Everyday Living Interiors

Kwame Asante

Round 3 interview · Live website evaluation
June 2026

Date: 12 June 2026
Persona: Kwame Asante, 28, junior logistics coordinator, Rotterdam-West
Persona type: Indifferent non-audience — boundary test
Interviewer format: Synthetic persona interview (AI-conducted)
Website evaluated: everydaylivinginteriors.com (live site, June 2026)

Introduction

Interviewer Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today, Kwame. I'm conducting research on behalf of an interior design service, and I'd love to get your honest perspective. There are no right or wrong answers — I'm genuinely interested in your reactions, even if they're negative or uncertain. Critical feedback is just as valuable as positive feedback. I'll start by asking a few questions about your living situation, then walk you through a website and ask for your reactions. Should take about twenty-five minutes. Sound good?
Kwame Yeah, sure. I'll be honest though — interior design isn't really my thing, so I'm not sure how useful I'll be.
Interviewer That's actually exactly why your perspective is valuable. Really, the most helpful thing you can do is be completely honest. I'm not the person who created this, so you won't hurt anyone's feelings.
Kwame Alright, cool. Let's go.

Section 1: Context setting

Interviewer Tell me a bit about your current living situation — your home, who you live with, and how you generally feel about the space you're in.
Kwame I rent a room in a shared flat in Rotterdam-West. Me and two other guys — one's a student, one works in a warehouse. It's fine. I've got my bed, my desk, my gaming chair. The shared areas are whatever — someone found a sofa on Marktplaats, there's a TV. It works.
Interviewer When you walk through your front door at the end of the day, what's the first thing you notice?
Kwame Honestly? Whether my flatmates left dishes in the sink. That's about it. I go straight to my room most of the time anyway.
Interviewer Is there anything about your home that frustrates you or that you wish were different?
Kwame Not really. I mean, the room is small — fifteen square metres or something. The light is kind of harsh, like that fluorescent thing on the ceiling. But I don't think about it. It's where I sleep and scroll my phone. My life is mostly not at home, you know? Gym, work, football, going out. The room just has to be functional.
Interviewer How much time and energy do you typically spend thinking about how your home looks or feels?
Kwame Zero. Genuinely zero. I don't mean that in a rude way, it's just — it's never been a thing for me. My mum's house is nice, she keeps it proper for when people visit, but that's different. That's a family home. My room is just a room.
Interviewer Have you ever considered getting help with your home — from a designer, a friend, anyone?
Kwame laughs No. Not once. I wouldn't even know what a designer would do with a room like mine. It's a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe. What's there to design?
Interviewer When you hear the words "interior designer," what comes to mind?
Kwame Rich people. Big houses. Those TV shows where they rip everything out and put in, like, marble countertops. It's a different world, man. Not bad, just — not my world.

Section 2: Website presentation

Interviewer I'd like to show you a website for a service called Everyday Living Interiors. It's run by a woman named Sara de Abreu — she's originally from Lisbon, now based in Diemen, near Amsterdam. The website is live right now. Let me walk you through what you'd see.

The first thing that hits you is the typography. The logo — "Everyday Living Interiors" — is set in a large, bold serif font, stacked across three lines like a magazine masthead. Below it, in small sans-serif: "by Sara de Abreu." The overall feel is confident — editorial, almost. Black and white, clean, minimal.

Below the logo, a warm photograph fills the screen — a real living room with natural textures, warm tones, and lived-in quality. Not a showroom. Over or near this image, a large serif heading reads: "Your Home Should Support Your Life, Not Compete With It."

Below that, Sara describes her belief that everyone deserves a home that feels like theirs, that interior design should be accessible and practical.

Scrolling down, you see a curated grid of interior photographs — real spaces with warm tones, natural materials, textiles, close-ups of styling details. Hands arranging objects. A stack of cushions in earthy tones. It feels like a lifestyle magazine, but these are real homes.

Then a transitional section appears: "Whenever You're Ready, Styling Starts Right Here, Where You Are."

This is a general invitation — welcoming, warm, saying wherever you're at is a fine place to begin.

