Welcome to the Interior Perspective, where luxury real estate meets timeless design. I'm Nicole Fisher, a Hudson-based interior designer working with the region's most exclusive properties. Each week, we sit down with top brokers to explore the stories, insights, and inspirations behind the most remarkable homes on the market. This is your front row seat to the art of elevated living. Let's get started. Hello and welcome back to the Interior Perspective. When we talk about interior design, we're often focusing on color, textiles, and form, but behind every beautiful space are the materials that give it structure, soul, and permanence. Metalwork's one of those details that can quietly define a room, its strength, beauty, precision, and poetry when it's done right. It's not just functional, it's sculptural. Today's guest, Steven Dailey, is a master of that craft. He's a Hudson Valley-based manufacturer whose work combines engineering precision with the spirit of an artist. From vented stair railings, custom furniture, architectural details, his pieces are built by hand, forged with care, and meant to last generations. In our conversation today, we'll talk about his process, collaborations between designer and fabricator, and what it means to create beauty from raw materials. Because at the end of the day, design isn't just about what we see. It's, well, what is built beneath the surface. Steve, welcome. You got it. We have been chatting back and forth for quite some time now, and it's officially time that we sit down and make it Yes, absolutely. Okay, so tell us, how'd you get started? What Yeah, I mean, I have a come from an art background. So I went to school in Philly for sculpture. So Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, four years experimenting. And after graduating, I worked at a bronze foundry. So foundry is, I mean, it's how they cast anything that's made of metal, you know, whether it's sculptural, but also functional, you know, car engines, the kind of place that, you know, makes castings for, you know, mechanical use, but I was in a bronze art foundry. So we were casting a lot of you know, big time artists from New York City, you know, we're going to Philly to get better pricing. So, you know, for me, it was a good transition. You know, it's also where I learned my skills and, you know, metalsmithing and kind of fell in love with specifically Okay. So do you feel like raw or metal was almost the medium you fell into versus sought I mean, the process for me was experimentation, just like many people in our school. Experimentation first. seeing what materials I like, I still work in basically everything, but when I was at the foundry, you know, this material, which is bronze, which is a copper based, you know, alloy, I just realized how much you could do with it. And, you know, there's a reason that, you know, people cast in it. for, you know, exterior sculptures because, you know, it will last, it won't, you know, it won't deteriorate being outside as long as you, you know, maintain it a little bit. But it's also just so beautiful. I mean, it's, you know, the copper tone, the underglow of the metal itself is what like really made me fall in love with it. And it's so workable. You can do, you know, when you work, you can work directly in bronze, you can cast it. And so it really opens up the, you know, your abilities to you know, manipulate it. And that's what I really loved about it. It's like for a sculptor, I feel like an intuitive process is what you kind of gravitate towards, something that like allows you a lot of room and a lot of license. And the material itself Yeah. Now let me ask you, because I have not worked in metal before, but the way in which that you just said it was, it's easy to kind of manipulate, does that lend itself to being more of an art form or lend itself to being an art form over maybe creating something that is a table or something that is usable? Like what, what sense of Yeah. I mean, so, you know, now what I'm doing is functional. So I always say I don't make art with a capital A as much anymore. I make art thing, art objects, but they're, you know, function is key. So, with furniture functionality is a prerequisite. Well, most of the time. I've seen some stuff that's a little less functional than it is pretty. But what I would say with metal is that it's its inherent strength gives you the ability to have function, but the ability to heat it and move it and hammer it and change its form and shape, that's what really, you know, made me gravitate towards metalwork, you know, and not all metals are the same, obviously, and they're, you know, they're their strength, their beauty might change. You know, I still, I do work in steel, I work in aluminum, I work in stainless, but bronze, it really lends itself because it is strong, but you can really move it and texture it and change it. And what most people love, you can patinate it, you can apply chemicals to it to change the color and the tone. So you get this, you can get a beautiful rainbow of colors with it. So it really opens up like whatever you can think of, you can kind of achieve it in bronze. And that's what, you know, with metalwork in general, not all things are, you know, some things are a little bit more rigid or they're super heavy and they might be harder to achieve, you know, without, say, industrial tools. With bronze, like, you can do a lot with not very much Yeah, cool. I love that you said that. Art with a capital A. That's great. That's awesome. That's such a good way of putting it. So how did the shift up to the Hudson Valley and then how did that kind of change how you're working or So I fell into, you know, I was working at the foundry, I kind of fell into making furniture, started, it's the snowball effect, right? So small requests for maybe a custom piece of hardware, and that turns into, can you make a vanity base? And that turns, so I had