neste first began designing when he was a child rearranging the furniture in his bedroom.

"There was always a lot of creativity in my house," Neste recalled. "I'm fortunate to have multi-talented parents.

Neste first began with visual design such as window displays for retail. In college, he received a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communication. He worked in retail after college for several years. He eventually started working as human resource director for a company that conducted clinical trials. When the company relocated, Neste had a choice to make.

"I was at a crossroads," Neste remarked. "Do I continue with a career in human resources or start my own design firm?  I wanted to follow my passion. Life is too short to not follow your passion."

He has now worked in interior design for 20 years, and in 2001 opened his own firm, Minor Details.

"I had used that name for many years, but it became a bona fide business in 2001," Neste said. "I have always liked the phase. It's the small things in life that make it special."

Minor Details includes Neste and one design assistant. However, Neste said that sometimes he will collaborate with other professionals or outsource particular parts of a project. Most of his client base is in Washington, but he has done some work in Colorado, Minnesota and Oregon.

Minor Details specializes in residential and commercial interior design. It also does custom art for clients. It has done a number of projects for businesses in Tacoma. Some of those businesses include Northwest Kinetics and Sound Options. In addition, Neste said, he has done some work for restaurants, dentists and other professional centers.

When designing a space for the client, he said, it is a collaborative effort between himself and the clients.

"Design should always be a collaborative process," Neste remarked. "I'm not a decorator who comes in and puts a painting here and a lamp there. I look at things from a broader perspective."

Neste said he tries to get an understanding of the clients: what the employees are like, what kind of services they provide, what kind of clients the business serves and how the business wants the space to function, in addition to many other questions.

All of that information goes into designing everything from lighting to colors for how it works as a space based on the client's needs.

Projects can take anywhere from two hours to several years based on the needs of the clients.

"I have a number of faithful clients, people I've worked with on multiple projects over the past seven years," Neste said. "I have residential clients who I have done two or three homes for.  They just keep coming back for more."

The process begins with the potential client e-mailing or calling and an initial consultation is set up, which can include a walkthrough of the space. From there, the rest of the work is all done on the billable hour.

In addition to interior design, Neste also has print-on-demand digital artwork. He said he used to do collages, but moved to digital, which allowed him to do more with photography. Some of it is available at art.com, but everything else is on his company's web site.

To contact Scott Neste or to view his previous work, visit minordetailsdesign.com or call the studio at (253) 383-9115. Minor Details studio is located on the top floor of the Merlino Art Center in Tacoma.

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