How To Work With Your Designer, Avoid Trends, and Create an Amazing Project
Recently, I was selecting a living room full of furniture with a client when she told me, “You really love what you do.” We had just finished ripping off the entire back of her house and were knee-deep in building her a fabulous kitchen, living room, and mudroom. For me, design is a commitment bordering on obsession. That’s one reason you hire me: I love to be creative while also optimizing the practicality and functionality of your home.
Suggestion #1: Hire someone you trust so you can allow that designer’s creativity to flow
A good designer is obsessed with being creative. So, when you hire a designer, vet them first. Look at their designs to know you are primarily on the same page. Have a convo or two with them, and present your needs and desires. But then here is an important key: let go and allow them to optimize their creativity. While some collaboration is practical, too much means you cross the line into dictating their decisions and not letting the designer do their job, which is to design creatively and practically. So, hire someone qualified with a portfolio that impresses you, and then give them the freedom to let them take you down a unique path that involves doing things you would not have thought of without them. Yes, you can veto an item if you don’t like it, but I can’t tell you how many times a client has said to me, “I never would have thought of that, but now I love it.”
At Fresh Design, we prepare thorough proposals outlining every item, fabric, color, and wallcovering we have selected for you. During our presentation, there may be one or two “no thank yous,” along with the approval of the vast majority of items we have selected—and that’s fine! Be open to seeing things you did not expect. Those will be keys to taking your space from expected to unique and amazing.
Suggestion #2: Your Aim Should Not Be To Look Like Everyone Else
My most amazing projects always happen when my client gives me mostly free rein. When I am given the freedom I need to be creative, I can, ahem, come up with some pretty cool stuff. Conversely, when I am directed to make it look like the 12 social media pictures in front of me, I’ll make it beautiful, but it will look like something you have clearly seen already (witness the 12 pictures in front of me).
I have seen, although it is thankfully waning, a “social media mentality,” wherein a client has studied Insta spaces for months and comes armed with dozens of pix and even their own PowerPoint presentations. Do you really want to settle for a conglomerate of Pinterest pictures as your new space, or would you rather have something unexpected and new? I’ve seen the gray trend, the white trend, the dark and moody trend, but is your goal really to reproduce a trend? You are unique. Your space should be a reflection of your uniqueness. Designing something not previously done will make it so much more special than re-creating what you have seen and seen again.
Suggestion #3: Be Realistic
I recently had someone approach me with very gorgeous inspo photos of a spectacular kitchen. The cabinets were mostly walnut; they were stacked on top of each other and went all the way to the 14-foot ceiling, with copious amounts of moldings involved. The doors were inset and extra thick, and there were huge, commercial kitchen-style exposed brass hinges and hardware throughout. Her budget was small to medium. I can create a beautiful and very functional kitchen on a mid-size budget. I cannot accomplish the most expensive wood species (walnut) with double-height cabinets, where every cabinet is twice the normal price, with hardware that alone is more than $10,000, all on a modest budget. You can’t buy a Lamborghini on a Ford budget. I’d like to, but you can’t. So when you look at those ultra spectacular photos on Pinterest, know they come with an ultra spectacular budget.
Suggestion #4: Be Decisive Whenever Possible
At Fresh Design, we have a very well-honed process. We can usually accomplish your design, whether it’s a living room, a kitchen, or an entirely new build, in two to three sets of designs. We start with an initial set of broad scope and narrow it down in one or two revisions, all of which you get to review and comment on in detail. This efficiency is an excellent advantage to you over tremendous back and forth because you would actually like to get your project done, yes? Of course, you would. Too much back and forth and massive changes every step of the way is not efficient. If we get to design sets 5 and 6, your project will take longer and longer, and we will also be forced to charge you more since we, too, have bills to pay. So, know your desires and needs as much as possible in the initial meetings, listen to and consider our suggestions, and then stay the course. Trust that we will create the home of your dreams efficiently if you follow the process.
Suggestion #5: Enjoy and Trust the Process
We have honed our process at FDG over the years to make it work best for YOU! Everything we do is done with the philosophy that we want to do the very best job we can for you. So relax and stop worrying, and ENJOY it. It’s your time to be a kid in a candy store, and that should be fun! Trust that our experience and expertise will bring you home to the right designs created just for you!