Natalie Reddell in the Carleton Varney for Kindel Furniture showroom at High Point
With its focus on striking imagery, Instagram is the go-to social media platform for the design industry. Local interior designer Natalie Reddell has become an up-and-coming Instagram influencer and taste-maker through the use of her signature hashtag, #commanderinchic. She even totes an actual golden hashtag with her to the High Point furniture market and other events to use in her photographs, seen and shared by her more than 18,500 Instagram followers. This spring, she was invited to take over the Instagram account of Design on High Point Market, was part of a trend-watcher video series filmed at the event and led a tour of her favorite showrooms for market attendees.
We recently talked to Reddell about Instagram and how she has used the platform to build her business and reputation in the design community.
R•Home: How did the golden hashtag come about?
Natalie Reddell: I was invited to go on a KBIS [Kitchen and Bath Industry Show] blog tour in Orlando last year. A week before I left, I saw a rusty number sign at a thrift store, and I brought it home and spray-painted it black. I never thought I would use it, but I packed it. I thought, ‘I don’t know any of these people, I’m just having fun,’ so I would take it out and take a picture of my favorite thing with it and post it. Then a friend sent me the one I use now. It’s gold and sparkly and fabulous. … I got invited to attend the Las Vegas market in January 2016 and took the golden hashtag, and it just sort of took off.
The golden hashtag rests upon a blue velvet sofa by Mark Sikes for Henredon.
R•Home: How did you know it was a big deal?
Reddell: On that Las Vegas tour, a good friend, [interior designer] Traci Zeller, said, ‘We need to talk. I’ve noticed that some people have started using your hashtag, #commanderinchic. You need to trademark it. You deserve to have it, you’re onto something.’
R•Home: Did you trademark it?
Reddell: Yes, I trademarked ‘Commander in Chic’ last year. I also trademarked the golden hashtag. At first my lawyer was like, ‘I don’t know if we can trademark a symbol,’ but we got it. The trademark is for ‘a stylized number sign that is gold, sparkly and glittery.’
R•Home: How has the golden hashtag helped you?
Reddell: As I was working on trademarking it, I started having fun staging photo shoots in showrooms when I went to market. People started really loving the pictures, and I started getting invitations from big executives to visit their showrooms. … And it has led to some real work from the pictures I post of my own work.
R•Home: How much time do you spend on Instagram every day?
Reddell: I generally post about seven times a day, but when I go to market I post more. I have tried to plan my posts in advance, but that is so not me. I’ve got to just post it live.
R•Home: What do you like best about Instagram?
Reddell: I’m an introvert, and for me Instagram is a really effective way to stay connected to people from the privacy of my own home.
R•Home: How do you decide what to post?
Reddell: With every post, I try to think, ‘How is this going to help people?’ Either I want to make people happy, or it’s something funny or I am helping them do something like find a paint color. I try to be real about stuff.
