“Together” has taken on entirely new meanings for many of us.  The pandemic which we all share – often not too equally – has demanded that we look at many aspects of our daily life and make creative adjustments on all levels.
 
In previous articles in this COVID19 series, we have taken a hard look at how the pandemic has impacted our Interior spaces – both domestic and workplace.  We have long since accepted eclipse!  Where feasible, our business, career and/or workplace environments have experienced closer proximity than we might choose – if our communities and our country were not under attack by a persistent intruder. 
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Like it or not, we have made changes intrusive to our previous patterns and choices.  We have quickly remodeled our Interior living space, as best we could, to seek the implied safety of distancing, modified isolation and very limited contact outside our immediate, essential connections.

​Interior Design, including trends and fads, is usually driven by artistic, circumstantial and authentic design factors – and it’s good to know that there are elements of close control involved.  And, it is nice to have choices and input, industry by industry, concerning what will drive the next trends in style, color, cultural emphasis and other nuance.
 
But, greater external circumstances can turn choice on its head and force us (to some degree) to follow rather than lead.  When pragmatism following disaster, drives change and choices, creativity is challenged; and innovation must often develop within somewhat more confining parameters.

​That’s about as smart as shooting yourself in the foot!  How we deal with limitations largely depends on the point of view!  As with other stuff that comes our way unbidden, we each have our very own ways of coping.  I guess I was just born an incurable optimist, because, to me, this whole new list of limitations feels more like dangling a carrot in front of a horse to get it to giddy up!  It’s kind of a soft-sell dare.   As soon as the first wave of: WHAT? wore off, I started looking at everything with new, seriously critical eyes!  And, guess what?  There was a lot that could stand some tweaking!

Traditions are interesting factors in our lives.  Even families or businesses that might claim to not have and implement bona fide ”traditions,” probably actually do have some – possibly even many.  They might simply be masquerading as habits and procedures!
 
Whatever the preferred nomenclature, for all of us, traditions, habits and procedures are deeply implanted in our daily lives, and have been severely challenged by (first) the Pandemic; and, (second) the resulting economic impacts.
 
What happens when ingrained habit patterns (and the assumptions that go with them) become disrupted?  We get disrupted!  The little stuff is fairly easy to handle, but it’s those large, dependable patterns and practices that we don’t like to mess with – especially if all has been functioning smooth as silk.
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We can make Lemonade or we can just pucker up and stay sour!  I prefer the former – and it is getting easier and easier to adapt to doing business from one’s residential address.  Little or no commute -- from the breakfast table, down the hall to the home office hardly qualifies!  And more little benefits just keep popping up.
 
I can name a few – like being comfortable in casual clothes, gas savings, and so forth.  But the biggest benefit that I have noticed, in my own situation and in that of my clients, is the benefit of the opportunity to get to domestic interior projects that have been repeatedly put off.  Sometimes it is an improvement factor that might only take 3-4 hours, but after work, after a commute and after a nice sit-down to dinner, well, who wants to start even a 3-hour project...    So...Take a look around, and think about some things you could accomplish in all that saved time! 

​Just when it seems business has made enough reasonable adjustments, something comes to mind that needs revision in order to produce the desired results!   Workplace hospitality has taken a big hit.
 
Regardless of the venue, most businesses have at least one aspect that qualifies as simple hospitality.  It could be the waiting area at a pharmacy or your auto repair shop; it could be the conferencing area of a law firm or the reception and waiting areas at medical or dental facilities.  It could be the gathering of friends and associates for celebration.  If your business has any accommodation for customers or clients waiting for an appointment, a service, a product or a party, there is a huge need for some revisionist thinking.
 
In the once normal course of service or product transactions, simple provisions to make people comfortable (and reinforce the virtue of patience) are or used to be taken for granted.  Well, all that has changed! 
 
Using all reasonable space for maximizing seating in a waiting room, for instance, is no longer a goal that tests your Interior designer’s skill!  That skill is now redirected to calculating how much accommodation can be achieved and still respect social distancing!   There are serious ripple affects that come with such downward quantification.  Scheduling, for instance, is hugely influenced by how many individuals can be safely located in a holding pattern, in limited space, in a given period of time.  

​Finding our way through new and unfamiliar circumstances has all of us rethinking old assumptions, and considering how to revamp.  This new situation demands that we go back to the drawing board.  We may not yet know exactly how extensively we will have to modify our Interior space use, traffic patterns and procedures, but we definitely know it’s a must-do that will test our flexibility.
 
Interior design projects have very clear-cut situations that mandate or inspire change.  There’s the “wanna” factor and then there’s the must do circumstance!
 
Today’s new happenings are pretty much a combo of those two rationales – with a few more thrown in!  To begin with, we often surprise ourselves when forced to make sudden changes to our entrenched “norms!”   Often we discover – by default – better or more efficient ways to handle some things.

​Forward.  That word has a nice ring to it!  Whether we are ready to move forward with an exciting Interior Design project, or looking forward to this terrible Pandemic finally receding, forward thinking is where we should focus our positivity!
 
We are all on the same page when it comes to revising the way we are doing business (for the duration), and many of us are finding that some of our Pandemic related innovations might just stay in our strategies when it’s all over.  (Nothing wrong with looking for some benefits out of all the hassle!)
 
Communication innovation is in the forefront!   For one thing, it has presented the interesting twist of speaking with clients, friends and family from the relaxed environments of homes!  “Good Morning!  Just got back from walking the dog! Your timing is perfect.... about that purchase order...” 

​Even in more “normal” times, there is a lot of preliminary preparatory work that has to be done before an Interior design project can get underway.  In the face of imminent crisis, with a Pandemic raging through communities, it’s difficult to hope; it is difficult to try to see over the tragedies and into a more manageable future.
 
