The Art of Design
Welcome back!
Last time I talked about the magic of design and how important it is. I also mentioned that design is an art form. So, what does that mean fo you?
Well, making magic (or art) requires a few very important things: time, emotion, and personalization. We'll start with the most frustrating.
Time
I've talked about this before in a few different places, but design takes time. We are living in an era where it seems like everything can be shipped to you in two days and returned easily if you don't like it. Custom anything is quickly turning into a thing of the past. Unfortunately, most items that you can get quickly are also going to break quickly. The quality is much lower and you will have to replace them a lot faster than if you'd sprung for a more expensive version.
Another thing to remember is that designing your home is like putting together an all white thousand-piece puzzle. Fitting the pieces together and solving the problems won't happen quickly. Sometimes you don't even know what the problems are right off the bat. Often, one of those problems is a time constraint. It could be you. It could be me. It could be the contractor or a subcontractor. There are multiple people involved in any project, each with their own schedules and a thousand things that can suddenly change.
Finally, we all take a different amount of time to decide what we want. Then we change our minds. It's human and completely natural. It also creates a problem when you're on a tight timeline. The bottom line is that with a designer at the helm this process will not be as hard or take as long. But getting things right will still take time. Take a breath and remember that it took over four years to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Four months doesn't seem that crazy anymore, does it?
Emotion
We covered this last time, but I'll talk about it again. Your home should make you feel something! And not just exhausted when you think about cleaning it. You should have some emotion about it. It could be comfort, warmth, peace, or just a lack of stress when you walk in. I never want to design something that people feel apathetic about. That shows me I've done my job wrong. Art evokes emotion. Let's make sure that your home does too.
Personalization
In the days before there were giant art galleries, if you wanted to survive as an artist, you needed to get commissions from patrons. A lot of times, it was for a family portrait or something equally personal. A lot of the great masterpieces we admire today were a collaboration between artist and customer, each bringing something special to the table.
I can't tell you how many ads I've seen lately for online design firms that will completely design your home for almost nothing. The rooms they show are beautiful, but are they
really you?
You can only get so personal when the same design is being reused in home after home in order to make things fast and minimize their loss of money. But that's cookie cutter style. I do think that you deserve better. It's sort of like saying that a one-size-fits-all pair of pants will actually fit, let alone look good on you. You are not the same as anyone else. You could like the same things and look the same but you've lived different lives and had different experiences. You are unique. Your home should be put together for you, not based on a template for customer satisfaction.
Where does that leave you?
Well, you are reading my blog post, which shows that you have at least a little bit of interest. That is a great start. Hopefully, this post will help you reset your expectations.
If you're ready to start making magic, just let me know by clicking here and filling out the form.