Next comes the services and pricing section. Three service tiers:

The Room Reset — eighty euros. A virtual consultation where you send photos, meet online for sixty to ninety minutes, and receive a written follow-up with layout suggestions, colour guidance, and product recommendations.

The Design Roadmap — From two hundred and fifty euros. A complete written plan: moodboard, colour palette, floor plan, lighting recommendations, and a shopping list with links and price ranges.

The Living Space Plan — From five hundred and forty euros per room. Full interior design from concept to completion, including 3D visualisations, sourcing, and styling support.

Each service has its own detailed page with a clear structure: what it is, how it works, what you receive, and who it's for. The deliverables are specific — PDFs, shopping lists, follow-up emails, 3D renders.

Below the services, a section headed "Real People, Real Results" shows portfolio previews — thumbnail images of completed projects. Then a section asks: "Can't Find What Suits Your Situation?" It invites you to get in touch and says Sara will help you choose what works for you.

The footer appears on every page against a warm blush-beige background. It shows: "From Lisbon / Based in Amsterdam — Diemen Zuid," her email address, phone number, Instagram and Pinterest links, and a newsletter signup.

That's the main website. Take a moment to let that settle.

Kwame ...
Interviewer What's your first reaction?
Kwame It sounds nice. Like, well made. Professional. But, yeah — it's not for me. I knew that before you started, and nothing in there changed my mind. It's like showing me a really good wedding planner's website. I'm sure it's great, I'm just not getting married.

Section 3: First impressions and visual identity

Interviewer That's honest and that's helpful. What stood out to you most — positively or negatively?
Kwame Positively — the prices being right there. I respect that. Most services try to hide what things cost. Negatively — or not even negatively, just... it all felt like it was aimed at someone who already cares about this stuff. The photography, the cushions, the "earthy tones" — none of that means anything to me. It's like a language I don't speak.
Interviewer Did anything surprise you?
Kwame The eighty euros thing, honestly. I would have guessed interior design starts at like a thousand minimum. Eighty euros is less than a pair of Nikes. I didn't expect that.
Interviewer How does that surprise land? Does it make you more curious or does it not matter because the service itself isn't relevant?
Kwame Both, kind of. Like, it's interesting to know that exists. But I'm not going to spend eighty euros on someone telling me what to do with a room I might not be in next year. I don't own the place. I could move tomorrow.
Interviewer The website has a bold, editorial look — large serif typography like a magazine masthead, black and white design, warm photography. How does that visual style make you feel about the service?
Kwame It looks premium. Like a fashion brand or a lifestyle magazine. Which is fine, but it also makes it feel like it's for a certain type of person. Someone older, probably. Someone with their own place. Someone who uses words like "curated." Not someone living in a shared flat in Rotterdam-West.
Interviewer Would you describe this as a website for someone like you?
Kwame No. Definitely not. And I don't say that as a criticism — I just think they know their audience and it's not me. The whole vibe is, like, thoughtful women in their thirties and forties who own apartments and care about cushion colours. Which is totally valid. It's just a different universe from mine.
Interviewer What specifically makes you feel excluded?
Kwame There's no one who looks like me in it. Not just race — I mean, like, lifestyle. Where's the guy in a shared flat? Where's the fifteen-square-metre room with a gaming chair and a fluorescent light? Everything in those photos looks like someone already had taste and this service made it even better. I don't have taste. I have furniture that was in stock at IKEA the day I went there.

