What an Interior Designer Can Do For You
I love every part of my job, but the beginning of a relationship with clients is especially exciting and rewarding.
In an initial consultation, I get to meet the clients, ascertain their goals, their hobbies, who they are as people, and what they are looking to change in their homes. During this meeting, I also take photos, sketch out the room(s), and take measurements of walls, windows, doorways, ceilings, existing structures, furniture, etc., using my laser tape measure.
When I input these numbers into my software is where the magic begins. A client can see their space come to life through the lens of my personal creative vision.
A prime example of this can be seen below. The first photos are of my clients’ home; they had just moved in. Below that, you can see my resulting floor plan, an elevation, and a 3D image. Everything is to scale; I essentially provide a guide for what to shop for with their accurate dimensions.
Some clients are able to take it from here. They see their space in a different way and know how to proceed to decorate their home.
Other clients want my help sourcing and procuring materials, like furniture, lighting, paint, wallpaper, rugs, and other decor and finishes. This phase requires continued creative vision, which I can communicate via mood boards to confirm cohesiveness as we go along. It also calls for connections to vendors both online and locally. I have trade accounts with most vendors, and extend these designer discounts to my clients. I do not mark up materials.
Other clients have projects that necessitate contractors and subcontractors. Here I can serve as a project manager, a position I thoroughly enjoy taking on and am pretty darn good at. This role includes bidding, scheduling, and collaborating with other subcontractors, such as general contractors, wallpaper hangers, electricians, plumbers, painters, carpenters, etc. if needed. I get to see a project from start to finish, through a design lens, advocating for the client and their goals.
A final level of design I offer are renderings, which are life-like design images, as seen below. This can be immensely helpful to clients to really “see it.”
What design projects are on your list? What’s keeping you from taking the first step?