More and more I am asked what is it that I do so I thought I’d share with you a little insight into what a day can look like for me. My clients know what work I do for them, but not what I’m doing for other clients, which can be so different to what they imagine.
For starters, it is very unusual to spend an entire day focused on one project.
It just doesn’t happen very often. At any time I will have close to a dozen clients that are at different stages of their projects. Some projects might be short and sweet while others are long term major projects with periods of dormancy. I can be working on anything from collaborating on a house from the front door to the back, through to working with a busy working mum to create a living space just for her. While other projects could be working with a tween to upgrade their bedroom space from baby room to approaching adolescence.
I also get the feeling that people think design work is glamorous.
Yes, there are days where I get to stand and point while art is installed, pendant lighting hung or I go and lounge in sofas with clients,. There are plenty of details and administration involved between these moments. Imagine a swan gliding around a pond while those legs under water are paddling like crazy out of sight, interior designers have a well-earned reputation for being detail orientated.
Each project will fall into phases, design, sourcing, test driving (as in viewing the pieces for quality/comfort etc.), implementation, delivery/installation and sometimes we have photoshoots. The projects most often take months and months of work.
Each day we interact with a range of people and need to be good communicators, trades, makers, suppliers, transportation and of course our clients.
We have technical information on our specialty and do a bit more math than I thought would be involved when I first fell in love with all things interiors as a 7 year old in the blue maths group. Some designers specialize in kitchens and bathrooms or soft furnishings or furniture. In residential projects or commercial. Then we all have our own design style and communication techniques.
Here’s a day from my week recently:
Arrive early for my first meeting so I could also visit and a couple of fireplace stores in the neighbourhood and select and mantle for another client.
10.30am meeting with a client at a specialty lighting store to plan their lighting layout and style for their major renovation so the information can be added to a schedule and sent out to tender. We were meeting with a lighting specialist to guide us through the pros and cons of the selections. This meeting took 2 hours.
A banana and muesli bar in the car between appointments will do for lunch.
1pm meeting with another client in the neighboring suburb to look at rugs for their living room. This quickly turned into a design meeting with the rug specialist as we start the process of creating a custom rug. Educating the client about fiber choices, weaves, timelines and working through the array of colours.
2.30pm meet a third client at a fabric showroom across town. We are sourcing a unicorn fabric for a sofa that will need to be durable, cleanable, and work in with the style of the room, while keeping our budget in mind.
4pm rush home to check that the kids are sorted after school before turning on the computer to check on emails for the day.
