My Designer Confessions

Our Work | April 1, 2011

This has been such an incredible week! I have learned so much from all the contributors and I’m so grateful to them for taking their time to do this. I love how each of us are so different in our approach and style but yet we all love what we do. We are all so passionate about design. 
I do not consider myself an expert by any means but I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve learned a long the way. 
My ideal client is someone who is trusting. Someone who has a very open mind and is willing to let my vision come to life. Ideally over everything else I love working with people who are truly kind. People who value my time and are just easy to get along with. 
If you are going to hire a designer make sure you’ve done some research. Pick someone who’s work you like. There are literally hundreds of designers that have blogs right now. The options seem limitless and they all come at different price-points. Believe me you can have your pick! It’s a big decision so consider your options carefully. 
I think a lot of people assume a designer isn’t going to listen to what they want. I pride myself on being a very good listener when it comes to my clients. I want to know what fabrics they love, what colors they hate and what makes them happy. Some people think a designer is going to come in with their own agenda in mind and not pay attention to what the client really wants. But I think for the most case designers want their clients to LOVE their spaces! I know I do. 
The best projects are the ones where a client is proactive. They are more of a partner in the process. The more that they can tell me what they want and what they like the easier it is for me to make their vision come to life. Sometimes I will get a client who says, “do whatever you want”. This is awesome but if you are going to say that then make sure you are willing to really let the designer take control of the room. You can’t come back later and say it’s not what you wanted if you never communicated what you wanted in the first place. 
E-design can be very tricky. Clients who are thinking of using this option need to realize that e-design requires lots and lots of communication. You also have to be prepared to do a lot of work on your own. Your designer can’t be there to measure or show you the exact layout of where she wants art hung or a pillow placed. You need to take your designers ideas and run with them. 
Lastly I just want to say that I have so much left to learn and I am so grateful to have had so many amazing clients. It is seriously so rewarding to help someone make their home beautiful. I hope this series was helpful to those of you who are thinking of hiring a designer! 
Thanks again to my great panel who participated in the series!