Inspiring Conversations with Christopher Dowding of Elevated Interior Finishes

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Dowding

Hi Christopher, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My wife Lexi and I started a painting company in 2015 shortly before we got married. She is from Seattle and grew up in the business with her father and I was living in NY before moving back to Michigan. I previously worked as a marketing consultant but we didn’t want to have separate jobs with me occasionally having to travel, so the choice was simple to work together. We started off really slow and simple with our main goal of having zero debt. That is something we are still proud of today while letting our business develop organically. Over the years we amassed a fine reputation in the mid-Michigan area of providing excellent service to our customers whom we are truly thankful for.

As our skills progressed, so did our desire to do something different and more creative which blossomed to where we are today – providing high-end/luxury type finishes as Elevated Interior Finishes. Our work allows us to travel to different locations and work with many amazing people from all over the country which we thoroughly enjoy.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
For the most part it has. As mentioned, our main goal is to not carry any debt and to keep things balanced and simple. Sure, there are slower periods which mostly happens during the busy holiday/travel season, but that frees us up to be available for some volunteer work along with being able to rest and enjoy ourselves with friends and family. When we started out however, it was a challenge to know how to approach getting things off the ground. There is so much information out there and easy ways to borrow money to start or grow a business, but through our network and years of experience, we knew that would be more trouble that what it would be worth. Having the burden of making payments and stretching things thin would have robbed us of our joy and countless opportunities to travel and experience the many blessings in our personal lives.

We understand that approach can work for some people, but we are happy with the decisions we’ve made and continue to make. Our biggest challenge at times is actually the complete opposite of what some would imagine… keeping our business small! We constantly have opportunities to grow our business with the amount of work that comes in, but we choose not to for the time being. As the saying goes “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it”. We have everything where we want it and count that as a luxury we don’t have to strive for.

As you know, we’re big fans of Elevated Interior Finishes. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We changed our business name and direction in July of 2023 to Elevated Interior Finishes. As the name suggests we wanted our customers to know what they’re getting – a high-end, professional company and a top-tier experience when it comes to the execution of our work. We’ve noticed a need for something other than gray and white paint. The problem is there aren’t many other options in our area of mid-Michigan for someone wanting something different. We started our company to make up for that by offering custom fine finishes and faux techniques, luxury wall covering installation and our specialty being traditional Italian plasters called Venetian or Marmorino that can be applied anywhere with proper preparation. One application that is really exciting is having these types of finishes in a walk-in shower which offers a unique alternative to tile for a spa-like environment.

Our attention to detail and desire to deliver the best possible product is what sets us apart from other companies. We are proud of that with excellent online reviews and feedback and are regularly scheduled out 6 months or more. We had a local designer tell us that “you are artists, my friend” after completing a wallpaper installation. Artists by hanging wallpaper? That doesn’t sound right even to us, but that kind of statement is telling of the quality of work currently offered by others. Our passion though is with our the textures and surfaces we make with marmorino. There really is no limit to the imagination for someone wanting this kind of finish. Great for accent walls, ceilings, wine cellars, showers and so forth. We’ve had the added privilege of creating walls with other products to recreate ancient stone walls out of limestone and boulders.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
The type of work we currently do with our plaster is going to continue to trend upwards as they become more commonplace here in the USA via European influences. The mid-west is typically 5+ years behind any trends coming from the east coast, but as people move around more, tastes change and social media continues to have more of an influence on people’s decisions and design choices, plaster accents, ceilings, showers etc. will be more on the radar of those wanting something special.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://elevatedinteriorfinishes.com
• Instagram: @elevated.interior.finishes
• LinkedIn: christopher-dowding-4b799b140