While attending Troy High School, he took basic art classes. He ended up graduating early after his junior year in 1977 because he was ready to move on with his life.
“I wanted to go to design school but growing up in the ’70s there was all this doomsday talk,” Fair said. I wanted to go to New York but talked myself out of it because I figured no one would want an interior designer if the world was coming to an end.”
Of course, the world didn’t end, and life moved on for Fair. He went to Edison State Community College in Piqua for two years for an associate’s degree in business.
Fair was still contemplating continuing his education when something significant happened. He was working for a woman who knew a Cincinnati native named Donald Brune who had an illustrious career in design, including helping former first lady Jacquelyn Kennedy with the redesign of the White House.
“My boss thought I would like to meet Don,” Fair said. “We had lunch, and I told him I was frustrated and couldn’t decide if I should go back to school.”
Brune told Fair that he knew many people with credentials and initials after their names but who, in his opinion, couldn’t design. His advice to Fair was “If you already have clients, you’re already there.”
Almost exclusively self-taught, Fair said if he didn’t know how to do something, he would research and figure it out. Then in 1986 when he was 26 years old, he decided to open his own interior design store front.
He opened David Fair and Company in downtown Troy. In the mid-1990s he decided to add David Fair Interiors and continued growing his business. Then in 1999, retail as a whole started transforming.
When retail decorating giants such as Michael’s and Hobby Lobby started to grow in popularity, Fair’s business was impacted. These companies opened in the mid-1970s, and a decade later, were selling items at the same price as Fair was paying wholesale.
One of Fair’s industry fabric reps, Mike Cohn, reminded him about the clientele and business he had built.
“Mike said ‘you know what David, if you are a good designer, people will want you,’” Fair said. “They don’t care about whether or not you have a store.”
Fair kept his building and leased the main floor to a consignment shop that operated for about ten years in this capacity. Still located on the public square in Troy, Fair’s services were offered by appointment only.
Eventually, Fair changed the name of his business to David Fair on the Square, and today he offers floral and interior design services, retail upscale consignment and furniture sales.
For the past two decades, Fair has been a member of the Dayton Society of Interior Designers. He also met his now good friend, Jack Keaton, who bought a 1920s Tudor-style cottage in historic Fairborn.
He asked Fair to take a look at the home.
“It’s one of these homes that is modest from the outside but has a great story on the inside,” Fair said. “A plasterer named Case B. Jones lived there until his death in 1951, so it has some unique features inside.”
Fair wanted to use the house to host a pop-up Christmas shop during the 2024 season, and Keaton agreed. It ran from October through the end of the year and Fair said the response was good. He started thinking about the pre-pandemic Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Designer Showhouses and had an idea.
“Jack thought it would be amazing to make this a designer show house,” Fair said.
Fair contacted the members of the DSID, and they were excited. It turned out that this year, the city of Fairborn is celebrating its 75th anniversary, marking the time when the cities of Fairfield and Osborn, Ohio became one.
“We decided to partner with the city and turn the celebration into a tour, which would allow folks to spend the whole day in Fairborn going to different places,” Fair said.
Ten designers have been working for months on Fairborn’s designer show house, which will be open to the public through May 11. The event requires tickets.
The story-and-a-half home has a finished lower level and a total of 16 spaces that have been decorated for this event. It is decorated in an English Tudor style.
Though Fair is approaching retirement age, he has no plans to slow down anytime soon.
“I want to keep going as long as I feel energetic about it,” Fair said. “I know someone who is about to turn 80 years old and is still working. I can’t imagine not designing.”
MORE DETAILS
For more information about the City of Fairborn anniversary event and the Designer Show House, email dfair301@yahoo.com.
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