STERLING — Joshua Halterman and his team had a lot to celebrate in March, including five years in business and a new location for his design firm.
The town resident launched Joshua Allen Design in late 2017 out of the home he shares with his husband and their two young children. At the time, it was an interior design and home staging business with a focus on working with real estate professionals when listing their properties for the market.
“Over the years, the business has grown to a full-scale interior design business servicing all of Massachusetts and beyond,” Halterman said recently. “We are proud to be a Sterling-based business, though, and pride ourselves on helping our Sterling residents make the most of their homes.”
As the business shifted more from staging to the interior design element, Halterman said, it created a need for an easy-access showroom. The new space at 153 Clinton Road provides just that.
“The move … was an inevitable step in the growth of our business, and the space could not be more fitting. We are very happy in our new space,” Halterman shared. “We have truly made the space our own. From sample rooms and conference rooms to a full-scale kitchen showroom, the space reflects our business wonderfully. Our clients have been on our minds through the entire redesign of the space to ensure a wonderful and comfortable experience when visiting.”
Halterman said it is important to him to remain professionally based in Sterling, “the town my family and business call home.”
“Sterling has so much to offer,” he said. “Great people, wonderful surroundings, fun happenings; and it is a very centralized location for our client base. There really is no other full-scale, interior design-focused business in our area, and that is something we are very proud of.”
A ribbon-cutting and open house, aka the ‘A-JAD-emy Awards of Interior Design’ held on March 30 at the new location “was a wonderful success” and attracted local and state dignitaries, clients and business partners, friends and family, and more.
“We were so thrilled to see so many past, present, and future clients attend, alongside some business partners and trusted vendors,” Halterman said of the festive occasion. “Overall, we had nearly 90 people attend, which was welcomed with both surprise and appreciation.
“We had the Economic Development Committee of Sterling with us. Members of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce attended, and both our state representative, Meghan Kilcoyne, and our state senator, Anne Gobi, celebrated with us for our five-year anniversary,” he continued. “We plan to host this event annually moving forward due to the turnout, and we are working on planning other smaller events that we will add throughout the year.”
He and his team appreciate the ongoing community support.
“I am so humbled by the support we receive every day,” Halterman said. “From emails and phone calls to social media engagement and consult meetings, the support we feel from our community is always there, pushing us to be more creative and more diligent in our efforts of providing exceptional designs and service.”
To add to that, the response to Joshua Allen Design over the years has been “truly positive and met with open arms.”
“I am proud to say that we have some of the best clients,” Halterman said. “The relationships we have built over the years with our client base have been unimaginable. We work with each client as if they are one of our family members, and keep them in mind throughout the design and build-out process. We focus on the client, and that is a fundamental pillar of our business and what I would consider the successful relationships we have with each and every client.”
He said he genuinely enjoys running his business and being his own boss.
“I love interior design and planning spaces, but I get so much fulfillment from owning my business, marketing our services, working with the community in a positive way, and building lasting relationships with clients and trade professionals alike,” he said. “I very much enjoy the flexibility that comes with owning a business. Though I work far more than I ever did in any of my past corporate-level roles, having the ability to put my son on the school bus or plan a weekend away with my family is certainly a benefit for me.”
Halterman is also committed to giving back through his involvement with the Rise Above Foundation, which provides opportunities for youth in foster care in the state. He proudly sits on the board of the foundation, and said Joshua Allen Design “gives back to the organization and our community in a major way” through helping foster youth redesign their own spaces and such.
“Being the father of two children who have been impacted by the foster care system, this cause and foundation mean a lot to me personally,” Halterman said.
When it comes to the future, Halterman said he hopes his business “will continue to grow and expand, offering more employment opportunities for our community as we transform and build new spaces for happy clients.”
“My three goals for Joshua Allen Design are to be known for exceptional and unmet design services that truly change the perception of interior design in a positive way, to remain successful in business for our team and our clients for many years to come, and to continue to give back to our community and to be known for that work as a pillar of our business.”
