Every week, as a designer, I get to go into a new client's home to help them tackle their biggest design dilemmas. Whether it a simple refresh or a full-scale remodel, each space is unique and requires us to get to know our clients a little better, so we can provide the best possible solution for them.
I always ask the client how long they have lived in their home, as I am getting to know them. When the answer comes back as five, ten or fifteen years and they just haven't been able to get started, I am always amazed. That feels a bit like going to the dentist with a toothache they have had for five, ten or fifteen years. Which made me start wondering about what has people so hesitant to start? The most popular answers seem to be:
1. Waiting for their children to get older to get nice things.
"I don't want my kids to trash it, so we will just wait." Well, the time in which they are not going to spill on your furniture is about 5 minutes before they go to college. Then as soon as you do get those nice things, your grandchildren will spit up on that brand new sofa. Do you see where I am going with this? There is no perfect moment. Accidents happen.
But, wouldn't you rather spend twenty years enjoying something while your children are home, making memories with you then creating the perfect showplace of a family room, when there isn't a family in it? There are so many amazing and durable fabrics, rugs and window treatments on the market now, there is a solution that will allow you to enjoy your home without the worry.
2. Style Confusion
"I am just not sure of the perfect look I want, so I will just wait." Not knowing exactly how you want your home to look when it is complete is a common reason people don't get started. Well, here's a newsflash. Your style isn't in that email from Pottery Barn, or Crate and Barrel or on Wayfair. Those companies are in the business of TREND, not style. Big manufacturers are in the business of making you want something new next year. And, the year after that. In that process, they bombard us with thousands of new things all the time until we get to the point where we are so confused we just give up. And, we don't start.
Style is about finding the things that speak to you, not to the 4 million other people who also happen to have that very same dining table. Great spaces can evolve and SHOULD evolve. There should always be room for the wonderful painting you picked up while you were traveling last summer. There should always be room for the end table you inherited from your very favorite aunt. Your style evolves and your home should, too. Don't worry about being perfect, just get started creating a space that is a reflection of you, and the rest will take care of itself. If you are needing help articulating your style and figuring out how to incorporate it into your space, a designer who is a good listener will cull out the common threads in the things you like and figure out how to stitch it into a cohesive whole that makes you happy that you love for years and years to come.
3. Cost
"It's all too expensive, so we will just wait." Because they can't afford to do everything they do nothing. Well, that seems a bit like wearing tattered pajamas to work because you couldn't afford a suit. There is probably a solution somewhere in between.
Often clients need help making an overall plan with shorter 1-year, 3-year and 5-year goals, so they can make decisions now that will help them build towards their long term dreams for their home.
As designers, we help crystallize your vision, so everything you do now will be in perfect harmony with your end goal for your space, even if that is ten years down the road. No one wants to rip out a $2000.00 backsplash in three years because we didn't think about the countertop replacement that was probably going to need to happen at that time.
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Your home should be personal. And wonderful. And a place you want to be. Let's get started.