But, we all know that is just what we must do: look to the future, while managing a difficult present.    I do what I can, myself, to keep that reality in mind, and press on.  Those of us in business must improvise, innovate and press on.  Many small businesses are holding on and weathering this situation as best they can.  Some, unfortunately, may not make it back to commercial health; let’s cheer them on and spread the hope around.  When this is behind us, let’s rally around them and support them back into a fair competitive position.
 

​Remember when you were a kid watching your Mom making your favorite cake or cookies?   Remember how sometimes you could hardly stand still until it came out of the oven smelling wonderful – and you STILL had to wait until they cooled off?
 
If you are thinking about an Interior Design project, are getting close to selecting your team, are impatient to get all the “ingredients” lined up and want the finished product NOW ... Well it is not greatly unlike watching your Mom plan, shop, assemble the ingredients, find the time, get started and then deal with your impatience for the delectable finished product!
 
If you wonder (even for a minute) what kinds of things could drive your design team off the rails and stark-raving-crazy, your impatience with “the time it takes” would be at the top of the list!
 
However, the close second, the next choice for driving your team over the edge?   You, making snap judgments before the whole plan and all elements are pulled together in final form and coordinated into appropriate harmony and balance!  
 
(Don’t know about you, but if my brother or I tried to get a finger-full of cookie dough before Mom was done mixing, we took the chance of getting our knuckles rapped!   But, if we were patient, we would get the spoon and bowl to lick when she was done! ) 

​Many businesses – maybe most – couldn’t sail the ship without their Employees.  Aside from their specific functional responsibilities, they are your basic, everyday, from-the-inside-out, fully informed Marketing team!  You can bet your bottom dollar, whatever the climate and culture of your business operation is, it’s being revealed and marketed by those (on the inside) who know.
 
Considering your staff of employees, independent contractors and other “internally focused” professional resources (your Team) as your frontline promoters, is serious business.  It stands to reason that enhancing their daily experience in your business operation’s environment should be a priority.  
 
Your expectations of your Team, of course, begins with making sure those expectations match up with what you provide in order for them to meet those expectations!  The appropriate tools and equipment for each expected function need to be enhanced with other basics.  How is your work environment; actually?

​Remember that funny song from years ago?  ... the Head bone’s connected to the Neck bone, Neck bone’s connected to the Shoulder bone, etc., all the way to the Toe bone!  It was a kind of humorous tribute to what connects to what, and the importance of an underlying support system.
 
That simple reality is just as vital to commercial and residential structures as it is to the human body; everything’s connected to something else – or else!   It was never a mystery what held up barns, lodges rustic cabins and other more utilitarian structures; their “bones” and all their “connections” were right out there, bold and visible.  You could even say their visibility was additional reassurance that all was well built and ready to meet any test of whim or weather.
 
However, in more “other” buildings – private homes, formal businesses or professional offices, the discipline was to hide all that beam-and-pipe stuff!   Get all that plumbing, air conditioning, support beams, electrical and heating paraphernalia out of sight!  Along with that goal, as more sophisticated systems were developed (such as large ventilation and AC ducts) ceilings were lowered a bit more -- to accommodate the “hiding” process!

The “bones” were not to be seen!   Well, except for shellfish, Armadillos and one or two other creatures, skeletons are pretty much “interior” networks!  And housing?  Beavers and birds would be the exceptions.   The structural aspects of modern human habitats and workplaces were basically built to be unseen.

​New building construction rarely presents the Interior designer with mysterious, very small areas with no obvious intended use.  Usually, driven by budgeting and efficiency strategies, every inch of planned space has to justify its expense by purposeful use, compatible with its contiguous space elements.
 
However, “older” buildings (residential or commercial) often have odd little spots that can be baffling!   They may be little left-overs from a remodeling focus that simply forgot what was on the other side of the wall, or part of an alternate intention that just didn’t happen!   In any case, such situations crop up all the time; and, over time, your experienced (sometimes frustrated) Interior design team just digs into their bag of “micro solutions” and handles it.

​Turning very small niches into useful and or aesthetic gems makes the difference between dead space and good use.  Sometimes, such spaces occur along traffic patterns in the larger environment.  We have all experienced them, although we may not have noticed them.  And that’s one reason why your Interior team actually likes such spots when they occur, and creatively transforms them

​There are three very basic “elements” that form the “cohesion” for any Interior Design project:  The Client’s Vision; The Design’s Integrity and The End-User’s Satisfaction.
 
When a prospective client makes their decision to materialize an Interior design project Vision, they begin a process with very specifically delineated disciplines.  Their very first challenge is that of refining that Vision clearly enough to be able to translate it and communicate it accurately to an Interior design professional.  
 
Some prospective clients have very, very specific ideas (and their details) in mind, and may have been considering their prospective project for some time.  Others, not so specific, have a “vision,” but it is often a bit vague, is comprised of fragments from various sources and will depend heavily on an expert who can pull those fragments together!  Still others may have had previous experiences with previous projects and want to modify or completely revise what already exists.

Whatever the circumstances, or the scope of your Interior Design project, managing the costs factor is mandatory, challenging and a mutual responsibility!
 
At the front end of your relationship with your Interior designer, the project is discussed, defined, and conceptualized.  You, the Client, convey your ideas, your wishes and preferences, i.e., your vision, to the Interior design expert.   Whether your Interior design project is a small bath and kitchen remodel, or a full Interior environment (business, professional or residential), it will involve a host of “aspects” and an amazing number of “details.”  Each of those factors will be made up of many, many choices and decisions.  And each of those factors, plus your Interior Design team’s time, will represent expenditures.  Easy to speculate; but demanding of careful consideration of overall costs!
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