Planning with purpose eases design drama
The sport of interior design is not for the faint of heart.
From heavy and cumbersome building material samples that you drag from here to there, coordinating and matching and comparing, to the countless hours you spend online, hoping for divine intervention during a Pinterest-Instagram-Houzz-a-thon, the adventure requires great stamina.
Interior design may not be as physical as hitting a ball with a fine-turned piece of oak or kicking a stitched ball up and down a well-manicured field, but make no mistake, an interior design project will have you sweating, cheering, holding your breath and sometimes even crying. I hope it’s tears of joy, but nonetheless, the tears will be flowing.
We become obsessed, looking for that one material we can’t live without. And once found, we’re hit with lead times. Weeks can turn to months, and months turn to half a year, waiting for that pair of pendants to arrive.
But all is forgiven once you see the glimmer and sparkle of the glass and polished chrome finish. Even before the electrician has installed those pendants, you’ve already placed your next order – lead time pending.
Champagne glow
Whether you are a skilled do-it-yourselfer or prefer to hire professionals for every aspect of your project, design budgets can be intense. On some level, we all want our design projects to have a Champagne glow, but preferably on a Kool-Aid budget.
We want our projects to look like something that came straight from our favorite design magazines, makeover shows or Instagram posts. And we want to make design choices that will stand the test of time, be durable and functional, and most importantly, make us happy.
Is it too much to ask for a little magic? Perhaps a little fairy dust to take a project from conceptual design to completion in a matter of seconds, sparing us from the painstaking decision process.
How nice would it be to skip tough questions like which paint color to choose or which mosaic tile to use on the back of a shower wall. Should you pair a light-colored dining table with dark chairs? How do you decipher trendy drapery panels from classic and timeless? Will this bathroom design look dated in five years? Is this the right cabinet door style for my kitchen?
Experienced contractors
Finding experienced contractors will make the process quite a bit easier. They’ve probably worked on dozens of projects just like yours, so listen to them.
Custom cabinet builders know how to measure, they’ve seen hundreds of kitchen layouts and they’ll install your cabinets with ease. Plumbers and electricians have encountered all sorts of “interesting” layouts and know how to correct these situations and make your home safe and functional. There isn’t an angle or a curve that hardwood flooring and carpet contractors haven’t measured. Painting contractors will provide immediate transformation of a wall or an entire exterior and can move at top speeds, while artistically calling out the decorative accents with a unique color.
And general contractors, well, they’ve seen it all – from discovering a hidden window with a view of Mount Diablo that has long been covered by drywall and exterior siding to a petrified mouse stuck in the framing of a demo-ed kitchen wall. True stories.
Jennifer Leischer is the owner of J. Designs Interior Design based in Clayton. Contact her with questions, comments and suggestions at jenna@j-designs.com.