Section 4: Pricing and services

Interviewer Let me ask about the three services specifically. Can you tell me in your own words what each one involves?
Kwame The first one, eighty euros, you have a video call and she tells you what to change, and then she sends you a list. The second one, two-fifty, she makes like a whole plan with a moodboard and paint colours and a shopping list. The third one, five-forty per room, she does everything for you — designs it, buys the stuff, puts it together.
Interviewer Which would be most relevant to your situation, if any?
Kwame Honestly, none. But if you forced me to pick, the eighty-euro one. Because it's cheap and it's just a conversation. I wouldn't need the full plan thing — my room is too small and too temporary for that. But even the eighty-euro one... I'd need a reason to do it. Like, I can't picture what she'd actually tell me that would change my room in a way I'd care about.
Interviewer What's your reaction to the prices overall?
Kwame They're way lower than I expected. Way lower. I thought interior design was for people with money. Eighty euros is nothing in the grand scheme — I spend more on a night out. But the difference is, a night out gives me something I immediately enjoy. I don't know what eighty euros of interior design gives me. A PDF? I'm not sure I'd even read it.
Interviewer Does having prices visible on the website — right in the heading — affect your trust?
Kwame Yeah, actually. It does. When you show your prices, it means you're not trying to trick anyone. I hate when you have to "request a quote" or whatever — that always means it's going to be expensive and they know it. This is straightforward. I respect that even if I'm not buying.
Interviewer There's a gap between eighty euros and two hundred and fifty. If there were something in between — say, a hundred and fifty euros where Sara came to your home and rearranged things using only what you already own — would that interest you?
Kwame Someone coming to my room and rearranging a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe? laughs Where would she put them? There's literally one layout that works. Maybe if I had a bigger space someday, yeah. But right now, no.

Section 5: Emotional resonance and personal connection

Interviewer The homepage has a section that says "Whenever you're ready, styling starts right here, where you are." How do you respond to that?
Kwame It's a nice line. But it assumes I want to style something. I'm not "not ready" — I'm just not interested. There's a difference between someone who wants to fix up their place but feels overwhelmed, and someone who genuinely doesn't think about it. I'm the second one. That line is for the first person.
Interviewer Is there anything about your situation that you wish the website acknowledged?
Kwame That some people don't care about this yet. And that's okay. Not in a judgmental way — like, "you should care" — but in a way that plants a seed. Like, "you didn't know your room could be better." Because I genuinely don't know that. No one's ever shown me what a fifteen-square-metre room could look like if someone actually thought about it.
Interviewer That's really interesting. So it's not that the website says the wrong thing — it's that it doesn't even attempt to reach you.
Kwame Exactly. It's talking to people who already walked through the door. I'm still on the street not knowing there's a door.
Interviewer There's an About page where Sara introduces herself — she came from corporate marketing, she's always been passionate about design, started by helping friends before launching officially. She says homes don't need to look like a magazine, they need to work for you. How does that land?
Kwame The "don't need to look like a magazine" part is good. That's the first thing she's said that I can relate to, because I definitely don't want my room to look like a magazine. But the rest — the career pivot, the passion for design — that's her story, and it's fine, but it doesn't connect to me. I don't need to know she left corporate. I need to know she can do something with a room that has nothing in it.
Interviewer Now, the website also has a blog with two posts. Let me tell you about one in particular. It's called "I Don't Design For Magazines." In it, Sara writes about how social media and design blogs create unrealistic expectations. She says things like:

"Give me a cluttered pantry that nobody can find anything in, and I'll give you back your Tuesday mornings."

"Give me your grandfather's antique old cabinet and your partner's IKEA shelf and I'll make them get along."

She says she's not trying to create aspirational spaces — she wants to help people with their actual daily lives. She describes her service as being about helping people love their home today, not redesigning it from scratch.

How does that land?

Kwame Okay, that's different. That's much better. The pantry line is funny. The IKEA shelf line — that's real. That sounds like someone who actually deals with real life. The main website felt like a magazine trying to tell me it's not a magazine. But this blog post sounds like a person.
Interviewer Does it change how you feel about the service?
Kwame A little, yeah. It doesn't make me want to book a consultation — I'm still not at that point in my life. But it makes me think she's legit. Like, if my mum wanted help with the living room, I'd feel okay showing her this. The blog post feels more trustworthy than the homepage.
Interviewer Would you have found this blog post naturally while browsing the site?
Kwame No chance. If I somehow landed on the website — which wouldn't happen on its own — I'd look at the first page, see it's not for me, and close it. I'm never clicking through to a blog. The only way I'd see that content is if someone sent me a link directly, or if it showed up as a clip on TikTok or Instagram.
Interviewer If that blog content were on the homepage instead of in a blog post, would it change your experience?
Kwame It would help. Especially the specific lines — "give me your IKEA shelf," that kind of thing. That makes it real. The homepage right now is too polished, too clean. It's all warm tones and editorial typography. The blog post has personality. Put the personality up front and you'd catch more people.

