Exploring Life & Business with Charlotte Budimlic of Heights Design Co.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Charlotte Budimlic.

Hi Charlotte, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
We got married and moved into our home in the summer of 2020, which was the height of Covid. The majority of furniture stores in the area or online had longer than wanted lead-times, with many of them not providing exact delivery dates. Needing a place to sit, we decided to see what our local neighbors were selling on Facebook Marketplace.

My husband, and his family own a prominent custom furniture upholstery business, so one by one we added newly reupholstered pieces to our home. During that time, we started documenting our story on Instagram and gained a few followers both locally and globally that were inquiring about these unique furniture pieces. We took on a few clients to help them source furniture and then decided to list some pieces on online marketplaces such as Etsy, Chairish, 1stDibs as well as our own website. We were blessed with success in the business, but also have had our ups and downs, just as any entrepreneurs.

We are happy to state that we have sold and sourced furniture to 34 out of 50 states (including D.C.), and a few sales in Canada. Our goal is to be able to say that we hit all 48 contiguous states, and one day in a different continent as well.

Since the start of our business when it seemed like we had endless time and drive in quantity of pieces on the marketplace, our focus has shifted a bit. In February of 2023, we were blessed with a little baby boy and we decided to focus less on quantity and more so of quality and rarity of pieces. In late 2024, we welcomed the birth of our twins, and I, Charlotte, took quite a few months off of the business to focus on raising our beautiful little family.

It is the last quarter of 2025, and we are back in full swing of projects and getting items listed on the marketplaces. We cannot wait to share so many new items that are coming to the market.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Some of the struggles were for sure figuring out shipping and logistics of pieces. Each piece that we sell is vintage with many hours spent in restoration, so making sure that the piece gets to the final destination in the same condition is crucial.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Heights Design Co.?
Our first home that we purchased was in this beautiful neighborhood in West Akron called Fairlawn Heights, and with that, Heights Design Co. was born.

We are a husband and wife time that specializes in finding unique an oftentimes rare furniture pieces that need restoration, specifically upholstered furniture.

What sets us apart to the masses is just the attention to detail on each of the reupholstered pieces that we restore and sell. We carry five star customer service reviews on all marketplaces, and pride ourselves in providing the best product and service for our clients.

One thing that we would love readers to know is that when it comes to vintage upholstered furniture, we can tailor and make the pieces custom for your specific needs, whether that be in finishes of the fabrics, trim, or even density of the seating.

There is nothing that we enjoy more than being able to sell someone their “forever piece” of furniture that we know they will pass down for generations to come.

How do you think about luck?
Without the “bad luck” of Covid, we would have probably purchased boring furniture from an average big-box furniture store.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://heightsdesignco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heightsdesign_co/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heightsdesignco/