Why Woods Design House Chose Materio After Comparing Six Platforms

Meet the Pro

Woods Design House is an interior design firm serving the greater Houston area. Co-founded by Emily and Doran Woods, the firm began in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey's devastating 2017 floods, when Emily started helping local families rebuild, reimagine, and restore their homes. What began as a small family business has grown into a full-service design firm managing dozens of active projects in various phases, from new construction and renovations to furnishings and decor.

Doran, Owner and Chief Business Officer, brings 20 years of IT and Management experience to the operational side of the business, while Administrative Director Derreth Teixeira helps keep projects, processes, and communication moving smoothly behind the scenes.

As the firm grew, the need for stronger systems became impossible to ignore.

"The stakes were getting higher and higher in the business."

The Problem

For years, Woods Design House managed projects across several different tools: Excel, Canva, SketchUp, Teams, OneDrive, and separate documents for clients, contractors, and internal use.

For a while, that worked. But as the company grew and the projects became larger, more detailed, and more layered, the system became harder to manage.

On a large project, one design could involve a 200-plus-line spreadsheet, presentation files, design documents, contractor copies, purchasing records, and internal tracking documents. When something changed, that update had to be manually carried across multiple places.

And sometimes, despite everyone's best efforts, something was missed.

On one project, a cabinet elevation changed, but the contractor was still working from outdated information. The cabinet was built incorrectly. It was the kind of mistake no one wanted; costly, frustrating, and preventable with a better system.

As project volume increased, those moments became harder to protect against. More projects meant more documents, more handoffs, more decisions, and more opportunities for something to fall through the cracks.

"It was starting to affect the client experience."

Doran was equally clear about the financial impact:

"Our company was losing money."

It wasn't one dramatic failure. It was the slow accumulation of small inefficiencies, duplicated work, missed updates, and preventable mistakes.

Or as Doran described it:

"Death by a thousand paper cuts."

Eventually, growth forced a decision.

"We were either going to slow the heck down or, if we want to keep growing, we're going to have to find a solution."

With Materio as a Partner

Doran didn't make that decision lightly. With an IT background, he knew changing platforms would affect the whole business, not just the design team, but purchasing, documentation, client communication, contractor coordination, and internal accountability.

He spent months researching the market and comparing six different platforms: Design Files, Mydoma Studio, Indema, Houzz Pro, Programa, and Materio. There was even an admittedly over-the-top comparison chart involved, because the decision mattered too much to guess.

Materio entered the conversation in an unexpected way. While Doran was evaluating another platform and asking about a capability Woods Design House needed, that competitor suggested he take a look at Materio. Once Materio was added to the comparison, it quickly stood apart as the only platform that checked the most important box: a truly connected workflow.

Many of the platforms offered strong libraries, presentation tools, and other helpful features. Several also claimed to bring the design workflow into one place, and in that sense, they offered a level of connection. But at the time Woods Design House was evaluating options, Materio was the only platform they found where the workflow was truly connected within the platform itself. Selections could link directly to boards and even auto-populate them, so when a selection changed, the related project information stayed connected instead of depending on another round of manual updates across separate boards, presentations, spreadsheets, or documents.

"That was the thing that put you over the top for us."

Materio also changed how the team shared information. Instead of repeatedly resending updated documents, much of the project information could now be shared through live links, helping clients, contractors, and the WDH team stay closer to the most current information.

Once Woods Design House chose Materio, they treated the transition as more than a software change. They didn't want to simply place a new platform on top of old habits and hope it solved everything. They wanted to rethink how information moved through the company.

Materio's team worked with them to understand their existing processes, configure the system around their needs, and help establish a foundation they could continue building on.

That partnership mattered.

"I feel like we're being heard and listened to."

The Transformation

The biggest change has been visibility, connection, and control.

Client approvals now happen earlier in the process. Instead of waiting until pricing to begin the real decision-making cycle, clients can respond directly to selections, and the design team can refine sooner. Derreth describes that part of the process as "exponentially quicker."

Purchasing has also become more manageable. Before Materio, Derreth often maintained what she called "spreadsheets for spreadsheets" just to answer basic questions: Has this been ordered? Has it arrived? Has it been inspected? Is it complete?

Now, that information lives inside the project where the team can see it.

The linked workflow has also helped reduce the risk of outdated documents. When selections, boards, and shared project information are connected, the team is less dependent on manually updating and resending separate files every time something changes.

That shift has reduced duplicated work and made it easier for everyone to understand where things stand. When Woods Design House began looking for a better system, the firm was managing roughly 36 active projects and feeling the strain of disconnected processes. Today, with Materio and the addition of new team members, the firm is managing more than 50 active projects in various phases.

Even while the team is still learning and refining how they use Materio, Doran estimates Woods Design House has already seen a meaningful improvement:

"I can confidently say we've seen a 20% efficiency gain since joining."

And he believes that number can continue to grow. As the team becomes stronger inside the platform and Materio continues improving, Doran believes Woods Design House could see as much as a 30% overall efficiency improvement by early 2027.

For Woods Design House, the efficiency is not just about saving time. It is about protecting the client experience, supporting the team, reducing unnecessary mistakes, and creating the operational foundation to manage growth without recreating the same strain that pushed them to search for a better system in the first place.

Success

Woods Design House is still refining its processes, but now the team has a system that supports the way the business is growing.

For WDH, Materio's value is not only in bringing project information into one place, but in keeping the work connected as selections change, approvals move forward, and purchasing details evolve.

When Doran thinks about what he would tell another designer evaluating a new platform, he comes back to the same point that separated Materio after months of research:

"That connectivity is game changing for people."

For a growing design firm, that connection can be the difference between constantly chasing information and confidently managing the work in front of you.