When the client says: You do it!
That's when your design team may be flattered, but at the same time, knows that part of the job will be helping the client to develop their own vision. There are situations where a prospect makes it clear that they want a great environment, but don't have a specific theme in mind, seem to have no materials preferences, color focus or the faintest idea where to begin!
Almost everyone has preferences! Often the assertion: “I really don't care — I trust your judgment!” actually has to do with transposition. For instance, you may know exactly what you want when you choose your clothing or select an automobile make, model and color, and a range of other situations where you make selections based on clear preferences. But, envisioning how to pull a complex commercial or residential environment into balance and harmony seems monumental and unfocused.
It can be difficult to envision a favorite color, for instance, on the full expanse of a wall — though you love it in a necktie or sweater. Picturing patterns on upholstery, paneling or flooring for a space sixty feet by eighty, for instance, is very different than for a vehicle.
Transposing preferences from small scale to large scale, from intimate scale to expansive is definitely one of the skills you receive with a professional design team.
It follows, that being cautious and reluctant to state hard, fast choices and preferences when you don't feel confident about how they would transfer to different scales, is a caution to respect! Your design team has clear parameters about where they will make decisions, and where they must ferret out your preferences and assist you in sound choices. Your designer will give clear guidance and make decisions where the appropriate sub contractors and skilled labor are concerned; and, about industry compliances, regulations and such. But, ultimately, the resulting overall vision of your environment will be the product of your informed, educated and appropriate decisions.
How does that happen when you start out just wanting to leave everything from the conceptual design to the last convenience appointment all up to your designer? It happens through the insights, background information, previously existing preferences and present conditions that your designer observes, gains and learns about from you. Your personality is another source from which your design team develops a sense of appropriateness and connection that helps guide them to what fits.
“How did you know that?” is a typical reaction when the team comes up with something that really appeals to you. (And, it's always good to hear!)
The simple fact of the matter is that we reveal ourselves, and our tastes, to others in many ways that are readable. Being an expert in one venue does not necessarily equip us for appropriately envisioning those tastes in a different setting. Your professional interior design team is skilled at just that.
When you think you don't know what you want — but you know you want it right — you will be surprised at what you may discover with the right coaching and guidance. Your design team knows that you have distinct preferences. Let them help you discover how and where they transpose and apply for your home or business environment interior design — so that the resulting vision becomes yours, fits and endures.
Transposing preferences from small scale to large scale, from intimate scale to expansive is definitely one of the skills you receive with a professional design team.
Robert Boccabella, B.F.A. is principal and founder of Business Design Services and a certified interior designer in private practice for over 30 years. Boccabella provides Designing to Fit the Vision© in collaboration with writingservice@earthlink.net. To contact him call 707-263-7073; email him at rb@ BusinessDesignServices.com or visit www. BusinessDesignServices.com or on Face Book at Business Design Services.