Luxury Living: Taking Design to the Next Level at Clive Daniel Home

By Christy Pessemier | Feature Photo by Nancy Guth | May 2024

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When you walk into Clive Daniel Home’s newly constructed massive storefront location just east of I-75 in Sarasota, you’ll see luxury and design on a whole new level—and you probably won’t want to leave for a while. With a 70,000 sq. ft. furniture showroom that’s filled with every spectrum of color, unique textures, shapes, and opulent statement pieces—the choices are endless.

“There’s so much immense care that’s taken into choosing exactly what items go into the showroom,” Sarasota Clive Daniel Home PR Specialist, Lisa Colando said. “Everything is hand selected and hand picked.”

Clive Daniel Home is not only wowing Sarasota homeowners with stunning custom design, but they’re also turning heads nationally. As the recipient of over 430 awards, Clive Daniel Home has been recently recognized as Best Furniture Store by the 34th ARTS Awards Gala. They were also recently named Best Showroom in the USA by The Collier Building Industry Association’s Sand Dollar Awards, an honor they’ve received for 11 consecutive years.

Aside from its elevated level of quality and sophistication, there’s a lot more to Clive Daniel Home than luxury furniture and decor. The company specializes in concept-to-completion design, and Clive Daniel Home has over 110 highly trained interior designers on staff throughout all their locations; something that really sets them apart. They also have a commercial and hospitality division. Repeat clients and word-of-mouth drive their growing regional and national customer base. 

“Since we opened our doors, we’ve seen a huge outreach of people who are looking for the things that we offer,” Sarasota Clive Daniel Home Director of Business Development Torri Brown said. “First and foremost, we’re a luxury design firm, and our furniture showroom supports our design firm. Anyone can come to shop with us and remodel an entire home, or just one room.”

Since opening, Brown says Sarasota residents and professionals have been waiting for a company like theirs to move here. 

“We have a construction division, and we have relationships with developers, builders, Realtors®, and clients in the area, and we’re very excited about that,” she added. 

The timing for their new Sarasota location has worked out well. During the mass Covid migration to Florida from all over the United States, many real estate buyers purchased homes that didn’t fit the criteria they were looking for. Now, a lot of these new residents are ready to either renovate, or have purchased new homes and want to make them fit their own personal style. 

“People didn’t buy homes in Florida, they bought Florida—their freedoms, the beach, and more things to do outdoors,” Brown said. “It’s great because there’s a lot of opportunity for us to reimagine these homes for people.” 

The company is named for father and son duo Clive and Daniel Lubner, who immigrated here from South Africa, with a strong family background in interior design and custom carpentry. After establishing a well-respected luxury furniture and design firm in Naples, they sold that company. At that point, Daniel continued by creating Clive Daniel Home in 2011. They opened their first location, an 85,000 sq. ft. showroom in Naples, Florida, in 2012. 

“I think that speaks to Daniel’s strengths. He spun it and made it stronger than it ever was before. He knows how to put a team together, and find the right people,” Sarasota Clive Daniel Home Senior Interior Designer Quentin MacDonald said. “With Clive Daniel Home, he really showed that he can take his father’s taste and spread it out and make it become more than it ever was.” 

Brown agrees, pointing out that a big part of the tight-knit culture comes from the origins of the company.

“Clive and Daniel really are the American dream,” Brown says. “They came here and created this furniture company that was extremely successful. Daniel decided to continue what his dad created for him. When you work here, you feel that family energy. We want everyone to have success, and that comes from Clive and Daniel.” 

Aside from the company’s diverse offerings and ability to take on both small and large projects, their reputation is a big secret to their success. 

“Personally, I was chomping at the bit for Clive Daniel to come to town. I think they are mavens in the industry, real tastemakers, and I really looked up to both of them, even before I knew they were going to be here,” MacDonald said. “I had it in my mind that I was going to work here.” 

Today, the company is not only one of the leaders in luxury home design, but also commercial, and hospitality design. Their reach spans across the state with additional showrooms in Fort Myers, Boca Raton, and Naples. Clive Daniel Home also has many clients outside Florida, throughout the United States, and internationally. Their mission is to offer full-service luxury design through a large portfolio and team and to bring clients’ unique visions to life through collaboration and innovation.

