Arris Interiors Inc. is a boutique interior design and project management firm based in Waterloo Region. We are the design experts when it comes to new home construction. We pride ourselves on delivering exquisite spaces and real results to builders, developers, and homeowners throughout Southwestern Ontario.
Whether it’s a brand-new development or an ongoing project, our services provide end to end solutions that showcase what you as a builder can provide to your buyers from design to customer experience and everything in between. Homes can look very different these days with shifting development trends. Our services can be tailored to meet the unique needs of your residential or commercial project.
With an extensive background in interior design, project management and marketing, our key areas of focus are Model Home Presentation, Staging & Styling, Décor Centre & Product Merchandizing, and Client Consultations & Selections Management.
Our services do not just stop at new home construction, we also love to help our clients with commercial design & staging, residential renovations, and custom estate builds.
So how did Arris Interiors come to be? Let us start at the very beginning… We have been working as a team since the age of 8 – designing and staging barbie houses, representing as the only girls in our high school Autocad class, Art School and beyond. We did it all together!
Fast forward to 2016 and the 25-year dream of Arris Interiors Inc. was born with a little blood, sweat and drywall dust along the way.
As a team we thrive when presented with a challenge and always view these as opportunities to push ourselves creatively and present the best possible solution for our clients and the project at hand.
Christine Schmidt
As long as she can remember Christine has walked the line between the creative and the logical. The daughter of an engineer, she remembers building elaborate block houses and villages that were perfectly structurally sound. She continued her creative journey studying Fine Arts at the University of Guelph and rounding out her education with post grad studies in Business Administration. Thereafter she sought out opportunities that married these two extremes, the art with the business, creative with the logic. She spent the greater part of a decade launching advertising campaigns for some of our biggest brands and managing product merchandizing and digital content for top Canadian retailers. Throughout this time she kept getting pulled back to her initial love of design and began taking on Interior Design projects on the side. She continued working her side hustle and eventually launched her own Interior Design company Gross Design Concepts Inc. After many collaborations together with Candace, the idea to create a permanent partnership was a no brainer and Arris Interiors Inc. came to be.
What Christine brings to Arris Interiors is a design perspective free from any rules and the ability to turn that “light bulb” idea into an actionable plan and functional design. Clients can feel confident knowing that her purposeful and thoughtful designs are built on a strategic foundation.
On weekends you will find her chasing around her two boys or sipping wine with her husband while they cook a big family dinner together.
Candace Christian
Since she was a child, Candace’s passion has been perspective drawing which eventually led her to drafting and designing house plans as early as the age of six. Throughout high school her focus and passion remained and she found herself at the Ontario College of Art & Design where she pursued studies in Fine Arts. After graduation she continued her education with studies in Construction Project Management and from there joined a local firm specializing in residential design. Throughout her years in residential design, Candace had the privilege of helping many clients fall in love with their homes again.
She continued to work in the design and construction industry for 10+ years, eventually going solo and launching her own company, C.C. Design Works Inc. As the industry grew and expanded, so did her business, and the permanent partnership between Candace and Christine was formed as Arris Interiors Inc.
What Candace brings to Arris Interiors is years of insight into the construction world with proven experience managing large scale projects and teams. She pushes those around her to strive for excellence, never losing sight of the objective, until the finished product is representative of the aesthetics she has grown to love over the years.
On her off days, Candace can be found bouncing her children between sports and outdoor activities, loving on her puppy, and enjoying quiet time in nature. You can find her happiest watching home renovation shows and relaxing with her husband and wine (of course)!
awards
2019 SAM Awards of Distinction
Best Interior Decorating (Over $30,000)
2019 SAM Awards of Distinction
Most Outstanding Bathroom
2020 Diamond Winner
Best Interior Design / Decor
2020 Diamond Winner
Best Interior Designer / Decorator
2021 Guelph & District Home Builders' Association
Most Outstanding Estate Home Design
2021 Diamond Winner
Best Interior Design / Decor
2021 Diamond Winner
Best Interior Designer / Decorator
2022 Diamond Winner
Best Interior Design / Decor
2022 Diamond Winner
Best Interior Designer / Decorator