Source: google.com via Ellen on Pinterest

Does the workroom she uses work with quality lining and

interlining fabrics, stand behind their work, and are they

willing to come make reasonable adjustments

if necessary?

If you are doing expensive work, are they accustomed

to working with designer fabrics(fabrics which start at $150 a yard, 

and you will need 12 yards for your average window)?

Can they do custom touches, for example?

You don’t want an expensive mistake being made on your job

because of inexperience.

Does your professional use a quality upholsterer?

Are your seams, lines and patterns nicely matched when you

get back your upholstery?

And, if your designer reps a particular line exclusively,

do you love that look and are you willing to forego other options?

Does she have an excellent painter, a great wallpaper hanger,

a quality furniture refinisher, a perfectionist carpet installer, 

and someone who can professionally and

correctly hang those expensive new draperies?

Can she have custom furniture fabricated if you are looking for

something not readily available?

3) Does your professional always specify

the most expensive lighting, fabrics, and

carpets?

Or, does she know how to resource budget-friendly items,

say for a child’s bedroom or a playroom?

Does she at least occasionally show you a trim option from somewhere

like Lewis and Sheron fabrics (running $35/yard, not $250/yard),

a lamp from Shades of Light or Ballard or even Overstock, or an accessory

from Target, Anthro, West Elm or Pottery Barn?

When appropriate, she should.

(Wallpaper is a different story. Don’t buy cheap wallpaper, ever.

Good wallpaper is worth every penny.)

It takes work to know where to find nice reasonably-priced accessories

and budget options.

Is your professional willing to do the legwork necessary to know where?

4) Does your professional use correct/useful

design terminology?

Knowledgeable residential design professionals should be discussing concepts

such as “fixed finishes,” “undertones,”  “focal point,” “symmetry,” “color harmony/

flow,” “repetition” and “balance,”

when helping you achieve an overall look and feel in your home.

She should be happy to explain (without condescension)

any terms which you aren’t familiar with.

If  someone you are thinking of working with uses the words

“a matching dinette set,”

you are going to get a very different proposed look from someone who says,

“an antique  Regency breakfast table mixed with Louis Seize-style chairs.”

And, watch out for someone who uses the same vague buzz words

(“edgy”  and “whimsical” are two which come to my mind) many times

during a consultation.

A decorating cliché is likely to follow.

And here is what you can do for your

trusted design professional to help the

collaboration:

1) Provide magazine pictures

(tear them out and keep them in a file)

Provide your designer with pictures of rooms you love.

YOU need to decide,  and then communicate, what it is that attracts

you to a particular look.

Don’t hand your designer random pictures if you don’t want her

to achieve a similar look.

We are not mind readers.

We can’t determine from a photograph that you hated the room

in general, but absolutely loved the fabric on the ottoman.

So, tell us.

If you trust your professional, you should be able to

2) articulate a clear reasonable budget 

for whatever you want done.

If you have never given out a budget, you, the client, should go

to your nearest quality furniture retailer

(if they carry primarily brands such as Henkel-Harris, Sherrill, Baker, 

Hancock & Moore, Henredon, then they are a quality retailer).

In Birmingham, I would tell you to start at Birmingham Wholesale Furniture,  

and price out whatever is closest to what you think you may want.

That means pricing every single thing you need off of your list: rugs, tables,

chairs, sofas, lamps, etc.

If you want antiques, they have a selection of antiques there as well,

which you can price out for your budget.

This is valuable time spent, and it matters, because you now will have a

minimum starting point for the budget that you give your professional.

It will not include draperies, but you can get your professional to roughly

estimate this for you in advance.

Custom is always more expensive. Custom draperies are exorbitant.

Custom wool carpeting is price-prohibitive for most.

But, you are in for less sticker-shock, and you can spend your time more

productively,  if you price needed items at retail first.

And, if you are lucky enough to be one for whom the sky is the limit,

say so if you trust your design professional.

The best professionals will save you from making expensive mistakes.

(click to go to this previous post).

