With 20 years of experience in the interior design industry, Della Charland, owner of Old World Interiors brings a balance of unique strengths to her company. She gives her customers a lot to choose from, offering an array of services from picture framing, fresh and silk floral arrangements, window treatments of all kinds, bed and table linens to custom drapery, and upholstery for home, auto, and marine. Her diverse services give her the opportunity to use her strengths in the different areas of her business. She apprenticed with many talented people earlier in her career, which now gives her the confidence to work with both interior designers and consumers.

Della made the transition from Toronto to Vancouver in 2002 opening her business within the following year. She used much of her own resources and later accessing financing through TACC to help with further start up costs and equipment purchases.

20 years ago Della couldn’t have imagined having a business of her own.  Now she can create the beautiful pieces she does and feel accomplished that she is able to use her strengths to build her success. “The biggest accomplishment is that I’ve been able to get this far. I have my own shop; I have clientele with lots of work coming in.” As a young girl, she loved sewing and working with her hands. “I discovered my love of decorating and my love of people … I enjoy making them happy. And here I am. I love my work.”

Like all entrepreneurs starting out she had some challenges along the way. Finding an affordable location for her workshop was one, but she now has a shop in North Vancouver with a new goal to move it onto First Nations land as soon as she can find a location. She also realized that there were more aspects to self-employment then she thought but she was up for the challenge telling me, “it has taken time to overcome some of these challenges. You really have to work at it and take the time to research and also learn from your associates.”

Over the years her work has been refined with extensive experience and training. She creates custom orders which allow her creativity to blossom, keeping her work fresh and new, changing with each new season and palette of colours. She’s looking forward to this season with anticipation of weddings where she can use her love of flowers to create fresh and silk floral arrangements.

Driven by the flexible hours and ability to spend more time with her family and friend’s she’s happy about the transition she’s made from working for someone else to self-employment. Her favourite part is meeting new people to help them attain their design dreams, working with each client to guide them through the process and working within their budget.

“I’m inspired by the beauty that I see in art, in nature and how it’s reflected in the people I work with. When I’m able to do my work and bring so much joy to people, that’s inspiring.” She uses quality fabrics, beautiful art and flowers to have a happy customer in the end.

The words of advice she offers, “Plan, plan, plan,” she says, “You can never plan too much”. She took the time to plan out what she wanted saying the first time around she knew she wasn’t ready but the extra time has definitely paid off.

Della has a few ideas in mind for the next steps of growth in her company. “I would love to start a program to enable First Nations people to apprentice under me in the different areas of my business. I’d like to help benefit young people and start small workshops for 6-8 people teaching them how to sew a cushion, build floral arrangements or make slip covers for their furniture.” She says this with enthusiasm and with her expertise this would be a great next step and is one of her long-term goals. She would also like to do more interior decorating on-reserve, partnering with contractors and home builders to bring more beauty into their new homes. 

“I was able to grow as an individual and grow with my own personal qualities when I observed my mentors and learned from their experience and vision.” She continues, “Because of the need for public relations in business, I’m able to use my acquired ability in public speaking as well as one-on-one teaching experience and my skills in trades – it helps me help people attain their dreams and realize what they’d like to do with their home environment.” She’s been able to balance her life and gain invaluable experience telling me, “Always take it one day at a time. Start with small goals that lead to larger goals and keep the big picture in mind.” That’s what she has done and now has her own successful company to continue dong what she loves.