Too many times I've met my client for the first time after they have made far too many design mistakes. Either they have spent way too much money on upgrades that they didn't need, didn't understand or could have purchased through me for way cheaper; or they did things in their home that didn't make sense within the space. I so often find that I am faced with my client saying " I didn't realize you could help me with that." or " I never thought to hire you at the beginning stages." or "Wow, I could have brought you with me to the design center?" The truth is, many clients put the bat signal in the sky way after the Joker has attacked Gotham City. Your good interior designer, meaning someone like me (of course),should be with you at the conception of your blueprints. This is where the first crutial design decisions are made that form the bones upon which you construct your home and every direction your interior goes from there. Why design a Tuscan home if you desire a contemporary feel? Why perform surgery on your home to fix something you coulld have altered while it was an embryo?
I can't tell you how many blueprints I have dissected that have insufficient lighting plans. Architects that are a bit more old school simply stick a center fixture in the room, regardless of how large it is. They also put all of the outlets along the walls in a 20' x 18' room as though it's the 90's and we all still align our furnishings against the walls like they are punished. Some architects get tray ceiling happy, some don't explain to their clients that adding space to one room, usually takes space from another, unless you are blowing out that wall. Maybe you want a niche in one wall or a feature on another. Perhaps you plan to have a detail in your yard that you want to view from all angles and require a certain window. Maybe you plan to have an indoor, outdoor bathroom- but are not sure how you will pull it off? Maybe you've never heard of one, but in a few months I might suggest it and you fall in love with the idea... How do we get those retractable glass doors into that wall now??? So many possibilities and they would cost far less money if I was there in the planning stages of your home. So now your walls in your master are going up surrounding a space for a 5' tub, but you thought a 6' tub would fit because the space measures out to be 6'...but you never considered the space required to support the drop in tub. Your architect put in a beautiful rounded breakfast nook with a portico, but you and your husband prefer to eat at the kitchen counter...lots of moola wasted there. I could go on, but I have other paragraphs to write!
Once your blueprints are done, your general contractor begins to solicit bids for the work to be done on your home to create a budget for you to get your financing. BUDGETS FOR HIGH END HOMES ARE ALWAYS A GOOD 20% LOWER THAN THE AMOUNT ACTUALLY NEEDED TO COMPLETE THEM... and for good reason. When the plumber is quoting your install, it is based on the blueprint that does not tell him you want a snail shower with multi- spa, 12 jet package. The electrician is quoting installation of 40 recessed can lights and not the 72 that you actually need. They don't know you want sconces in every hallway $$$. Then there is the sheetrocker that is using a texture on the walls that you are going to have venetian plastered or wall papered. They need to be smooth, but you didn't know you wanted all of that until you got to that stage of planning. I had a client get convinced that they should have 10% knock down texture on their walls, which turned out to be more like 5% and they didn't understand what it would look like. It looks like your taper missed a few spots with the sander. Not pretty! I had a client change a bank of windows in their family room to french doors and now they have no wall space to place anything in that room. It is just so easy to make a mistake that will affect you for the next twenty years. Why gamble? Getting your designer in on your project from day one can save you money and headaches in the long run.
And if you are not building a custom home, you have to face the dreaded "Design Center", which they should call the money trap instead. You just don't understand that the hand scraped walnut floor that you paid $16.00 per square foot for, I could have gotten you for $8.00 a square. Over the life of your loan that floor can cost you $200,000. Take the important upgrades that are structural and not as easy to change- like Low E windows and a larger water heater. If you upgrade your standard cabinets to the fancy staggered height cherry with a chocolate stain, you will sink $40,000 into a kitchen I could have sold you for half. It's just that high of a mark-up, honestly. Don't be fooled. Take the standar cabinets and swap them out for something that will be an overall better quality custom cabinet rather than the lower end stock cabinet company that they are claiming to be top quality.
The bottom line is $150.00 an hour for a good designer is a small price to pay to save you money down the line. Some, like me, can even act as project manager on your job site, eliminating so many of the frustrations involved with seeing those contractor mistakes after the fact. Consider the many important uses for your designer during your next home build or tell someone you know. $$$$$
2 comments:
This is my first evening reading your blog and you crack me up! I am laughing so hard I am crying! I love your writing style.
I thought I was the only person in the world frustrated with architects "one general light fits all rooms". And your observation about the "furniture being punished" is just too much. I always think to myself, "Are we going to have a dance recital or a work out class in here this afternoon...."
Thanks for the compliment. I like to write it how I feel it. Who needs all that stuffiness? Dance recital at noon! Lol.
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