Possible New Blog Site

TESTING A NEW BLOG SITE... So, I have been blogging for over a year now, but am still new to the whole technology aspect of it. I am trying a new site to see which I prefer. My blogger site is no longer a desirable background for my posts and I don't know how to create a custom background for my work. The new site has lots to offer, but I don't know how to add the essentials like subscription pages, etc... So, we'll see which way I go. I'm experimenting, in between working like a chicken with my head cut off. For now, I will link back and forth!

PLEASE CHECK OUT MY MOST CURRENT POSTS AT www.interiordesign2you.weebly.com

GOOD RIDDENS TO 2009- THE COMEBACK OF DESIGN!

If I had to find one word to describe this year, it would have to be "survival". Not survival of the fittest, but survival of the smartest; and that's not always a good thing. This year I saw many large home improvement businesses vanish. Contractors went out of business, many design firms closed around me, furniture stores shut down and far too many went bankrupt and lost homes and assets. Some saw this coming and prepared by downsizing their companies quickly, to avoid total financial chaos. Most though, still kept on their normal business course, and before you knew it, the clients were gone and so was the income. We never thought the bottom would ever fall out of the high end market, but it sunk like a stone. Through the ashes of the companies that couldn't survive grew newly formed companies run by unskilled laborers trying to make a quick buck on unsuspecting customers looking to remodel their homes for cheap...and this is now where we are.

Where have I been? I abandoned my blogs and much of my normal life while I attempted to figure out my next move. When the going gets tough, sometimes the tough have to meditate! Although I am still standing, this year has brought many trials and losses. I probably should have been here talking through them, but you know what mommy says, " If you can't say nothing nice..".

Personally, I am in a better, more positive place, ready to take on the nay-sayers who feel that they no longer need an Interior Designer in their lives because they can get discounts, or shop at wholesale stores and watch enough DIY to figure it all out. Truth is, you can't. Sure you may be able to get the job done, but most often times for more money than you would have paid me to help you, or with mistakes that will make the job sub-standard at best. Designers were put on this Earth for a reason. We have a valuable skill that you can't absorb by watching endless episodes of "Divine Design". There is far too much that goes into designing a room. It's not just picking pretty colors for paint and fabrics that match; and SHAME ON YOU so-called "designers" who are merely bad decorators acting like you know what you're doing and working on projects beyond your scope of understanding and experience. You are cheapening what we do and making it harder for clients to see the value of our worth. Where product selection might mean the difference in their property value, a safety issue or even housing codes, a blind woman should not give directions! I have seen enough tacky interiors this year to last a lifetime! And because the design bucket is currently filled with so many bad apples, this design diva has had to take a second job. Good designers are like actors in Hollywood now, most are waiting tables or getting by on whatever can consistently pay the bills. I am designing kitchens for a second company that allows me the freedom to still run my firm part time. Thank God for his blessings and for the patience it has taken to get through this year.

I am back WORLD, better and stronger than I was. And if you think I had a lot to say before, wait till you see me now!

Problems In The Industry...but I'm not too busy for you!

OK, OK... it appears I have been too busy for you lately. Not on purpose, I have been revamping a lot of what I do to try to make the reading experience better for my audience, with a content that's richer in photos and examples. I've never really been happy with this background because the format limits what I wish to post. My problem is that I am not tech savvy what-so-ever!!! I can post, I can talk- OH BOY CAN I TALK, but figure out how to reconfigure anything on this big laptop of mine- NO WAY!

This blog started out as a place to bring the client, the homeowner that might not afford to be a client, the person out there searching for witty repartee and fellow designers into the life of interior design. I must say, over the last few months the struggles of the economy hit home. Many of my high-end clientele flew the coup and smaller jobs led to job cancellations. In this day and age, many designers and contractors are doing what one of my general contracting friends refer to as " over-practicing" their craft. We are spending countless hours for which we are normally paid to plan a home, bidding the home for free because clients are looking to compare nine quotes to "make sure they have picked the right person for the job". What most fail to realize is, by doing this- you are not selecting the best, but the cheapest person for the job. This bidding war seems like a good thing to the consumer, because contractors and designers are out trying to slit the competitor's throat by beating the last price to win the job. Instead this is doing two things:

It is forcing contractors and designers to accept less than what they are worth or possibly to charge less than their operating expenses just for the sake of still working.

It is cheapening what we do- and why would anyone want to do that. A good Interior Designer, Architect or Contractor is a skilled, seasoned professional. They have spent many years learning what they know, some spending many tens of thousands of dollars to earn their degree and someone swooping down from who knows where and offering a client a bid of half of what it would normally cost to do a job well is like 10 homes going into foreclosure in your neighborhood and your half a million dollar home is now worth $200K.

The sad result of this combination of circumstances is that the consumer that chooses the cheapest bid is getting a bad experience 70% of the time- and I have seen this first hand. Contractors are bidding low and then adding incidentals driving the final cost up too high for a client to afford and many are walking away with their deposits. Most of what my company is seeing is inferior quality of work that must be repaired by a second contractor. In the design world, I am seeing many decorators attempting to fill a designer's shoes but then choke when it comes to any work involving heavy measurements or structure. If you need to hire a second person to do some of what should be your job- it will always cost more!

Th funniest thing that I have seen lately (and the saddest!!!) is that wealthy clients are looking for the most absurd bargains I have ever seen, and just because! They have the money and know how to spend it. They know the name brands and spend obscene amounts of money for them, but then want a design deal. They want me to help them design their home or business for far less than my fee- or for free! They are dreaming up unrealistic budgets for what they want to have done and trying to find the person to take the bait. The same clients that I am having trouble reaching for a consultation because they are on vacation every weekend are trying to negotiate on their projects or EVEN WORSE- compare us to the Big Box Store! Gasp... why are they even scouting prices there? You don't spend $2,000 on a luxury black chandelier and get your floor at Home Depot...talk about tacky and cheap! The wealthy have a higher standard of presence and stature- to most that I know, they liken decorating their home from a box store to shopping for clothes at K-Mart! It's just not done.

OK, OK... I guess that's my vent for the day! I am off to a business lunch and then to work on another design bid for a whole home, which the client will probably tell me they want to do for $3,000...let's hope not!