Update your home via Zoom
With zero-contact video consultations on the rise, there’s no excuse to put off that home revamp, says Jessica Doyle
The lockdown experience has inspired some to declutter, repaint and generally sort out their home; while others stare blankly at their own four walls, beginning to hate them but not knowing how to go about changing them. So this bank holiday weekend, the last until August, is just the time when you could do with calling in an interior designer – if only you were allowed to let them into your home.
Some, however, are getting around the issue by launching virtual design services, offering their expertise over Zoom, Facetime or Whatsapp, to give clients the experience of working with a professional decorator with zero contact.
Among them is interior designer Benji Lewis (benjilewisdesign.co.uk), who launched his new spin-off service, Zoom That Room (zoomthatroom.com), just after lockdown kicked in. For him, this new way of working is not only timely, but also democratises the whole process: those who wouldn’t normally consider hiring an interior designer, whether due to budget or feeling intimidated by the idea, can use the virtual service as an entry point, an easy 30-minute initial consultation with no pressure to commit to anything further.
He first got the idea for video consultations a couple of years ago, when talking to a friend over Facetime. “She’d been having a bit of a rotten time and wanted to make a change, but she didn’t feel up to having anyone over to her house,” he says. “I got her to show me around her sitting room over Facetime, and I could see straight away what the essence of the room was about, and how she could change it to suit her.”
When lockdown started, he knew it was the right time to open a similar service up to prospective clients, which he did by launching it on Instagram and Facebook. The appointments, which start from £90 per room, have been piling in.
From his home in Berkshire, he has recently conducted consultations virtually in London, Hampshire and Western Australia. “I love that it’s not bound by geography or by generation,” he says. “I recently spoke to a 25-year-old in Peckham who’d just moved in with her boyfriend and just wanted some help with choosing furniture so that she didn’t make mistakes.” He was able to advise her on the type of sofa that would suit the room, and how and where she could fit in storage to make the best use of the space. Sometimes, it’s just a case of rearranging the furniture a client already has.
It’s certainly a refreshingly relaxed way to approach working with an interior designer. On a video call with Lewis to try out the service, I showed him around my cluttered hallway (a current problem area in my home) and he was not only charmingly non-judgmental, but quickly provided some ideas for streamlining and brightening up the space. He followed up over email with a sketch of a built-in storage system (with integrated wall lights – not something I’d have thought of myself) and a link to a selection of stair carpets.
Although it has come about through necessity, Lewis believes that this new way of working will continue beyond lockdown. “As a platform it’s superfriendly; people can dip in and dip out, which is why I think it’s been so successful,” he says.
On the high street, John Lewis has similarly expanded its design service to provide virtual appointments, with more than 450 booked within the first two weeks of launch last month – 10 extra stylists have since been added to the service to cope with demand.
The appointments, which are free of charge and bookable via a dedicated hub on the website (johnlewis.com/ content/your-partners-through-it-all), involve a one-on-one video call with a home design stylist, on specific topics such as incorporating a workspace into your home, or more general design advice – the majority (60 per cent) of customers so far have wanted to make their living room a more comfortable place to be.
After the call, the customer is emailed a moodboard and shopping list. According to home stylist Wil Law, this new arm of the design service allows a more tailored approach than you’d normally get from an in-store appointment, where a stylist would work from photographs. “Being able to see someone’s home gives me greater insight into their tastes,” he says. “This ultimately informs the designs I suggest but it also gives me an opportunity to stretch them a little beyond their comfort zone and make a space that feels really fresh to them.”
Benji Lewis believes the experience of being in lockdown could ultimately be a positive one, both in terms of opening up interior design to a wider range of people, and helping them to really analyse their environment and work out how to make improvements. His advice is intended, he says, to help people “find ways through to make their home feel like their safe place. You should love your home so much that you never want to leave it.”