Section 6: Portfolio and proof

Interviewer The website shows four real projects. One — a beach house in Portugal — shows clear before-and-after photos: tired, dated rooms transformed into warm, characterful spaces. The others show beautiful finished rooms but no "before" images. How do you respond to that?
Kwame Before and after is the only thing that would grab my attention. The "after" photos on their own — they're nice, but they don't tell me anything. I see a nice room. So what? Show me what it looked like before and then I go, "oh, she did that?" That's compelling. That's like the content I actually watch — those TikTok transformation videos where someone takes a terrible room and makes it look sick. That's the format that works for people like me.
Interviewer How important is seeing the budget — how much was spent?
Kwame Very important for someone in my position. If I saw a before-and-after of a small room and it said "total spend: one hundred and fifty euros," I'd be impressed. If there's no budget mentioned, I assume it was expensive. That's just the default assumption.
Interviewer One smaller project — a living room refresh in Ghent — describes working on a budget: a simple room refresh without spending much money. The client received advice over a thirty-five-minute call and a shopping list within budget. Does that change your perception?
Kwame Yeah, that's more like it. A thirty-five-minute call and a shopping list — that's simple, that's understandable. I could picture that happening. Not for me right now, but I could picture it happening for someone. If there were more projects like that — small, cheap, real — I'd take the service more seriously.

Section 7: Barriers and action

Interviewer Imagine you've just finished browsing this website on your phone. What would you do next?
Kwame Close the tab. Honestly.
Interviewer What's the single biggest thing holding you back?
Kwame It's not one thing — it's everything. I don't own my place. My room is tiny and temporary. I have no interest in design as a concept. I don't see anyone like me on the website. The service makes sense for other people. It just doesn't make sense for me right now.
Interviewer Is there anything the website could add or change that would move you?
Kwame The only thing that would catch me is content, not the website itself. Like, a TikTok video where someone takes a small boring room — my kind of room — and transforms it for under a hundred euros. That I'd watch. That I might even share with my flatmates. And then maybe I'd click through to the website. But the website on its own, as a destination? I'm never going there on my own.
Interviewer The contact page has a standard form — name, email, subject, message. No option to send a photo, no WhatsApp, no way to just ask a quick question without committing. Does that affect your likelihood of reaching out?
Kwame If I were ever going to reach out — which I'm not — a form would be the worst way. I'd want WhatsApp. That's how I communicate with everyone. A form feels official. It feels like you're signing up for something. WhatsApp is just a conversation. You could send a photo and say, "what do I do with this?" and that's low-pressure.
Interviewer The site doesn't have a FAQ section. If you had questions like "Is it okay if my home is a mess?" or "I don't have much budget — is this still for me?" — where would you look for answers?
Kwame I wouldn't look. I'd just assume it's not for me and leave. That's the thing — people like me don't dig around a website looking for reassurance. If the answer isn't obvious on the first screen, we're gone.
Interviewer Would having those questions answered visibly on the site remove a barrier?
Kwame It would help. Especially "I don't have much budget" and "I'm renting, not owning." Those two would make me pause. Because right now, the site doesn't say anything about renters. And most young people in Rotterdam are renters. That's a big blind spot.
Interviewer Would you share this website with someone else?
Kwame My mum, maybe. She's been talking about doing something with the living room since my younger brother moved out. She could actually use this. She'd like the prices. She'd like that Sara is Portuguese — my mum has Ghanaian friends married to Portuguese guys, so there's a connection there. But that's about the Lisbon thing, not the website itself.

