THE REASON FOR THE REBRAND & THE MEANING BEHIND THE NAME NADINE STAY

Five months ago I changed the name of my business from Refined Design to Nadine Stay. Over the last year I felt a tug to make some branding changes and although I loved the name Refined Design, I knew I needed a fresh name to move forward.

Since making this change I’ve received many questions as to why I changed the name and what the new name ‘Nadine Stay’ means. Although I don’t have a long meaningful story behind the name, I’m happy to share my thoughts and reason for the switch.

In 2014 I formed my first business. I picked a business name (Refined Design), designed a website, and created my first logo. I did what was necessary to form a legal business in the state of Nebraska; but what I didn’t realize at that time was just how popular the name ‘Refined Design’ already was.

After about a year of doing business, I realized that not only was every possible variation of the website domain refineddesign.com already taken, but a quick google search resulted in several pages of businesses with this exact same name. Turns out there are literally dozens upon dozens of other businesses in the USA also named Refined Design. (Most of which are in the Interior Design industry) Not a great start for distinguishing myself huh?

Also I found out that Refined Design has been trademarked so ummm no thank you…I’m not about to get in a legal battle! So this was the main reason for the name change.

The second reason I rebranded is because my business has shifted dramatically from when I first started. As I explained in this post, I started my business refurbishing furniture. I collected weathered pieces that I found on Craigslist and I refinished them to become beautiful pieces of furniture for the home. Over the years I transitioned into what is now a modern home decor shop and interior design blog. I really have nothing to do with refurbishing furniture anymore.

Although I shifted away from refurbishing furniture nearly 4 years ago, I still had people asking me about my refurbishing business. Of course I wasn’t offended that people weren’t staying updated on my current state of business; but I did realize that Refined Design will primarily be known for what it started as – a rustic farmhouse furniture refurbishing side hustle.

I’ve grown so much since the start in 2014 and I feel like I have an entirely new business. So with that, I needed a new name and a new identity – Nadine Stay.

So what does Nadine Stay mean? It’s really quite simple. Nadine is my middle name. (My first name is Danica and yes, I’ve already been addressed by my middle name more times than I can count) And the word ‘stay’ stems from the whole purpose of my business which is to help others create a space within their home where they feel comfortable and ultimately want to stay in. So that’s how I came up with the name Nadine Stay.

As for what I hope Nadine Stay becomes…well that’s an entirely new topic that is too long for this post. But my current next step includes a podcast featuring Chris and I (and hopefully a guest occasionally too). It will ultimately just be casual conversations between Chris and I where we address hot topics, interior design trends, and our own personal life stories. We’ve already recorded a couple “test” episodes and we’re very excited to share more with you this fall!