The Interior Designer’s ‘Birchbox’ Is Here

Emma Holland Denvir, formerly head of U.S. business development at Hem, and co-curator of the quarterly Object Permanence show in Los Angeles, was listening to an episode of popular podcast How I Built This featuring Birchbox, the beauty subscription service, when a connection was made. “I remembered gifting various subscription boxes to people and receiving them myself, and recalled how fun that experience was, as both the gifter and recipient,” shares Denvir. “[It] led to the idea that we could create branded monthly gift boxes that we send to our clients, sponsored by our brand partners as a group.” 

Denvir Enterprises, her multiline agency which officially launches this month, focuses on connecting clients with sustainable products and commercial-grade vendors. The subscription box seemed like a good fit for delivering samples to potential clients in this isolation era—but with a playful twist. “Every month, we send around 100 designers across the country a curated gift box. The box always includes something that represents one of our brand partners. Instead of sending a finish sample, we send a unique custom item created for these boxes that represents the brand’s capabilities and materiality.” The service, called Box of Delight, now has a waitlist. 

The boxes are largely tied to themes—September’s theme was self-care. “We worked with Bläanks [a Los Angeles knit throw and pillow brand] to figure out what they could manufacture that would not only be on-brand for them, but that would also be a fun gift to receive at home that would promote self-care. They created a custom eye mask with a lavender fill, highlighting one of their standard textures and their recycled cotton knit. We also put in hand-picked eucalyptus, palo santo, and essential oils that encouraged relaxation. In September, fires were ravaging California, and the mood of the country was melancholy. We received so many thank-yous from clients stating that our gift box was extremely thoughtful and well-timed, and lifted their spirits during an extraordinary year.” 

While the service infuses fun into the sourcing process, it is also a testament to the agency’s values. “We partner with and represent brands who meet our list of specific criteria. They must be commercial-grade, sustainable, and meet our standards of design. It’s very important to us to represent a diverse set of brands—50% of the brands we work with are minority- or woman-owned, and 100% of them are small businesses. We represent these brands to the interior design community in order to increase their exposure in the B2B market.” 

Denvir’s creative background—in woodworking and furniture design—has played into another of the agency’s launching initiatives: a furniture collection called Specifications, with the first product created in collaboration with design brand RAD Furniture and stained glass artist Debbie Bean, something of a delayed dream come true for Denvir. “I always imagined that I would have my own line and that would be my entire life and career. I ended up taking a different path and falling in love with a completely different side of the industry and found myself growing in business development and sales,” says Denvir. The first piece is RAD Furniture’s Radius Coffee Table, with a hand-made piece of stained glass courtesy of Bean inlaid. 

“I’m not the designer anymore, but it’s much more fun than I could have ever imagined. I’ve found my energy is much better spent encouraging collaboration and letting others do what they do best,” says Denvir. “Like the gift boxes, launching our own line of furniture is another way to differentiate ourselves from the pack and bring more eyes to [our brand] as a whole—and therefore the brands that we partner with.”