Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Wachtmann-Smoot.
Hi Kevin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My path to interior design wasn’t exactly a straight line. My background is actually in Industrial and Operations Engineering, and I spent the early part of my career working in consulting and market research. While that world taught me how to think strategically, solve complex problems, and really understand what people need, creativity and design were always pulling at me.
Eventually, I decided to take that pull seriously. I pursued formal training in interior design and began exploring what it could look like to turn something I loved into a career. That ultimately led my husband, Braden, and me to launch K&B Interiors here in Philadelphia.
But the projects we get to work on today didn’t just fall into our laps. There was a lot of work behind the scenes to build an identity in a market filled with talented designers. In the beginning, that meant selling the vision before we had a large portfolio to point to, taking on smaller projects, and showing up for those projects with the same level of creativity, care, and commitment that we would bring to a much larger project. Every room was an opportunity to show what we could do, build trust, refine our point of view, and give the next client a reason to take a chance on us.
Over time, those smaller opportunities started opening much bigger doors. We’ve gone from designing individual rooms to taking on projects like a full beach house and complete transformations of Philadelphia homes, including some incredibly fun bachelor pads. Those projects are exciting, but I’m equally proud of everything it took to get there. We’ve been intentional about building our reputation project by project, continuing to put our work out there, and pushing ourselves creatively with every new opportunity.
Along the way, we’ve also figured out where our sweet spot is. We love Philadelphia. We love the quirky rowhomes, the narrow footprints, the architectural surprises, and all the challenges that come with transforming homes that weren’t necessarily designed for the way people live today. There’s something incredibly rewarding about embracing all of that character rather than designing it away.
For us, growth doesn’t mean chasing 4,000 square foot homes on the Main Line. We’re much more interested in continuing to build our identity here in the city and becoming known for transforming Philadelphia homes into spaces that feel elevated, personal, and reflective of the people who live in them. If an incredible project outside the city comes along that feels aligned with who we are, of course we’re open to it. But we know where our heart is.
At this point, the goal is to keep doing bigger and more ambitious work without losing that connection to Philadelphia or the people who choose to make a life here. We want to work with clients who see the beauty in city living, who want to embrace the quirks rather than escape them, and who believe their home can honor what makes Philadelphia special while still becoming something completely their own.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not, but I think that’s true of most businesses worth building. One of our biggest challenges was simply that we were starting from scratch in Philadelphia. We’re originally from the Midwest, so most of our personal and professional connections were there. When we started K&B Interiors, we didn’t have an established network of contractors, tradespeople, vendors, or craftspeople here that we could immediately call on.
And in interior design, those relationships are everything. A great design is only as successful as its execution, so building a network of people we could trust became just as important as building our client base. That meant meeting a lot of tradespeople, trying people out on projects, learning how they communicate and work, and, inevitably, realizing that not every relationship was going to be the right fit.
There have definitely been some growing pains along the way. You can look at someone’s portfolio or hear a great recommendation, but you don’t really know what working together will be like until you’re in the middle of a project. Are they responsive? Do they respect the design intent? Can they problem solve when an old Philadelphia rowhome inevitably throws us a curveball? Do they communicate well with our clients? Those things matter enormously, and figuring them out takes time and experience.
The exciting part is that we’re now on the other side of a lot of that early trial and error. We’ve built relationships with some incredibly talented people here in Philadelphia who understand how we work and what we expect, and that network continues to grow with every project. One trusted contractor introduces us to a great carpenter, who introduces us to another craftsperson, and suddenly you start to realize you’ve built this little community around the business.
I don’t think that process ever really ends, either. Every project introduces new challenges and sometimes new collaborators, so we’re constantly expanding and refining that network. But there’s a huge difference between where we started, essentially building our Rolodex from zero, and where we are today. Having people we trust to help bring these designs to life has been one of the hardest earned and most valuable parts of building K&B Interiors in Philadelphia.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
At K&B Interiors, we specialize in creating one-of-a-kind retreats where we believe you really can have it all. Your home can be your greatest flex and your deepest exhale. It can be visually exciting and still feel tranquil. It can make a statement without screaming for attention. That balance is at the heart of almost everything we do.
We call it balanced boldness, and it’s probably what we’ve become best known for. Our work tends to be vibrant, layered, and full of personality, but we never want a space to feel like a trip to the carnival. There’s always a sense of restraint somewhere. If we’re using a bold wallpaper, maybe the furnishings become quieter. If there’s an unexpected color combination, we’ll find ways to repeat tones and materials throughout the room so everything still feels cohesive and intentional. The goal isn’t boldness for the sake of being bold. It’s knowing where to push and where to pull back.
We’ve found that there are a lot of people who want more personality in their homes but don’t necessarily know what the alternative looks like. They see warm, neutral interiors on one end of the spectrum and extreme maximalism on the other, and neither feels quite like them. We live in that space in between. In a way, I think of us as the bridge.
A lot of our clients come to us saying, “I want to go bolder, but I’m nervous.” That’s one of my favorite things to hear because that’s exactly where we can help. Our job isn’t to convince someone to live in a wildly colorful house that doesn’t feel like them. It’s to understand where their comfort zone ends, push just beyond it in the right places, and show them how color, pattern, texture, vintage pieces, and unexpected combinations can work together without overwhelming the home.
What I’m most proud of is the confidence that process gives our clients. There’s often a point in a project where something they initially thought might be “too much” becomes the thing they’re most excited about. Once they see how everything works together, there’s this newfound confidence in their own taste. They start trusting themselves more and realizing that their home doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s to be beautiful.
I think what ultimately sets us apart is that we don’t have a signature design aesthetic, and that’s intentional. Every design starts with the client’s vision, not ours. Sometimes that vision is incredibly clear, and sometimes it’s blurry. They might know how they want their home to feel but have no idea how to get there. That’s where we come in. We listen for the little things they respond to, pull together the ideas that may feel disconnected at first, and help them see what their vision can become. We bring the design expertise and the confidence to push things further, but at the end of the day, it’s their home and their story we’re designing around.
What are your plans for the future?
We’ve been in business for a few years now, and somehow we still haven’t hired anyone! I don’t envision K&B ever becoming a huge team. Hiring someone feels like an enormous responsibility because suddenly you’re responsible for someone else’s livelihood, and I don’t take that lightly. My favorite numbers have always been three and five, so maybe one day we’ll land somewhere in there, but we’ll see!
Beyond that, I’m trying to leave a little room for the unexpected. I had a quiet goal this year of designing a beach house, but I never really said it out loud or made some elaborate plan for how to get there. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the right project found us. There are a few other goals I’m keeping similarly quiet for now, including some publications I’d love to see our work in someday. Maybe I’ve learned that I do my best goal setting when I keep my head down, keep doing great work, and let myself be surprised by what comes next.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kbinteriorsllc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kbinteriorsphilly/
