When I tell people about my profession as an interior designer, I often get responses like “oh my gosh, that’s SO cool. I would love to do that!” Well, I’ll tell you first hand, this industry is not all that it seems. It’s not really like “reality” TV shows or the numerous channels dedicated to decorating and remodeling. One of the very first important lessons I learned on the job after college was “You always need to manage client expectations.” Now, more than ever, that sentence rings true.
Set Yourself Up For Success
Design is PLANNING. Design IS planning. Design. Is. Planning. Let that sink in. Design is not picking some colors and making it look pretty. The design is the plan. Design starts first, before walls are opened, before you pay for a contractor, in fact, even before your contractor gives you a price. There must be a design, there must be a plan for what is going to happen. If you can plan for everything you want to do — every wall you want to move, every light switch you want to replace, and every ceiling you want repainted — even though it might never actually happen, you are going to be a lot happier that it was planned and estimated. Your wallet is going to be a lot happier. Your contractor will finish faster.
The more you can design in advance, the more you can plan in advance, the more accurate your pricing will be. This can help prevent you from getting tripped up by suddenly needing to purchase something you didn’t account for. Or, it’s unavailable and you end up slapping it together with available parts just to get the job done. The result – you’re constantly reminded of how you didn’t get the items you really wanted.
Engage with a designer early. A good designer asks you to think about how you actually use the space, and plan to use the new space, so you can get the most out of it. Whether it’s how many people you want to have room to seat in your living room, or if your kitchen needs to be set up for entertaining, or if you want to do some serious baking. A designer will target those goals and incorporate them into the space planning.
Select materials early, once you’ve got your plan firmed up. You’ll need to know how much material you’re going to need for flooring, for walls, what kind of plumbing fixtures you’ll have, and lighting. All of these things will impact the price a contractor gives you. Furthermore, things like the type of tile, plumbing, and lighting will also impact the price. Telling a contractor “we’d like to put in a shower here” will result in one price being quoted to you (or a lot of questions that could lead you to feeling overwhelmed). Telling the same contractor “We’re going to build a walk-in curbless shower, with glass mosaic walls, a niche, and a pressure balance shower set up with a handshower” will result in a different, much more accurately priced quote.
A good set of plans has lots of notes, specifying exact details!
Having developed well thought out plans and specifying the materials and fixtures will expedite the process. It can help prevent the problem of running out to pick a faucet the same day the plumber is showing up to install it. It also gives you time to see how long getting those materials will take, so you can schedule your construction appropriately. This bathroom below was designed well in advance of any walls being opened. The plumbing fixtures came from Italy and were custom ordered. They were expected to take 8-12 weeks. So we designed and planned ahead. The clients engaged with me in March, we developed a floor plan, selected our plumbing fixtures and tile, and worked backwards with our timeline. The clients wanted to finish in time for Thanksgiving. We decided to start demo in September, just a couple weeks before the plumbing fixtures were expected to arrive, so they were ready by the time we needed them.
Trust me, this doesn’t mean there won’t be hiccups along the way. There is a reason for so many design reality TV shows- some drama and surprise is almost inevitable. But the more prep work you can put into your selections, finding out lead times and scheduling appropriately, the more you will end up with a result you love. Some things can be changed out later on, but some things, once they’re installed, will take a lot of undoing to change.
Investing In Design
Remodeling and design are investments. Make sure you’re planning ahead, so the decisions you’re making are with a clear head, and not under the duress of “well they need to know now, because they’re installing it tomorrow”. Materials will always have changes in availability. It might be out of stock when you need it, or it may be a made-to-order item you fell in love with that takes weeks to make. Remember that the purchases you’re making now will be something you have to live with for a while. Sometimes you might fall into a tricky situation where you’ve selected a material that isn’t available in the timeline you wanted. You’ll need to decide, do you delay progress a couple weeks and wait? Or do you find an alternative that’s in stock and avoids delays?
I try to remind my clients if it seems like they’re picking something they don’t love just because they don’t want to wait anymore …at the end of the day, once the project is over, those few extra weeks won’t feel like they mattered at all. Especially when it’s just a finishing touch and the space is mostly functional. You need to live in your home every day and love it. I’ve lived through many, many lead time “life cycles” and four to six weeks goes by fast. At the end of the day, when it’s something you’re going to have for years and years, six months goes by pretty fast too. Think about the durability of your purchases, choose things you love, choose smart trends, not fleeting ones.
Planning Ahead
In today’s market, I’m currently recommending clients make their selections well in advance. Most contractors aren’t available to start working for several months anyways. So once we have a price in place and a contractor who’s committed, I push my clients to begin purchasing materials, so on day one of construction, the majority of materials are already on site.
With all that being said, there are a few decisions you can make during the process so you can avoid complete and utter decision fatigue before you’ve seen any work being started. Typically I wait until tile has started being installed to select grout colors. Most grout (unless it’s an atypical color) is readily available. If you’re someone who has trouble visualizing, it’s probably best to make that decision once the tile is in place. Also seeing the tile in place with the actual lighting is best, so you can see it most accurately. The same with paint colors. Color is relative, so selecting your paint color from a small sample on a chart is not usually the best idea. Select paint colors in the actual space. It’s important to look at it during different types of daylight and with whatever new lighting you’ve installed, and in the context of the other materials in the room. If you’re a more indecisive person, maybe do this a week or two before painting is scheduled to start, so you can have the contractor put some samples on the wall for you to review before making your final decision.
Patience Is A Virtue
Remodeling is not an easy process. It’s long, dusty, and emotionally taxing. Setting yourself up with a team of people whom you can trust, and who will be upfront and honest with how long things will take is better than someone who will tell you they can get it done quickly and cheaply. In my experience, that is when you can have more delays, and more overspending because despite a “can-do” attitude there is a lack of the importance of a “how-to-do” and “what-do-do” expertise. Make sure before you start ripping open any walls, you’ve been informed of the lead times of what you’re looking to purchase, and are open minded to understanding the complexities of why things take as long as they do. Breathe easy, and remember, you’ll get through this. At the end of the day, set yourself up for a remodel that by the time it’s completed, you’ll agree – it was worth the wait. Please contact a HomeSquare professional today if we can help you plan your next remodel.
Katie Canfield is the founder and principal designer at Studio KC. Studio KC got its humble start in 2015 when Katie was just 23 years old. While she was freelancing with other interior designers in the NY and CT area she also became a go-to designer for local contractors and trades that needed a designer’s help for their clients whether it be for custom cabinetry drawings or plans for a gut renovation on an entire home.
Katie Canfield’s design aesthetic is eclectic and flexible. She delights in the marriage between old and new- keeping spaces approachable but still matching each client’s unique aesthetic and family narrative. Her passion for design keeps her motivated and constantly on the hunt for new trends and materials. Her broad experience includes an art history background, study at the Accademia Italiana in Florence, a stint with the renowned Manhattan firm Amanda Nisbet Design, as well as collaborations with builders and designers across the tri-state area. She’s seen it all: from gutting prewar Manhattan apartments to new construction in the ‘burbs.