Closing

Interviewer If a friend asked you, "What is Everyday Living Interiors?" — how would you describe it in one or two sentences?
Kwame It's a woman in Amsterdam who does interior design for normal people, not just rich people. She starts at eighty euros and it goes up from there.
Interviewer That's a clear description. On a scale of one to ten, how likely would you be to recommend this website to someone you know who's struggling with their home?
Kwame Six. It's a good service for the right person. I'd recommend it to my mum or to a friend who just bought a flat and didn't know what to do. But I wouldn't bring it up randomly. It would have to come up in conversation.
Interviewer What would move that number up?
Kwame If I'd seen content from them on TikTok or Instagram that I actually engaged with — like those transformation videos. If I already had a sense of who Sara is and what she does before someone asked me, I'd recommend her more confidently. Right now I only know what you told me.
Interviewer And for yourself — on a scale of one to ten, how likely are you to actually take action after seeing this website?
Kwame Two. And that's only because I might mention it to my mum. For myself, it's a one. Not because the service is bad — it's because I'm genuinely not at a point in my life where I'd use it. Maybe in five years when I have my own flat. Actually, yeah — if I bought a place, I'd probably go back to this. That eighty-euro thing would be good for someone who just moved into an empty flat and has no idea where to start.
Interviewer What would move your personal number up?
Kwame Owning a place. Having a room bigger than fifteen square metres. Maybe a girlfriend who cared about this stuff. Any of those would make me think about it differently. The website itself can't fix those things.
Interviewer Is there anything we haven't talked about that you'd like to add?
Kwame Just that — I think the website is good for what it's doing. It's just doing something that's invisible to people like me. And I think there's a whole demographic of young guys in shared flats who have no idea their rooms could be better. Not because they don't want better — they've just never been shown what better looks like for a fifteen-square-metre rented room. If Sara ever made content specifically for that — like, "your room doesn't have to look like a prison cell" — it would go viral. Guys would share that. But you'd have to meet them on TikTok, not on a website.
Interviewer That's a genuinely valuable observation. Thank you for your time and your honesty, Kwame. Your perspective is exactly the kind of feedback that helps shape how this service evolves.
Kwame No worries. Hope it was useful.

Post-interview notes

Visual identity verdict

The editorial design confirmed Kwame's assumption that the service is "for a certain type of person" — older, female, homeowner. The polished typography and warm photography signalled quality but simultaneously signalled irrelevance. The visual style functions as a filter that efficiently excludes non-audience members without offending them. Kwame respected the design but saw no entry point for himself.

Pricing reaction

The most significant data point: Kwame was genuinely surprised by the eighty-euro price. His reference frame placed interior design at "a thousand minimum." This price knowledge alone slightly shifted his perception, and he filed it as potentially useful for future life stages ("when I buy a place"). The visible pricing built trust even with a non-prospect. However, the price alone was insufficient to override his fundamental disengagement — eighty euros for a PDF he might not read was not compelling against eighty euros for a night out.

Emotional displacement test

The blog post "I Don't Design For Magazines" produced a measurably different reaction than the homepage. Kwame described the homepage as "a magazine trying to tell me it's not a magazine" and the blog as "a person." The specific lines (cluttered pantry, IKEA shelf) registered as authentic. However, he stated unequivocally he would never discover this content through natural browsing. The strongest content on the site is effectively invisible to the non-audience.

Negative-space findings — where exactly ELI loses Kwame

  1. First-screen filter: Within seconds. The editorial typography and warm-toned photography signal a world he doesn't inhabit. No imagery, language, or examples reflect a young man in a rented room.
  2. Conceptual gap: Kwame lacks the framework to understand what interior design could do for a fifteen-square-metre space. The service doesn't explain what "better" means at his scale.
  3. Renter invisibility: No mention of renters, temporary spaces, or small rooms. This is the biggest content gap for reaching adjacent audiences.
  4. Channel mismatch: Kwame consumes content on TikTok and Instagram. A website is the wrong format to reach him. Short-form transformation video content is the only format he identified as potentially compelling.

Referral potential

Despite being firmly non-audience, Kwame scored a 6/10 on recommendation likelihood — he would tell his mother about it. The price transparency and professional quality earned enough trust for referral even without personal relevance. His mother represents the kind of indirect conversion path non-audience members can enable.

Key quote

"I'm not 'not ready' — I'm just not interested. There's a difference between someone who wants to fix up their place but feels overwhelmed, and someone who genuinely doesn't think about it. I'm the second one."

Unexpected finding

Kwame's suggestion about transformation content for small rented rooms was the interview's most actionable insight. His instinct that such content "would go viral" among young men reflects a genuine content gap in the interiors space. This is not an immediate conversion opportunity for ELI, but it represents a long-term audience-building strategy through social-first content that bypasses the website entirely.

Action scores

Everyday Living Interiors · Round 3 Interview · June 2026