THE BUSINESS OF DESIGN: PROJECT SIZE

Part 8 of 10 today, to start at the beginning and read more about the article that began this series, here is Part 1.

I PREFER BIG PROJECTS, BUT I'LL TAKE WHATEVER I CAN GET

It used to be that if you wanted help in decorating your digs, you had few options but to commission a person to buy your furniture, arrange it, organize it and charge full freight for the service. Not anymore. Now, more and more decorators and designers are willing to do some work for some of their normal fee.

Use-What-You-Have Interiors in Manhattan, for example, offers a service in which a decorator comes to your home, checks out the furniture that you already own, and shows you how to make the existing stuff look better. Other decorators are willing to limit their services to consulting on colors and fabrics, recommending tradespeople or even just doing your shopping.

This statement totally bugs me because it implies that interior designers are desperate.  While some designers may just be starting out or having to redefine their business in this new world of accessible design, most established designers don't "take whatever I can get".  Part of success is the ability to hone in on your ideal clients and ideal projects and not take on projects that don't fit into your business model.  Knowing when to turn down a job or send a client elsewhere is an important part of running an interior design business.

But designers are more flexible than before and if they've worked  e-decorating services or daily consultations into their business model then as a client you could be in luck.  But make sure that you search out a designer that offers the service you want, so that the project runs smoothly.  By asking the designer to perform a service that is not part of their normal business, you could run into issues.  Like going to a vet for stitches, the job may get done, but the results may not be as seamless.

read the entire series:

1. SHOP IN THE RIGHT STORE AND YOU MAY NOT EVEN NEED ME 2. MY TITLE DOESN’T MEAN VERY MUCH 3. YOU MIGHT AS WELL USE MY ESTIMATE AS WALLPAPER 4. YOU’D SAVE A BUNDLE IF YOU KNEW HOW I SET MY FEES 5. MY BILLS ARE LADEN WITH HIDDEN COSTS 6. IT’S NOT IN MY INTEREST TO HUNT FOR BARGAINS 7. YOU DON’T NEED ME TO GET BIG DISCOUNTS FROM SHOWROOMS 8. I PREFER BIG PROJECTS, BUT I’LL TAKE WHATEVER I CAN GET 9. YOU HAVE LITTLE OR NO RECOURSE IF I SCREW UP 10. MY WORK IN ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST IS A MIRAGE