artists in home design
advantages of hiring an interior decorator local designers share professional aspects of their job
Feature Story
EVERYONE THINKS THEY KNOW JUST THE BEST WAY TO DECORATE
THEIR OWN SPACE. And in many ways, they do, but a licensed interior decorator can help smooth the process to be easier with less stress and even save money in the long run, especially if brought early in the project.“My job is to help make the space, work hard, look fabulous and last for a long time,” said Susan Kirkpatrick of Kirkpatrick & Associates Inc., which has recently branched out into home design to complement a wildly successful hotel-design business.
interior designer qualifications
“We just see things because we’re trained to that a lot of people don’t pick up on,”she said.“And it’s the details that make the difference.”It’s a profession that’s frequently misunderstood because the impact often isn’t appreciated, said Susan Westbrook of Susan Westbrook Interiors.“You’re required to have an education and you have to pass an exam and you have to have a skill set that identifies you as a true professional,”she said.“First thing, we have to have a specific education, a degree, we have to pass a very lengthy and difficult exam and we have a set of ethical bylaws we have to follow. Every year we have to renew our licenses and taking continuing education like any other professional.”
A qualified designer not only should be able to look at an existing space and figure out the best way to make it look better, but also see a set of plans and quickly identify some nuances that may have escaped notice.“You just have to be able to look at things and see what the final view is going to be,”Kirkpatrick said.“A lot of people can’t read plans.” Indeed, that skill is something paramount to a designer. “When a client walks up to me and says, ‘Why do I need you?’ when they do their plans, very few people can think in two dimensions and turn it into three dimensions,”Westbrook said.“They really have a hard time visualizing how things will work. I help them figure out a pattern that also will be the most economical.”
clients come first
It all starts, however, when the designer sits down with the client.“It’s very much a relationship,”said Mandana Nowroozian, a designer at Kirkpatrick & Associates. “We ask a lot of questions about their likes and dislikes. ‘Nos’ are as good as ‘yesses’ because then we can move forward from those. And we can make our best, educated suggestions about what they should use and then it goes forward. Ultimately it’s their decision. If they like what we’ve presented or we can give them more options, but it’s all based on what they initially give us, then we go out and do the leg work and the research.”
classic looks
Often people will have an idea of what they want, but it’s impractical for the space or beyond their budget, and that’s another area where a designer can help out.“I have found a lot of places where you can compromise in one area and be extravagant in another and make it feel extravagantallover,”Westbrooksaid.“Functional
"Classical interior design is where you do it once and you’re not having to redo it every four or five years." susan westbrook
planning is really important and it’s really important that people are not very influenced by trends. Classical interior design is where you do it once and you’re not having to redo it every four or five years.” Sometimes there are designs that catch people’s eyes, but quickly fade away, she said.“They’re elements that are overused,”Westbrook said.“I work at a design that’s timeless and very family friendly, that looked lived but looks like it’s just been tidied up. Simple and keep it to the people in living in it. It’s not something you’re at war with trying to keep it looking good. The money they spend with me they saved by not making mistakes.”
trusting the designer
One of the battles designers face is convincing prospective clients that the final outcome will be to their liking and not what the designer’s prefers.“I think the public has a misconception when it comes to hiring a designer because they think they’re going to have to go with that person’s tastes,”Kirkpatrick said. “Interior designers shouldn’t have their personal tastes involved coming into the mix. A good designer is going to find out what makes that client happy and how they can help them work their space and can get the best value for their dollar.”
The client, after all, is the one that has to live there, she said.“The designers have their own places to live. We need to make it a place where the client is so happy that they can’t wait to go home and spend time in that space,”Kirkpatrick said.“We’re capable of incorporating family heirlooms and treasures and lot of what we’re doing is problem solving. We always let the client make the final decision but along the way what we’re doing is educating the client," she added. "We will make selections that we think work the best for that particular project and give them options. And there are always discussions about why those options are best. It comes back to design principles: scale, proportion and color palette. We see things from a layered palette.”
importance of communication
Communication is the big key, not only between the client and the designer, but the designer and the onsite workers, Nowroozian said.“Working with other trades people, like architects and contractors, we can really communicate with them about having the client’s sense about something,”she said.“Maybe it’s a large issue, maybe it’s a small issue. Maybe we can help with the communication, keep everything on track, help with scheduling. So it’s good to have us on your team just to help with project management.”
And the plethora of ideas and designers filling the ether, it’s helpful to have somebody who knows how to bring it all together, Nowroozian said.“There is so much do-it-yourself out there and if somebody is chasing a look they saw in a magazine, they can research hours upon hours upon hours, whereas we have a pretty good idea where to find certain things and it won’t take us as long. We have connections,“she said. “A lot of stuff you may not be able to get. We know where to find certain things, and can make certain selections based on our resources that we have, that are more limited to the public.”