Brown, MacDonald, and Colando say Daniel is very involved with all the company locations, and regularly communicates with staff. 

“Clive comes to Sarasota every couple of months, and we see Daniel in the office several times a week. He’s very involved in decisions we make, leadership team meetings, and in touch with everyone,” Brown said. 

According to Colando, Daniel’s French bulldog, Stella, also visits on occasion. 

“There’s a video of Daniel’s son coming in with the puppy, and it’s adorable,” Colando said. “It’s Stella running through the entire space of Clive Daniel Home. But really, when you talk about Clive and Daniel and Stella and bringing the boys to work, you can kind of see how the company operates.”

Another way Clive Daniel Home stands out in a fiercely competitive industry is how well they manage each arm of their company, something that isn’t easy to do.

“That’s one of the many ways Clive Daniel is innovative. We stock everything that we show on the floor, meaning you can come and purchase an item as it shows on the floor, and we can have it delivered in seven to ten days, which is why we have this massive distribution facility in Fort Myers,” MacDonald said.

“On the other hand, we have the ability to do custom, which is a great thing,” he added. “We’re a furniture store and we’re a fully custom design firm and that’s innovative because we serve both markets. Whether you need something in a rush, or completely custom made, we got you.” 

According to MacDonald, there are a lot of exciting trends in design right now and they involve moving away from a neutral color palette. 

“Honestly, I’m really excited to see customers leaning into doing things that are more bold. A recent project I worked on was very bold color-wise, and I got nothing but positive reactions about it,” he commented.

He says bold color choices are going beyond just painting a wall, but moving to furniture and decor options as well.

“A few years ago, things were really streamlined with straight lines, and I think now we want a little more,” MacDonald said. We’re moving into painting with different blocks and levels of paints. Wallpaper has come back strong and there are some amazing products available. We want things that bring more joy.”

MacDonald says there’s also a demand for design that incorporates multiple layers and textures, as well as mixed metals. 

In one of his recent projects, the client was a world traveler, lived in Europe, and had been curating a collection for the last 30 to 35 years.

“It was our task to make everything work together. She has beautiful furniture, but we wanted to make it feel relevant,” he said. “So we added a lot of cut goods, like drapery, window treatments, and wallpapers. And that’s one of the things I’m really proud of with working here—not every home is going to look like our showroom floor, which is beautiful, but if that’s not your style—you can get what you want.” 

MacDonald said each project begins with a discovery meeting to find out what the client loves and what inspires them. Then they create the design inspiration, and final presentations. The entire process is curated to make sure the client and what they love is going to be reflected in their home. 

He says projects vary in the amount of time they take. Custom residential and commercial construction builds can take one to three years. Move-in ready model homes are much quicker and usually take three days to two weeks. 

A recent project, and his favorite to date, included lacquered walls and pattern on pattern design, and a level of maximalism he had never worked with before. 

“I thrive when there’s a challenge. I think that’s when innovation happens,” MacDonald said. 

As they continue to broaden their offerings, Brown says she’s excited about the direction Clive Daniel is going in. 

New plans for growth include working with more builders and developers, including a recent partnership with Sarasota premier home builder, Sam Rodgers Homes, another strong local family-owned company with a reputation for quality and respect. 

“One of the things that Sam Rodgers has done for this community is that he’s kept conservation in mind. There’s a certain amount of land that’s going to preserve trees, much more than you would usually see. We’re working on some fun stuff—biophilic design that’s bringing the outdoors in, and Q (McDonald) is heading up that project.” 

With new residential and commercial developments popping up everywhere in Sarasota, and a busy real estate and home renovation market, Clive Daniel Home seems to be exactly what Sarasota needed. 

What started out as a modest team of 40 at their flagship Naples store has now grown to a powerhouse team of 200 talented individuals across multiple locations. 

“After Naples’s luxury market, our Sarasota numbers are second in line,” Brown said. “So that’s really impressive. We’re seeing great growth.”