this, you know, slow churn of projects happening when I would, you know, work in my shop after work. And it got to the point where I was having enough requests that I really needed to consider doing the thing full time. So around 2018, I started working with a designer in the city, in New York, named Young He, and she was doing a project in Philadelphia. And, you know, one project turned into two, and I developed this relationship with her. And so she ends up, you know, buying a house of state. And she had this bed that she needed modified to like fit the house. So, you know, Emily and I drive up from Philly to, you know, help her with this bed. And she sends us to look around. And as you know, 2019, the world started changing. So we were like mid, I think we were like, just getting into the pandemic. Things are super strange. And to be locked down in I think any city was a little weird for people at the time. So, you know, we are up here and there's space and it's beautiful. She sends us to Hudson to go to the antique center. And we just like had this like chain of events that like this place seemed magical. Catskill was not, I'm based in Catskill. Catskill is not like on the radar, but just upstate in general, we like, we're going up and, you know, going up and down, basically looking into all the towns and we're like, man, It's really nice up here. So from that, you know, first work trip, we started visiting, you know, to just check it out on our own. And then, then we started looking to move here and you know, right around then, as you remember, there were a lot of people moving in general. So it took us another year to find a place to move up here. Yeah, it was not easy. Yeah. So did you, um, I want to go back to that bed second, but did you move to the Hudson Valley and kind of just take your trade with you? Or did you have to kind of rediscover Definitely a process of rediscovery. I mean, you know, there was a lot of fear in reality. My work base in Philadelphia was a local economy to a certain extent. I still had clients that were based in New York City, but I was working on New York. I mean, I was working on Philadelphia based projects for the most part. So I think the process of rediscovery just also is like a proof of concept. Can I move myself away from what I know and still do the same work? So at first, I didn't have a place to work. So that was its own hurdle. I was going back to Philadelphia and sleeping on my studio floor to get projects done before I found a shop. And then when I found the shop here, it was again, kind of a restart, like slow reintegration to see what was happening in the area. You know, most of my projects are 90% of what I do is custom for interior designers. You know, I do product as well, but the basis and foundation of the business is doing custom work for designers. So, you know, most of my clients are based in the city. I go, you know, meet with them if I need to, but mostly we coordinate through them sending me plans. So that part, I was able to translate without too much difficulty. And then it grew. So, you know, the proof of concept for sure worked out here, but I think you know, what I would say about the rediscovery was almost like, it was like an ethos. So I really love the idea, based in the arts and crafts movement of the, you know, early 1900s, which was art, I guess that was in England first, the idea was like, artisans go to the country and be inspired by the beauty of nature and work in the country and be fulfilled. And I definitely found that here, being in a place where there is mountains and streams, I can take a break and go and look at a stream and then go back to the shop. That's way better for me than being in a warehouse in the city and there's cars and beeping and yelling going No, that's not for everybody. Okay, so I want to go back to this bed and then we're going to jump. The designer you're working with, they had an existing bed that you had to redo or you had to create It was a four poster canopy bed that she bought on auction. So like an antique, beautiful, Louis the, don't get me lying, 14th, maybe, but this beautiful bed, but it was designed such that without the central canopy, the bed wouldn't stand. So like the headboard and footboard, like would not stand on their own. And then the issue was that the height of the room was shorter than the bed. So like the bed just like wouldn't stand up. So we had to modify the canopy bracketing to make it fit the room. So the bed would actually function as a bed. Cool. Okay, I love it. Alright, so that goes to my next question. For those who don't know what goes into it, give us like an overview of the process from starting a custom Sure. I mean, I love working with designers because they are the ones that expose me to what's out there to a certain extent. You know, seeing, going on a project and seeing what their vision is really opens up like, oh, this is like a possibility. So nine times out of 10, what we get is a custom, you know, we get an email. We are doing X and Y project. This is a custom bar, custom shelving or custom table we're looking at. We always get inspiration images. A lot of times we will get like a picture like can you make this exact thing. And so from there, you know, we will figure out what the designer's thinking in terms of finishes. A lot of times they'll have a description, not necessarily always a description of like this material and this exact finish. So we'll start prodding and asking like, you know, how do we want to sand it? Is it non-directional? Where is it going? So we'll start prodding and asking kind of inter-investigatory questions. And then from there, start trying to build pricing. A lot of times we have to ask and work, you know, retroactively, like, what is the budgetary target for this? Like, what is the cost target? Because we don't want to overshoot. If a client says, hey, we want, like, you know, this bronze