Why I Like, and Hate, HGTV

Before I started my own design firm in 2006, I used to love HGTV. I thought it was great that so many people were learning about design and that people were realizing the impact that design could have on their lives. HGTV has exposed a lot of people to design that otherwise may not have had that exposure.

The problem with HGTV is inherent in the media itself. In television – time is limited and you can only share so much information in that limited time. So viewers end up coming away with the impression that the beautiful kitchen/living room/dining room/bedroom/etc. they saw on HGTV was created in fifteen minutes. And problems arise when they decide to hire a professional interior designer and they expect that same level of amazing design in that very same short time frame.

The show Divine Design is a big culprit of this. I respect Candace Olsen’s work – I think she does a great job most of the time and I sometimes look at her design portfolio when seeking inspiration for new projects. It irks me though when I see her meet with a client for two minutes and then sit down and sketch out a fully finalized floor plan (to scale!) in 30 seconds. What’s even more frustrating is when specifying materials and products for her design, she takes just a few seconds to select the perfect tile, the perfect cabinet color, the perfect wood floor, and the perfect rug—and have everything work seamlessly together.

That is incredibly misleading to viewers. What the viewer doesn’t see is the reality. They don’t see hours of time Candace and her team spend developing the design plan in advance of the show. This advance time then allows Candace to summarize her choices in that 30 second slot. Summarize being the operative word.

For what it’s worth, the only TV design show I’ve seen that accurately conveys some of the challenges that go into a design project is Sarah Richardson’s Design Inc.—which I believe isn’t even on the air anymore. Design Inc. showed some of the pit falls that can happen on a real design project (clients who can’t make up their minds and cause delays in the construction schedule, products that go out of stock or arrive damaged, measurement issues that lead to a piece of furniture that doesn’t fit, etc.) While unfortunate, all of these things actually can and do happen.

In my practice, when a client comes to me saying they love HGTV, I know that I may need to have a frank conversation with them about their expectations.

I need to clarify their expectations about how much they plan to spend (because many design shows don’t say how much things really cost), as well as their expectations about how long they think our work will take (because often they see work in my portfolio that they love and they want to be able to reach a similar level of quality in a two hour consultation).

Because the truth is that good design takes time and planning. Quite a bit of it in fact.

It takes time to get to know your client and understand not only their functional goals for their space, but also their aesthetic goals. It takes time to measure a space and photograph it so that, as a designer, you have the right information to draft a scale model of that space using a computer based tool and explore the best layouts to meet your client’s goals.

Not to mention the fact that the creative process takes time. It’s true that I’ve been doing design long enough that ideas come to me quickly and I have a good sense of which design directions make sense from the get go. But really good design – design that doesn’t look like cookie cutter molds of everyone else’s – isn’t created in an hour or two.

Design like that involves time to look at other designers’ work for inspiration and precedence. Time to brainstorm different approaches to problems and see what makes the most sense. And just plain time.

Believe it or not, I come up with some of my best design ideas in the shower, or in my car when stopped at a red light on the way to pickup my son from camp, or lying in bed just after waking up for the day.

Good design needs time to breathe, to marinate if you will. If you rush it too much, you may miss out on an amazing idea or solution. You may miss out on the “ah ha” moment that happens when your ideas suddenly gel and it’s exactly what your will love.

So watch HGTV and be inspired by the shows you see. But understand that the spaces you’re admiring on the “better design” shows weren’t achieved in 30 minutes. They took time.

 

Full Design Projects vs. Consultations: What’s the Difference?

Prospective clients often contact me saying they love my portfolio. Sometimes they call attention to one or two photographs, saying they want a similar feel for their living room, bedroom, or whatever their space may be.

During my initial phone call with prospective clients like these, I ask lots of questions to understand their needs. Some of those include: what kind of help are you looking for? Are you looking for a designer to develop a full design plan, soup to nuts, or are you just looking for some specific feedback on one part of the design?

Many clients don’t know the answer to these questions because they don’t know what is involved in a full design project versus a consultation. They know they love the spaces in my portfolio and sometimes they assume that we can achieve that same level of quality and attention to detail by working together at just a couple of meetings. The reality is, we typically can’t.

The projects shown in my portfolio are full design projects that showcase how I approach a space from initial vision to final completion. Full design projects are different from consultations in many ways. Below, I touch on some of the key differences.

Full Design Projects

A full design project is one in which I work closely with my clients to design their space from scratch. This doesn’t mean that I make design decisions for them. It means that I partner with them to create the space they truly want and need.

And while many of my full design projects include all new furniture and products, for some of them, my clients want to use one or more existing pieces in our new design. Perhaps they just bought a new sofa and they love it, or maybe they have a great piece of art from their wedding. These are all situations that I’m used to dealing with.

A big question that comes up over and over is one of duration—how long do I think their project will take? The reality is that every project differs depending upon the variables involved and the client’s personality and decision making style.

For example, some clients want to see every possible option, they don’t know what they like until they see it. Other clients get overloaded with too many options and need to only see the top two choices I’ve narrowed down for them. Each of these types of clients requires a different amount of time.

With clients where there are multiple stakeholders – such as a husband and wife team or partners – I often use a different approach to understand each of their goals, and develop solutions that work for everyone. Ultimately, as my client’s (or clients’) partner, it’s my job to learn about the involved parties and figure out how best to work with them.

The scope of the project – and or type of space we’re working on– can also vary the length of the project. For example, complete remodels and new construction projects take a lot of time because we need to select every item from scratch – often things like built-in lighting, trim styles, doors, hardware, flooring, fireplace inserts and surrounds, and much more.

Compare that to a project where the structure of the space (flooring, trim, etc.) stays as-is and we’re just changing the paint colors and adding furniture, window treatments, area rugs, art, accessories, etc. Still a lot to decide, but less decisions overall.

Regardless of the scope of a project or client personality though, a full design project typically includes the following activities:

•  A kickoff meeting 
• Floor plan development
• Aesthetic/style/vision exploration
• Design concept development including color palette creation
•  Identification/specifications of all products for the space
•  Product purchasing 
• Oversight of trades specialists and contractors
•  Final installation and finishing touches

This is a broad overview of what goes into a full design project. In future blog posts, I plan to explain some of these activities in greater detail and why they’re important.

Consultations

Consultations are a very different ballgame. They are much shorter in duration than full design projects and they work best when we’re tackling one or two specific things.

In general, consultations work well for clients who want to do their design project on their own, but they need a few ideas to get started, or maybe they need a second opinion on some of their ideas. For example, a consultation could help a client who has moved to a new house and needs help figuring out how to use their existing living room furniture in their new family room.

In this type of consultation, I would come over and ask my client lots of questions about how they’d like to use the space. From there, we’d likely roll up our sleeves and start moving furniture around – experimenting with different layouts to reach my client’s goals. (Note: in a full design project, I do this on the computer. For a consultation such as this however, it makes sense to do it in person manually).

From there, it might become apparent that my client needs a smaller coffee table or maybe a new chair. During the consultation, I can suggest sizes and styles of coffee tables or chairs that they can find on their own.

Another example of a consultation type project is one where a client wants to keep all of their existing furniture but they want a new wall color and they aren’t sure what color might work. In a case like this, I can come over and look at the base color palette they already have (through their existing furniture and accessories) and then propose wall colors that will complement their space.

There are many different ways a consultation can work. It really comes down to understanding what my client needs and talking about how to make that happen.