7 things to do before working with a Designer
The term ‘designer’ is sometimes daunting, it is often perceived that working with a designer will result in them taking control of the whole project and you don’t get a say or opinion. In the eleven years of working in this industry this is rarely the case! The role of a designer is to communicate your ideas and to work alongside clients to create their vision. Although majority live in a home and spend most of their lives in homely spaces this whole build, design and furnish world can be extremely confusing and daunting. The industry comes with a completely new terminology and language that is very quick to turn anyone into a tizz!
As a designer our job is to dissect the clients wishes and work to ensure that they get their desired end result, sometimes with clients not even being sure of what their desired result is! We are the psychologists, translators, pack horses and confidantes of the industry, working in our clients best interests. If you are thinking of working with a designer there are a few things you can do to ensure you and your designer are on the same page.
Pinterest boards - For any project we start with mood boards on good old Pinterest. This platform is a great way to collate ideas and see what you love and what you don’t. We pin images that we think have potential to suit a project and then we can narrow down ideas and share with clients to ensure we are all on the same page. If you’re about to engage a designer it is great to send them the link to you boards so they can get an idea of the finishes you are interested in, quite often we can see consistent pieces that you might not have even noticed. The thing with words is they don’t always translate to the same thing. Imagery is a great way to communicate!!
Budget Definition- It is always good to get an idea of how much you are willing to spend. While it is great if you bring us a number and scope of works our biggest request is do your research before deciding on your budget! We are able to work to any budget but we just ask that clients be realistic and have done some research into the costs involved with pieces that they love! We are very good at working to create similar concepts on a budget however if clients are expecting grandiose finishes on a unachievable budget we sometimes have to be the bearer of bad news. We can achieve beautiful looks on a budget but you will have to let us do our magic and some expectations may need to be adjusted!
Investigate different styles - Buy magazines, look at Instagram and take note of homes and pieces that you are drawn to. It might be a colour pallet , a style of furniture, a style of window, flooring etc all of these ideas are a great starting point for us. Always ask yourself, can I live in this space. Editorial images can often make you fall in love, but if you can’t picture yourself and all of your family members in that space, condor elements of the pictured look, rather than the whole thing.
Timeline - Have a think of how long you are willing to wait for your project to be completed. Whether you are under the pump and need something by Christmas or if you are willing to wait for the perfect composition if you have a general idea in your head of when you would like it completed it is a huge help! When making selections for your home custom is often the best option however, if you are under the pump and need a piece asap we are more than happy to use a retail or in stock product. Our worst nightmare is putting together a whole scheme and then the client telling us we have three weeks to get the products installed. If you are unsure of timelines here a rough guideline- If you need your project finished quickly, generally a quick turn around is approximately a month (all of these pieces will need to be in stock with our suppliers) if you are happy to go down the custom route it can take anywhere between 4-14weeks. We can always understand waiting for things is hard, BUT we can honestly say that its ALWAYS worth it!!!
Figure out things that you don’t like- often it is easier to see what you don’t like and work backwards. In doing this it becomes more clear to you the pieces that you like and your desired end goal . If you know that a colour, style, fabric, texture or anything in between gives you the ick let us know, we too have our own personal ick’s and completely get that certain elements should be avoided. If you are clear on what you don’t like you eliminate the chances of us wasting a revision with you and presenting you with a whole scheme developed around something that you dislike!
Work our what are you keeping- We love working with existing pieces in homes, it is a great starting point for us and quite often they are the best kind of challenge. If you make a list of the items that hold sentiment for you and your family we will work to ensure that this beloved piece is not disregarded or forgotten. Send through imagery and dimensions of the pieces to us and we can find the perfect position and accompaniments for these must have pieces.
What are your must haves- We deal a lot with floor plans, concepts, construction documentation and selections. When doing these we need to have a good idea of the quirky pieces, layouts and must haves that clients would like to keep or introduce. We don’t want to go and draw up plans and layouts have completely removed something that was a must have for the clients. We find that having a meeting to go through these items are great to discover these little must haves that clients might have from a childhood home or seeing somewhere before! We are happy to work to a ‘must have’ but we need to know that they exist.
So have you done everything on the list!? Well then you’re ready!