table, they might not know that, like, that's going to be five times the cost of a table in steel. And they might be thinking at the end, like, we're going to do bronze and we're going to oil rub bronze is a request we get all the time, for example. And what that looks like, it's just dark. metal. So when a client says oil rubbed bronze to me that means something specific and it means I'm using bronze which again just the material is going to be expensive where you know we might be missing the mark with what the client actually just wants dark metal and if we did it in steel for a fifth of the price of the cost they would be just as happy. So we have to kind of figure out like who we're talking to and what it's for. But then we'll build the pricing, give lead times and coordinate throughout the process if there's anything that changes along the way. But yeah, from there, we start working, give some updates as we go through the process. And my favorite projects, honestly, are the ones that my designers send Right. Okay. And how do you kind of translate that vision into something, into reality that is structurally sound? Is that like, hey, this is a great idea, but we need to tweak it to make it actually function? Like 100%. Yeah, we run into that a lot. We will review drawings if they send drawings. And then start coordinating with the team to see like, okay, what is important, what's not important. You know, sometimes the drawings will show a thickness for a top that maybe it's like for example, like a table. And it shows, you know, a two inch, this is a bad example, but a two inch thick steel top and I'll go, are you sure, you know, oh no we just want you know this, this profile so okay, then I can make those changes and make recommendations. Nine times out of 10, I don't run into things that are totally unbuildable. It's more like, hey, if we do this and this, it will be simpler. If we do this, it'll be cheaper. People usually like that word. And if we do this, you know, it'll be easier, say, to install. So there are questions I need to ask, like sometimes if we build an eight-foot coffee table, You know, one of the basic questions is, hey, can you guys get this in the building in one piece. And sometimes, you know, they can't like if you're delivering to one of these old buildings in New York City, even the super fancy ones, a lot of times they have tiny elevators that like You know, we've been in situations where they have to put the table on top of the elevator to get it into, you know, to the. Yeah. I mean, it's just because there's no room. And so, you know, the building super like is like, oh, yeah, do this all the time and like have to get on top of the elevator or Yeah. I mean, you know, it's not something that I experienced before dealing with like New York City apartments, but it's definitely a It is a different beast working in Manhattan. I will, it is, it's wild. I can't believe these buildings that just have like hundreds of apartment and then no freight elevators. It's And then you see what people have gotten in there and you're like, okay, well somebody's got skills I always, I love those, the crane lifts, like airlifting a, Yeah, that raises my heart rate. Right. That's insane. We were on a project in Alexandria. It wasn't the city, but, you know, the client showed up on the crane lift day and I was like, this is the worst day for the client to be here because I'm just watching the anxiety in his eyes as things get lifted into the That's wild. We've had that once. That was, I had to So if they're doing, if we were, you know, we're talking like glass or anything that we're adding to it, do you facilitate that? Or is the designer doing We'll ask, you know, I try to stay in my lane if that, you know, and do what I'm competent at. But there's things that you just can't like, you know, I've done bar cabinets that have integrated antique glass you know, there's things that we will do, but there are people that are better suited to do that. And I'll tell them like, Hey, I know such and such person. I can work with them on this. We can integrate, but you know, you're going to want to talk to them specifically for X, Y, and Z part. I'm working on some sconces now that are going to have custom blown glass. And I would not, you know, portray to the client at all that I'm like a glassblower. I'm like, Hey, we're going to work with this vendor, you want to speak to them about the details, they're going to know the ins and outs of this and what questions they have to ask. So we will integrate and we will do things that aren't specifically metalwork, but we try to limit how far we're stepping out because the reality is just like I'm specializing in metal, there's somebody else specializing in wood or glass or, you know, whatever that's going to do, you know, do things that I can't do, you know, faster and better. And we want to make sure that those people are involved too. Yeah. No, that, that makes total sense. Let me ask you, when people are sending you specifically like inspiration pictures, how much of it do you have to, or do you suggest or tell them we need Yeah, it's such a point of contention within myself. I don't convey that to the client, but I prefer that we make a change. Sometimes they want it, the thing they sent, because their client has sent it to them. Their client wants them to make that exact thing. And that way, it always causes a little bit of frustration, because is that mine? like who's you know this you get to the all design is is iteration I think and it's all you know you say it's flattery we all are looking for inspiration to then you know spin off but nine times out of ten I will try to get them to make changes so that we don't just copy something and then it's never been an issue where you know that's like come back, something that we've made, somebody's like, you know, said, Oh, this looks too much like this or that. But, you