Smooth Transitions
A Fort Myers designer moves the community to a better place
From an office that can only be described as compact and bijou, interior designer Karen Benson maintains a business as expansive as her desire to help the local community.
Heading up her increasingly successful downtown business, Benson, a graduate of the University of Florida, has worked in Fort Myers since the late 1970s. “I was with an architect’s firm for 13 years after I graduated,” Benson says. “It was a wonderful foundation for getting to where I am today.”
However, the idea of being hunched over a drawing board for the remainder of her career didn’t appeal. So in 1996, Benson decided to go it alone. She admits her entrepreneurial life to date has gone by in a flash. “I blinked and here I am today,” she says. “I have my little spot in town and lovely, lovely designers and people around me who make me better than myself.”
But built around the floor plans of her successful design career is an offshoot of which she is justifiably proud. “We opened Inspire Transitions about two years ago,” Benson says. “It helps seniors in our community downsize their possessions when they have to move during a difficult time in their lives.
” Our perfect client is someone who can’t manage packing their possessions and all the associated problems,” she continues. “Inspire Transitions are their advocates and can help them basically sort, room by room, their new lives.”
But don’t think Benson is offering a mere pack- and- ship service. Inspire
Transitions is far more upscale than that. “It’s been claimed that for seniors, after death and divorce, moving is a major cause of stress,” she says. “But so many people are just overwrought with the onslaught of having to go through all of their belongings and downsize. Half of the time when seniors move it’s because it’s their choice, and the other half is because of death of a spouse or a major injury; they simply can’t return to their original home.”
Benson says she hopes to be the perfect advocate for a client who is faced with those difficult choices. “We offer a service that will help our clients organize, in a respectful way, their possessions,” she says. “When they move to a new address, we want to create a peaceful state of mind.”
It’s a business principle that has never let Benson down. She cares for local community members who have placed their trust in her company. “We’ll meet with them and set out a schedule,” explains Benson. “We create a perfect removal plan.”
But she acknowledges that a certain amount of practicality has to become part of the mix. “We’re helping clients to rationalize their life,” she says. “You can’t take 15 feet of clothes if you’ve only got six feet of hanging space.”
Aside from the physical hefting of furniture and boxes, Benson offers a custom service second to none. “The clients know we totally have their back,” says Benson. “We ask our clients to trust us and go and enjoy the day— we take the stress. Everything that’s being moved will be placed exactly where they want it to be. The following
THE CLIENTS KNOW WE TOTALLY HAVE THEIR BACK.
WE ASK OUR CLIENTS TO TRUST US AND GO AND ENJOY THE DAY— WE TAKE THE STRESS.”
— KAREN BENSON OF INSPIRE TRANSITIONS
morning, after they’ve moved in, there will be a familiarity that’s comforting.
“I’m a designer; I know what people like and what feels good,” she says. “It’s serene because everything in their new apartment is ready for them— there’s no surprises.”
However, no plan is infallible, and Benson readily admits there are elements of the process that can’t be foreseen. “It’s usually a very smooth plan,” she says. “But it can be painful for seniors when they are having to say about a precious item, ‘ I can’t take this,’ and they ask, ‘ Son, would you like to take this?’ and the son says, ‘ No.’ We try and take the kids aside and tell them they should just accept the item and that will put their parents’ hearts and minds at ease.
“But no matter who is hiring my company, even if it’s the client’s children, our client is still the senior,” says Benson. “At the end of the day, it’s all about how do you want to be treated when you’re 85 years old?”
Having helped more than 20 clients delicately and respectfully move their
WE OFFER A SERVICE THAT WILL HELP OUR CLIENTS ORGANIZE, IN A RESPECTFUL WAY, THEIR POSSESSIONS. WHEN THEY MOVE TO A NEW ADDRESS, WE WANT TO CREATE A PEACEFUL STATE OF MIND.” — KAREN BENSON OF INSPIRE TRANSITIONS
possessions in the last two years, Benson retains a pragmatic approach to her business. “You don’t need a degree to have insight into a client’s dreams,” she says. “I’ve gotten more satisfaction from the moves I’ve been involved with than some of the largest mansions I’ve designed.”