The best magazine
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This "how to" list has been shared with other professionals and, in turn, with clients around the world ever since.
I share it with you today to help further the spread of its wisdom and truth.
If you are considering hiring a design professional take these words to heart.
What you'll discover is that, by so doing, you help to unlock a greater creative experience and in the end a more beautiful finished project.
When working with an architect, interior designer, contractor, landscape designer, or craftsperson: • Be clear and communicative about expectations and desires.
• Do your homework.
Know what you like and what you don't like.
Be clear on your needs-from wine storage to shelves for your collection of first editions; from dog beds to closet space; from bathroom lighting to a home office.
• Pay attention, take notes, and listen.
Be willing to perhaps expand your original plan to make it better, bigger, and more satisfying.
• You'll be working directly with the designer, who will in turn work directly with a team of specialists, from design assistants to general contractors or architects, tile-layers, painters, and many craftspeople.
The designer will also be ordering fabrics, working with showrooms, and juggling every aspect of the project.
Mistakes can happen.
Custom-crafted goods invite the possibility of error, an incorrect measurement or color, a misunderstanding, the wrong beige, a toast-colored wall covering instead of rich cream.
It's important to have a sense of humor and trust that the designer will make it all work out.
• Stick to your guns.
Allowing yourself to be talked into something you don't like-only to decide later you can't live with it-can be disastrous.
Avoid being wishy-washy and indecisive, and especially don't change your mind repeatedly.
It's unnerving to the designer and it can be a nightmare when plans, paint, plumbing, plaster, or tile work has to be redone.
• An architect or designer is an advisor who does not, ultimately have the final decision.
They do not sign the checks; you do.
• It's a creative process.
Stay the course, and remain emotionally involved.
• Observe with optimism.
Be patient.
Creative people are working hard to make you happy.
Don't antagonize the decorator, and always assume the best.
• Pay in a timely and considerate manner.
• Be accountable to all your decisions.
Don't rush out and buy major antiques, furniture, or art without first discussing it with your designer.
• Be cautious and pay attention.
Try out fabric samples, paint swatches, and furniture pieces to ensure that you can live with them.
For example, I recommend having two dining room chair samples brought in, if possible.
It's easier to imagine ten chairs with two in front of you.
Spend a week living with a painting or a sculpture.
Spontaneity is fine, but it's best not to rush major decisions.
• Minimize the element of surprise.
Don't make decisions without considering all aspects of the design.
•If you are not comfortable with a designer's plans or decisions, make a graceful exit only after considerable thought.
Keep the parting amicable and perhaps even open-ended.
•Your taste should not be steamrolled, but it is also not your job to demean the designer, his or her staff, and their taste or ideas.
The goal is to create beautiful rooms; it's not a challenge to see who "wins" every decision.
• Try not to comment until everything sin place: that is, until the rooms are finished, and the furniture is correctly placed.
Don't stand by the truck and critique.
Look at everything in context.
A sense of truly "working together" makes a project go well.
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