R-Squared debuts in Rehoboth

After more than 20 years as an architect and interior designer, Rex Rogosch decided it's time to start his own business.

He opened R-Squared Home and Design at 39 Baltimore Ave. in Rehoboth March 1 and is planning a grand opening party Friday, March 28.

Rogosch, who owns R-Squared with partner Wayne Knaub, is an interior designer by trade; before opening the store, he worked on a client-by-client basis. Part of his design work involved creating two lines of furniture: R-Squared and Rexy Boy.

“I have a lot of clients that would see furniture they liked but couldn’t necessarily afford it, or we’d have to change it. Especially living in places like Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and even here, a lot of the houses have smaller rooms,” Rogosch said.

But furniture is not the only thing the store will have, he said, R-Squared will also carry accessories such as candles, pillows and throws.

“Basically everything you would go into a big-box retailer, but it’s our store, our brands,” Rogosch said.

R-Squared will provide more than furniture; Rogosch said a typical client relationship starts with an in-depth consultation followed by an assessment. Rogosch will then go through and refine plans for a room or a house before starting to purchase items.

“There’s so many capacities people can use a designer for,” he said. “While yes, a lot of people will try to do it on their own; their time is valuable. If you want to have a normal life and live in your house instead of living in a construction zone, that’s where someone like myself can step in and move the project along more quickly.”

The cost for Rogosch’s services depends on the project. He said one of the first questions he asks a client is what the budget is.

The name R-Squared has many meanings for Rogosch: for one, it’s his initials. Second, it also reflects the store’s motto: reasonable, refined design. While he has been a professional designer for 22 years, Rogosch said he has been studying design and architecture since middle school.

“For me, it’s not a job. It’s what I was born to do,” he said. “I love interacting with people. But I also like it when I see them happy in their space. At the end of the day, designers leave. We don’t live there. The clients do. So when you get a phone call from them saying ‘I love coming home now’ or ‘I love being in my house.’ That’s the best part of it.”

Rogosch said he also enjoys the challenge of playing puzzle-maker, figuring out how to give people what they want within a confined space.

A native of Las Vegas who grew up in Houston, Rogosch has moved many times over his career, most recently working out of Philadelphia. Rogosch and Knaub have been coming to Rehoboth for the past four years. Rogosch said R-Squared’s modern, contemporary style wasn’t really represented in Rehoboth, making it an ideal location for the first store. He said the Baltimore Avenue location is a prototype he hopes to expand on.

“We’re really looking to make this a branded chain of stores,” Rogosch said.

R-Squared will be formally introduced to the community at a March 28 with a reception and cocktail party. Anyone coming to the event or who looks R-Squared up through Facebook gets 10 percent off their sales for the night, Rogosch said. The store also plans to donate 2 percent of its quarterly proceeds to his neighbor, CAMP Rehoboth, Rogosch said.

“We’d just like to give back to the community,” he said.

For more information on R-Squared email info@rsquareddesign.net or call 212-2703. The store also has pages on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.