know, you do almost always get a specific picture and what we end up producing is going to be close, you know, to what that picture is. But yeah, if I can, if I can persuade the client to No, I totally hear you. And then when you're building this said product, what is your kind of definition of Like what's that like final piece like? You're asking questions That's the reason. I assume, you know, anyone who does this, and I'm sure you have felt this, the only person to really say it's done is like me. So that could be today, or that could be a month from now. And like, nine times out of 10, most people aren't going to know what differences you've made in that, you know, four weeks that you spent working or overworking a project. So for me, like, I have, you know, I have a process, you know, fabricating, it's like fabricating to finishing a patina. And then once we're finishing a patina, we really don't want to be doing any fabricating anymore. There's times where I've stripped things all the way back to the beginning and I've made changes, but it's, you know, it's where I have to really manage the quote unquote perfectionist in myself. I always say, like, I don't consider myself a perfectionist because I've never Yes, but it's, you know, being done is really hard for me because I, you know, I don't do it for, you know, I don't do, honestly, I do it for like love. So, you know, I want it to be right when it leaves. I want to be happy with it. I want to be, you know, proud of it. And so if there's ever something where I'm not thrilled Yeah. Do you send those at that point? Do you send like photos off to a designer to look at it or they I get both. So I have some long-term relationships with designers who I've worked with, you know, and they, there's a lot of trust there. I don't have to send them a picture. There's, you know, newer clients where I'll send them updates. I feel like, I don't know if you've experienced this, but that can get tricky because sometimes what happens is you get a picture, maybe have bad light in the shop. Maybe there's a blemish that like, or maybe there's something that it's just like, there that won't be at the end and you took a picture of it and now the client or the designer is like, you know, and it sends them down this bad path. And now, now before it shows up, they're already looking for it. So now when it shows up and it's done, they're looking for those problems because you sent them a picture. So it's a tough one. I was told by, you know, uh, someone who, who had 30 years, my senior as a mill worker, he's like, don't send a picture. But I feel like you don't want to keep them in the dark either. So I don't know, most of the time I try to send some updates, maybe some zoom in updates, you know, where I'm not sending a picture of the whole thing. But yeah, I try to I've definitely had a situation where somebody's been like, what's this? Or what's that? It's Oh, man. Yeah. No, I don't do that anymore. No, they don't get to see shit until it's installed. And honestly, they don't get to see anything until we are like totally installed. They have to be out of their house for that, like whole installation. I've just I've done it. I've tried it. Then they start nitpicking and then it doesn't look right. And then like, well, it's not the whole thing. It's not it's not done. You know, same same exact thing. It just. I don't know. They don't get it. They don't, they're, they don't get the vision and that's why they're hiring people to execute said vision. So, you know, just, just trust that we're going to do it. I mean, my whole philosophy with clients is that if there is no trust, like we cannot work together. You know what I mean? So for me, the, that the lack of communication in that way is just them trusting like And I imagine you, I mean, one of the things I always say, it's like, I deal with designers. I don't really deal with the customer that much. So I just have to deal with the, usually the more level-headed other person you have to manage a client and you have to manage their emotional swings. I mean, especially, I'm assuming a lot of clients experience fatigue towards the end. Cause I've seen that, like I'm usually delivering when they're experiencing that fatigue. And they want to be done. So their emotions are already, you know, at a razor's edge. And like, I don't Totally. It is. It is no easy feat. I mean, you met one of our team members, Molly, and she is our project manager, and she kind of deals with the client most often because it is for me, it's the most draining part of what we do. You know, managing expectations. And you can't because there's, there's so much that we rely on all of these outside people, the contractors, like the mill workers, the metal worker, you know, everybody to make this vision come together. There's only so much I really have. full control over. I have to rely on my relationships and, you know, who I choose to work with to make sure And let me tell you about, like, when I started, I didn't, what did I think an interior designer did? I thought an interior designer showed up with soft goods, pillows, pick some colors, drop the, you know, pillows on the couch, arrange some books, and they're out. That's what I thought the profession was. And then doing this work, the interior designer so often has to manage throughout the course of a project, all of the trades, all of the people like myself, all of the electricians and the, you know, coming and saying, we can't do this because of this. So the vision that the interior designer has from the outset, they get a bunch of people coming saying, no, we can't because of this, because of that. And the interior designer goes, No, we are. They have to hold on. My respect for that has really, really grown so much over the years because I've just watched them be told by people installing stone or people installing plumbing, like, no, we can't put the fixture here