Sizzle – The Interior Designers
Some interior designers absolutely drip with style
and vision for what is truly beautiful, but can’t quite offer the kind of information
the contractor needs to actually get the vision built. There’s an enormous
difference between seeing and understanding beauty, and knowing how to deliver
it to the client.
It should be as simple as following the American
Society of Interior Designers or ASID professional designation. Anyone with an
ASID behind their name should really know their stuff, right? Unfortunately,
that’s not always the case. Just like the AIA (American Institute of Architect)
designation behind an architect’s name, all the designation really means is they
have advanced schooling in their craft and have interned with another designer
before being allowed ot sit for ASID testing.
But ASID doesn’t always buy “taste” or “vision.” In
fact, some of the best interior designers aren’t
ASID. In the construction industry, when it comes to interior designers it’s
apparent that “you either got it, or you don’t.”
All the fancy showrooms down in the Design District
of Dallas have a wonderful little sign on their door that says, “To The Trade Only.” The vendors started
putting the sign on the front of their shops to try and wave off everyone who
thought they knew something about design and wanted wholesale pricing. Years
ago the interior design business was “the wild west” before the Design
District’s rules concerning showroom accessibility were instituted.
Talent + Information = Success
What a contractor needs most from the design process
is talent and information. Interior designers must be able to communicate with
the contractor (in plain and simple terms), so surprises are minimized.
A truly effective interior designer starts his/her
work immediately after joining the Project Team. Shortly after the conceptual
drawings are released to the owner and the team, an interior designer should start
by roughly positioning the client’s furnishings on the plans. Normally, conceptual plans are drawn at 1/8”
= 1’ 0”, so it’s hard to properly
scale furnishings on plans that size. The inventory of furnishings should come
shortly after the interior designer is hired. Surveying what furnishings will
and will not be used in the new home or re-model will provide an inventory
necessary throughout the job. Without the initial furniture layout on the
conceptual plans, it’s conceivable that rooms will be designed that either
don’t accommodate furnishings comfortably or at all.
