She’d Rather Be With Me

While working on my second book for Allworth Press I decided to take a look at what clients want from their designers as part of the first chapter which is all about finding the optimum client.  I asked a couple of our clients if they wouldn’t tell me a little bit about what they look for in an interior designer.  I found it very enlightening and thought I would share with you an excerpt from one of the responses.

“As a client, I could tell you some stories about designers behaving badly right inside my home.  Initially, looking for an interior design professional to redo my modest 1950’s ranch home, I interviewed several local women designers whose names I found in the phone book.  The first designer showed up at my home with a picture book filled with hotel room interiors that featured those big, boxy neutral-toned stuffed chairs, facing an equally neutral (bland) table, surrounded by pastel doodads and forgettable floor lamps.  She was very proud of her hotel work and felt it honestly revealed her acumen as a residential interior designer.  When I showed her my kitchen, whose wallpaper, flooring and tiles I had selected some years before, she burst out, “Oh my God!  Who did THIS?”, as if she had encountered old goat heads nailed to the walls.  I felt it somewhat important to rise to the occasion, so I answered, bravely, “I did.”  However, she was unstoppable; she was on a mission.  She bulldozed her way through the rest of house, telling me how everything in sight would “have to go,” presumably to be replaced with pastel hotel units.  She clearly felt sorry for me for living in such conditions of aesthetic squalor.  I never called her back.

The next woman showed up at my house with an almost identical book of project pictures.  She was just as adamant that I let her take over for me. I started to wonder if all the designers south of  San Francisco had the same hotel room pictures in their portfolios and if they all felt they should be allowed to dictate the interiors of my home.  There are many designers who are only too willing to impose their vision of “good taste” on the client; with the result being a happy designer but an unhappy client.  It’s very important that the client recognize his or her home is a personal temple; and, when it comes to interior designers, there are some who will be trespassers.  Show them to the door.

Then, I met Thomas and Robert.  The first meeting went well, not because of any elaborate presentations or sales pitches or attempts to impose a style on me, but because I sensed Robert and Thomas could and would create a set of home interiors that would make my dreams of my perfect house come true.  As our working relationship progressed, they never questioned my “taste” and they always offered many thoughtful choices of colors, fabrics and furnishings.  They never minded when I said “no”; they simply created what I wanted.  Robert and Thomas scanned many, many pages of the magazine pictures I had spent months tearing out and grouping.  I used the pictures to help explain my vision and help them achieve it.  Their work blended so seamlessly with my idea of the perfect home that it never occurred to me their own personal tastes were any different from my own.

In addition to creating the interior of my home, Robert and Thomas introduced me to a necessary element in a structural remodel: the design/build team.  I had decided to expand my home and simply didn’t know how to proceed.  It probably would have taken me months of searching and interviewing to find someone to build anything I might have designed.  Robert and Thomas’ recommendation of a local design/build firm with whom they had worked before turned out to be a perfect match.  Not only did the designers, as project managers, work beautifully with the builders, the entire team went out of their way to make the experience as painless as possible for me. There were no construction horror stories, no cost overruns (other than the ones that I requested), no delays and no hassles.  Everything was taken care of for me.  That was something that couldn’t be priced.

Robert and Thomas, along with the builders, created what I consider to be the perfect home.  Even though the house is finished, everyone involved in its creation is still available to answer questions.  The whole team is on call to help me with things like the dishwashers or the fireplace or how to use the appliances.  Of course, there will always be dreams of alterations; new ideas and new uses for rooms.  Life in families is filled with those kinds of changes.  But the fundamentals remain; I love my home and I love the shapes, the colors and the furnishings.   I love the look and feel of it.” 

Comments

[Tom]

Hi Kelly,
Can't say that I have ever swept into a room, myself. I'm glad you liked the tale of the happy client. I'm also please she was willing to give us her take on the experience of working with us. I love your mother's advice.
Tom

[Kelly M]

My mother, who is also a designer, always drilled into me, "You have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Listen."

Isn't that nice to give the client that kind of experience? Well done!

Also, I don't know about you, but I'm no good at sweeping into a room. ;)