If you’re looking to furnish your home, the Birmingham Furniture District, a booming shopping destination on South Old Woodward in downtown Birmingham, should be your first stop. The area has recently become the go-to stop for homeowners with a taste for high-end furnishings.

“The stores here are not big-box stores,” says Kamran Karimpour, owner of the Birmingham Design Studio. “These stores are service-oriented rather than transactional.”

“For the most part, you are dealing with the owners of the store. If a decision needs to be made, it can be done on the spot, unlike corporate operations. And the best part is the variety of styles available within 500 yards. You can walk down the street and see contemporary, transitional and traditional styles.”

Kamran Karimpour and his wife, Kristi, have operated what has evolved into Birmingham Design Studio for the past 25 years.

“We strive to deliver more to our clients than they would normally expect,” he says. “We are a full-service design studio and furniture store, with a focus on traditional and transitional home furnishings. People can come in and find a hand-knotted rug, an original oil painting, a crystal chandelier or order custom-made pieces.”

The longevity that Karimpour enjoys is the result of the relationships that he and Kristi have built with their clients.

“It’s like a partnership,” he says. “People come to us with a vision, but they don’t know the pieces, colors or textures to make it happen. That’s where we come in. We make their vision come alive.”

“Our customers are involved in the process every step of the way,” he continues. “We guide them, but the end result should have their signature on it. When they go home, they should be comfortable knowing that everything in their home is there for a reason – to make them smile.”