I recently had a friend refer some potential new clients to me. We spoke over email and arranged an initial consult for me to visit their house. During the consultation I couldn’t quite pull out of them what exactly they wanted - it “didn’t feel finished” or “pulled together” was the only answer I got. However, it generally was finished - it was completely furnished and they are art collectors, so there was already lots of large scale art. Then they mentioned possibly wanting to re-do counters and backsplash in the kitchen. While I am not doing renovations right now, I figured this was small enough I could help. I made as many recommendations as I could come up with - change out a rug, come up with a new idea for some oddly placed chairs, recover some others, help with getting the art properly lit and source materials for the light kitchen remodel.

After the visit, I started a client spreadsheet and invited them to the document. I had several line items I wanted input on, and I needed an idea of a budget. A week went by and I still hadn’t heard back. After reaching out again and a little back and forth on the kitchen direction - I had received no direction so I compiled a mood board to try to convey some options to get a feel for what they were drawn to - they basically sent an email saying they decided not to move forward. Probably for the best as honestly, their style was a bit contemporary for me. I only agreed to take the job because of the referral {read: I felt obligated} and after my year long break from design, I could use a new client so I gave myself a pep talk about how even though our styles did not mesh, I could still make this an enjoyable project.

Now come to think of it, I’ve had two other client jobs fall through on referrals - people that were referred to me versus finding me and deciding to hire me on their own.

What does all this mean? For me, I need to trust my gut and be honest about people I don’t really have an interest in working with and get really serious about vetting new clients. I know it will save me time, brain space and keep me open for jobs that ignite creativity and passion. A big reason I am starting to post more on this journal is for potential clients to be able to get to know me and my style before inquiring about working together.

While I think it is a designer/decorators job to help a client find their style and push them to do things they would not have thought of on their own, some starting point of likes and dislikes is the bare minimum effort a client can contribute to the goal of creating a home tailored to them. Many designers have lengthy questionnaires for clients, I am less formal and prefer to try to get to know clients through conversation and visual cues. Prior to my 2 hour consultation, I request that clients either have a Pinterest board they can share with me, or simply have some magazine tear outs of rooms they are drawn to. I expect a client to collaborate with me, be excited with me about the ideas and items we are putting in their house. And please stop being intimidated by the budget question. Knowing the budget is arguably the most important part of delivering a successful design concept - whether it is modest or otherwise matters not.

Since we were {sort of} on the topic of kitchens, I’ll end with some photos of kitchens that I’ve saved. You might notice, none of them look like they’ve been recently renovated with high end budgets.

Confessions from a decorator: can we collaborate?

drawing a line