because of X, Y, and Z. all along the way they're chipping away at the designer's vision. So if the designer doesn't know, like, no, we're gonna like, we're holding on to this, we can compromise here, we can't compromise there, then all of a sudden the vision is gone. So like, I just have so much respect for being able to hold on to that because I mean, I've seen how many no's, you know, or we can'ts that Knowledge is power, man. I mean, I am an unpaid electrician. I am certified in all home automation. I know way too much about that. I know way too much about plumbing. I know way too much. There's just like the knowledge that we need because a lot of people are just lazy. They don't want to do things. Yeah. They don't want to do things that are outside of what they're, you know, they're Don't think about it. Totally. I can't fault them. I can't fault people for like, I just want to be able to like do it the way I know is going to work. I don't want the chance that it's not going to work. Right. A chance might make it the most, you know, cool installation ever. Totally. Like, I don't want I know, but that's why working with like artists is so rewarding because we share in this vision to make something like special happen, not to like regurgitate, you know, what we're used to doing. That's what makes it exciting. That's what makes it, you know, cool and makes you want to do it again. There's gotta be some, I don't know. Yeah. It's like, I don't know. Let's, let's try and My final question for you before we let you go is this world is just obsessed with speed and convenience, right? Being able to buy everything immediately and have it delivered in two days. I mean, same for us too. They want things like... What does this level of craftsmanship that Well, one of the things that I love about the Foundry, for example, So it doesn't matter how advanced technologically we get, you can't get around digging it up and melting it to get metals. And that's the foundation of everything that I do. And I love that you can't get around it, you can't hide that process. So with, you know, doing custom furniture, especially specifically in bronze, and I use, you know, a lost wax bronze casting process is slow. There's nothing that you're going to do to make it super fast and immediate. And if someone wants to work with me, they're going to have to understand that. And more importantly, they're going to have to want that. And I think that there is going to be, and maybe there already is, resistance to automation, to not seeing people do things. I mean, you know, the client, my clients, they love seeing people put their hands on stuff. They buy irregular things because that's what it's about. They are people who can afford to buy whatever they want, but they like to know that there's a person and a story. And in fact, the designers will tell me like, I can sell the story, you know, about you and about what you're making and you putting your hands on it. Like the clients want to know that because I mean, let's be real. They want to tell the clients want to be able to tell their friends and family this story about their custom table that they had made. It means a little bit more that they can have a story and a person to connect it with. And that's the part that I love about it. I mean, I'm never going to be a fast, you know, you know, maker that can just turn things around immediately. It's going to be, you know, time invested, blood, sweat and tears. And I'm going to put myself into it. And when I'm done, you know, I want you to care that I did that. So when you say like managing expectations, like if you don't trust me, we can't work together. Well, if you don't appreciate me, then I can't work for you. If you don't appreciate what it takes to get this done, Find someone who, find a different thing. You should get a different thing because I will make you unhappy because I'm Oh man, I love that. What a beautiful thing that you just said. And it's so true. That's perfect. Oh, I love it. Okay, well, I am so happy that we got to chat today. And what I love about your work is that it reminds us that true design isn't just decoration and beautiful things, but it's construction and everything that is behind the lens. So it's artistry in the bones of the space, the details that endure long after trends fade and will last the test of time. I love your energy and what you're bringing to this conversation. And I am really excited to work together in the future. And I think to what you just said, the story is everything and you have to be appreciative and want to work with someone like this who brings a certain something to the table. So with that said, where can we find you and follow along Sure. It's my studio is my name, Steven Daily Studio. It's my Instagram. It's my website. You know, the website will have completed projects. Instagram is kind of more the daily diary of what daily diary, the diary of what I'm working on in the shop. So that's a little bit more up to date. And yeah, you know, look forward to working together, connecting locally and you know being a part of the creative like upstate community here you know we're all pushing each other and inspired by each other's projects I think to see like oh man you know Nicole's doing this I saw this range hood like that's super cool I wonder what that you know rest of that looks like and Yeah, I love that. And in a world that moves fast, artists like you bring us back to what's real, material process, and the human touch, because great design doesn't just fill space, it forges it. So thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. Thanks for listening to The Interior Perspective. If today's conversation inspired you or you're a broker with a story worth telling, connect with us on Instagram at NicoleFisherInteriorDesign or visit NicoleFisher.com. Until next time, keep creating beauty, living with intention and seeing every space