3) Let your trusted professional’s ideas

percolate for a bit.

Try not to make a snap judgment about every single thing that

we suggest.

Whether designing, decorating, or selecting fabrics, accessories,

and colors, this is what we do.

We will not suggest something that we don’t think will have a

reasonable chance of filling a need or a space.

We usually see things in a different way, and our fresh eye may

have come up with a solution that you hadn’t thought of.

We know which fabrics will stand up to children and pets.

We know how to achieve a total look and feel for your home.

Try to keep an open mind and try to appreciate the vision we have

for your space, and give us the chance to articulate that vision to you.

4) Understand that quality jobs take time.

A good design professional will allocate your resources in a certain order.

Rugs should be chosen before your wall color, for example.

Special order upholstery takes 8-12 weeks.

Custom drapery jobs may take 6 weeks just to fabricate.

My best painters may be booked up for weeks.

Oh, I didn’t even mention “backorder” or “no longer current.”

We might have found the perfect fabric, and it might be out of stock with

3 months to wait for new stock.

Or, the colorway that works may have been discontinued and 

is completely unavailable.

Stay flexible.

We might have to look for something else.

5) Make us tell you “the because.”

We know there are some of you out there who are going to be resistant

to any change we suggest, because that is human nature.

Ha, I always meet resistance when I suggest painting dated wood or brick

(usually orangey or pinky, but can be other colors).

Want to see “the because” on this one? Here is a great before and after by

fellow True Color Expert Kristie Barnett who lives in Tennessee,

well worth the read for an amazing transformation:

Before, dated wood and brick:

Source: thedecorologist.com via Ellen on Pinterest

After, with paint instead of dated brick and wood:

Source: thedecorologist.com via Ellen on Pinterest

Isn’t it hard to believe it is the same room? Read the entire article here.

Make sure we explain “why”  to you, the client. There is a reason (or should be one!) 

for everything we suggest.

We want your home to be a beautiful reflection of you.

We can tell what is visually working

and not working in a space from the moment we step in a room.

It may be that the wall color is not working

(because it is clashing with the undertones of your fixed finishes);

it may be that the artwork over your sofa is not working 

(because it is entirely the wrong scale– too small, or needs upgrading);

it may be that the chest in your entry hall is much too large for the space and

is impeding access to the next room.

Ask questions and make sure you understand why we are suggesting a change.

If you get the idea that the person is just trying to sell you “more stuff,”

without a thoughtful and deliberate taking-stock of

every single room of existing furniture, you are probably right.

Listen to your instincts!

Good design professionals of integrity want your home to look great, function

beautifully, and reflect you. 

We are thrilled when we can show you how to work with something

you already have.

We are ecstatic to “go shopping” in your own home and

find something we can use in a way you may not have thought of.

We are also going to think about your job when we are actually out,

and we may call you if we see something that is perfect for you.

We will mentally go over your job when we are home, when all is quiet,

and when we are “off the clock.”

Some of our best ideas come when we aren’t even charging you for our time.

We don’t just want to sell you something.

6) We do not work for free.

Unless you are our mother.

Please be prepared to pay for my time. I charge an hourly rate.

 I  tell you everything in advance to avoid any misunderstandings.

You are never expected to buy even one thing in return for my best advice.

I was called in  several years ago to help someone replace her living room

draperies, which she said she hated, and which would have been been a very,

very  expensive job.

After going through the initial consultation, I recognized that the draperies,

though a bit old, were not the problem at all.

I showed the client how we could work with the existing draperies,

and make some other, much less costly, changes to achieve a beautiful end

result.

This one piece of advice actually saved her thousands of dollars in the end. 

Trust me when I tell you, we want your house to look wonderful.

But, no designer of integrity will suggest something, or even go along

with something the client thinks she needs, just to make a sale.

We want to do what is right for your home.

We want you to be happy, and a happy client is our very best referral.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, there is my list of some of the things I find important on both sides of the

equation.

Thoughts, other examples, or anything you would express differently?