OK, so I have to share my frustrations of the last few months with my potential clients that I DID NOT LAND! Times have changed, for sure and the jobs that us designers normally would think are "in the bag", turn out to be big, fat duds! While the client can walk away scratching their head as to why it all cost way much more than they imagined, we are left discouraged and exhausted for all of the time that we spent bidding this job that we now have nothing to show for! I say it time and time again...the general public has NO IDEA how much work and skill goes into what we do! I had a girlfriend who, like so many others, thought I had such a fun, glamorous job. I had to take her with me to the flooring store to show her just how time consuming and sometimes very hard, my job can be. Sure, it has it's glamorous moments- although not all that much lately, but it's mostly a combination of knowledge, skill, research- TONS, planning and hours and hours of time! I would swear that people think I just take the list of items that people want for their homes, grab my master catalog of everything in the world that you need for a house, and just scan pictures and type prices. How wrong they all are! And then, when you have spent 30 hours planning a job and lose the job because of price, it's like losing a race to a runner who was not even on the same track as you! This post is two fold, dedicated to both the interior designers losing this price battle and the potential clients who really don't understand that they too have a role in their remodel!
So, you want to redo your living room. You start out with your husband making a list of all of the things you'd like in that room... You want a sofa and some accent chairs and you know you want quality pieces. You hate your floor- it's old carpet- and know you want a wood, but are not sure what kind, just wide plank. You need window treatments and some accessories and would like crown molding. Ok, great- you have your list. You and your husband have never done this before and you start to devise a dollar figure in your head. So, that leatherette sofa he got before you were married cost him $599.00 and you're thinking, well, chairs must cost half that- since they are half the size! You've seen really nice curtains at JC Penney for like $50.00 a panel on sale and you need 6, so that's $300.00. Lumber Liquidators is always advertising flooring on TV for as low as $1.99 a square foot. So, you are trying to be all prepared and measure your flooring to get an idea of it all. Ooh, you have 300 square feet, that's only around $600.00 for the floor. You can do that right? How much can it possibly cost to install, a few hundred? Even if it's twice as much, that's under $2,000. No big deal! Great- your head says your remodel will cost around $10,000 at the most.
You go to your girlfriend's house and tell her about your remodel. She has walnut handscraped flooring and you love it! That would look great in your house. And if you are going to get a sofa, it's got to be 8 way hand tied for extra strength, like hers.
You go home and start flipping through your home and garden magazines and find a great chandelier to go in your space. Ooh, a window seat! Yep, that's what you want. It will fit perfectly.
Now you are ready to get your quotes. You call a home remodeling company, a contractor and an Interior Designer to give you quotes. After all, in this economy, it' s all about price. Normally designers go and meet you and establish a contract to work with you which requires a retainer. But most clients nowadays refuse to pay for something they are uncertain of. They want to know how much and then decide. Little do they realize that your designer can work with your budget (within reason) to find the right products to suit you. A contractor will just give you an allowance for each item that he has no idea how to pick. A remodeler will have the different vendors pick things that will fit your budget. They might not all work together; after all, each vendor hasn't been to your home. So, you tell them all your original idea for a budget and then give them your extra wish list little by little throughout the week. You are so excited about all of this and you have built yourself up to want all of these items. You have to have them! But did you ever stop to really research just how much all of these extra items cost? Most people don't understand the difference in quality and price from one item to another. But you do know that it looks better than the other thing you picked originally, don't you? Chances are it's because it costs more. It's made of better materials or has a special name brand and that can be the difference between your $600 sofa at Ashleys and the $3,000 8 way hand tied sofa at that showroom. There's a difference between the chandelier you kinda liked at Home Depot for $199.99 that you think almost looks the same as that Hinkley light you saw in Metropolitan Home, that costs $900.00. The cheap floor they advertised on the commercial was oak, 2" wide and it's leftovers from a company that went our of business. The floor you want is walnut- a much pricier wood and it's handscraped, which makes it more of a luxury than the normal plank that's merely run through a planer to even it out. The window seat is not a DIY project for a contractor. To do it well, you need a custom cabinet or millwork shop. And did I hear you say plantation shutters for your windows, AHHH!
Designers cannot bid a job like this AND WE SHOULDN'T! We should run away, as fast as we can; but something about us just wants to prove that we can do it (and we want to beat the pants off of that contractor!).
And homeowner- you must take ownership of your plans. Sure, this is all new to you, but you can be more proactive in getting what you want. Take a few days and scout around at flooring stores and furniture stores to see what you like and dislike. Don't base your pricing on items that you see at Lowes or Home Depot. A real contractor will not shop there. These are stores made for the homeowner who plans to do small projects on their own. They have just monopolized on the fact that you will go there, so they have made sure they have the ability to sub out the installation of any of their products to contractors who use their work to fill in holes in their schedules. Don't be fooled, those big box stores have such low prices on their products because they make a mint off of your install! You don't have to find exactly what you are looking for in these stores as you search. Just get an understanding of what you are looking at and the prices involved. You will be surprised how many times I hear "I really had no idea how much it was". No research was done. Knowing that a cheap floor costs $3.00 a square foot and the ones you like seem to average $6.00 a square will help you appreciate the process and the costs associated much better than picking a figure out of your head. If you are willing to sacrifice the quality of the items you feel you have to have, then proceed. If you absolutely can't live without these items, continue to save up for them and then approach your project at a later date with 20% more money than you now know you'll need. There are all sorts of figures that go into a remodel, and the largest one is labor.
And designers have to take back their craft. We are having the rugs pulled out from under us by these contractors and jack of all trade companies that are much cheaper than we are. We use to give them work, but now they are undercutting us. This means we have to go above and beyond to make the client recognize our worth and the value of allowing us to handle their project for our fee. We must regain the homeowner's trust. They have been wronged by the economy and the housing market, and whether we like it or not, we are representatives of that market. Save yourself a lot of time and effort by clearly defining the "AVERAGE" costs associated with a project of their scope. Let them know before hand that extra items equate to extra dollars! I pride myself on explaining every phase of the process and the quality of items to my clients, so they know the difference between all that's out there. And even still, I have been spinning my wheels over the last few months with clients that have very big dreams and very small money. I have to thank Melissa Galt from Prosper by Design for reminding me that I am an Interior Designer with over 15 years experience and I am worth my hourly fee. No one who regularly patrons a Morton's of Chicago Steakhouse ever questions why the filet mignon is $50.00 a la carte. Take credit for your achievements, your skill and your career. And homeowners, please respect us, understand your small role in your project and together we can make a beautiful home possible!
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