We can all probably agree that it’s the accents, the focus elements and the unique twists that get our attention ‑ at first!   Color combinations you might not have guessed would go perfectly together, or the way a vintage component fits right in with a complementary contemporary design are signs of the professional touch: knowing how to accent without over-kill!
 
“Eye candy” is great when it does the job of introducing, accenting, balancing or coordinating appropriate Interior design that successfully represents the client’s vision.  In fact, those interesting accents are often the subtle glue that ties other elements together.  Tastefully selected and conservatively implemented, a special element, material or color can provide connection between various areas of a facility, home or professional practice.
 
Trouble happens with just too much of a good thing!  When it may get out of hand, and the eye candy becomes a distraction to the overall Interior design goals, rather than a subtle connector, it can be as much of a flop as good music played too loud or too much sugar spoiling a perfect cup of coffee.   You have to know when enough is enough!
​

​When your design project vision is clear and you have selected the professional team that you will be working with, the last thing you want is for third parties to throw a wrench in the works.
 
The next-to-last thing you want is to be paying your design team for damage control, after the fact, because of trouble directly caused by neither you nor your team.
 
But, it does happen.  Because there are myriad details and many participants, sometimes trouble can develop in aspects of the project path where you or your team cannot have seen it coming.
 
The small stuff (it can feel big in the moment!) may be annoying, but can usually be resolved quickly.  Larger “wrenches’ that shut down the whole machine are quite a different matter.

There is no lack of examples – some that could curl your hair – and most of them could have been prevented.  Many of the mistakes, oversights, miscommunications or accidents can be traced directly back to poor quality controls.

​Isn’t it interesting how we often describe colors and lighting in terms of our sense of touch?  Lights are soft; that color feels cold, and so on.  It’s because the concepts of color and light are deeply integrated with texture, particularly in design considerations.
 
There are significant differences between painting a wall “flat,” and, texturing it first, then painting.  Applied color changes because of the highs and lows of a texture; light will play capriciously as textures vary.
 
Your designer must consider all textures carefully when choosing lighting, and color. That is one of the junctures where all three elements must be simultaneously managed.  It is important to remember that changing one of these factors affects all three.

​It would be difficult to overemphasize the importance of timing and the many ways in which other patterns and problems can compromise essential timing rhythms.
 
When a prospective client first speculates about really doing the project they have long been considering, they then want to accomplish it as soon as possible.  Although it may have been months or even years since they first thought seriously about it, once a decision has been made to move ahead, it seems from that point on impatience sets in!

Some impatience is just the very real and congenial excitement and anticipation of actually seeing their vision take substance. On the other hand, some impatience is about not quite understanding the inter-locking, carefully timed moves and actions it takes to bring the project along smoothly to satisfactory completion.

​Sometimes it seems as though the easiest and most economical way to approach your design project would be to purchase some consultation time from an expert, then move right into action on your own; no problem!
 
Well...  It would be great if it were that simple, and if steaming ahead on consultation input alone would cover the bases.  But, “consultation alone” has some pitfalls – and some disciplines.
 
Most of us have either observed or experienced the difference between knowing how and actually knowing how!   The former is intellectual; the latter is about implementation.

Many projects present added complexity when the client requests that “secondary” or special use environments be designed into their primary use vision. 
 
With the clear trend to focus more and more activities on one primary site, the opportunity arises for creative design challenges.  One of the simplest is the dedication of part of the residence to business activities: the home office.  With the advancements of more efficient electronic capability, many individuals telecommute for a company as employees of a business located elsewhere.  Independent contractors (owner operators, the self-employed, etc.) are no longer limited to renting an external office.  The stigma of “working out of one’s home” simply no longer exists.
 
Interior space planning and design professionals have met this challenge.  Designing secondary environments within or adjacent to a primary residence requires unique management strategies for both designer and client.  The needs and patterns of family life must be weighed in consideration of the sound, concentration and privacy factors essential to an appropriate workplace.
​

​When English is the client’s second language, communication can run into snags, and misunderstandings can innocently develop.
 
Many of us speak more than one language.  As our developing world has expanded and transportation has shortened the distances among differing cultures, our communities have become more diverse – and more interesting.
 
While there are many advantages in being able to speak more than one language, and understand translation of its words, we think in our original and first language.  Literal translation, unfortunately, does not deliver all the goods! 
 
There are simple expressions typical of each language, there is “slang,” there are variations in the usage of the same word and many other subtleties that provide the perfect set of circumstances for misunderstanding.  Add in the factor of accents and pronunciation, and the odds increase for simple comprehension problems.

So you've hired an Interior Designer,and completed  speculation, research, photos and preferences , it is time to bring “intentions” into sharp focus, and begin to create a specific project plan.  You have done your homework, have shared ideas and wishes with your professional designer and have set your feet on an exciting path.
 
With serious consideration for the time and money commitments your project will demand, you and your designer begin to fine-tune the product of your preparatory phase.  You will make choices that will guide the prioritizations in the project path.  You will begin to develop the formula for balancing dreams with reality.

​Just as we all have individual personalities, preferences, wishes, dreams and idiosyncrasies –kitchens are special, individualistic Interior space!  (...or they should be!)
 
The outfitting of a kitchen should agree with the importance of a kitchen to the individual most likely to use it.  Your professional Interior design team knows that getting it right with your kitchen design is a top priority for a functional, balanced home.   Matching a kitchen design to its projected use and user is just good old common sense!
 
Home kitchens have evolved amazingly in recent decades.   The very early paradigm of kitchen as the family gathering place (often the only heated room in the house) has evolved and transitioned with many, many variations.   All reflect the residents’ lifestyle.

​For those familiar with flow charts and critical path planning in their everyday work, the meaning will jump right out! 
 
However, not everyone is involved with very close and precisely timed junctures in their ordinary work patterns.
 
Achieving your desired project completion date hinges on a series of activities, availabilities, choices, decisions and actions that must converge appropriately.   They are the functional elements that exist within each phase and aspect of your project, and are strategized by your design team at the front end of the project.  Also built into the plan are allowances for flexibility in situations not entirely predictable at the start.

​They come up in both perspectives of your design project:  Client and Contractor.  Large or small (real or imagined!) all are important because they have an effect on your project path.
 
Again, good communication tools and comfortable, open, comfortable relationships are the key to managing your concerns.  There is no concern too small to bring to the attention of your professional design team.  And, likewise, your designer will not hesitate to bring clarifications, questions and “mysteries” to your attention.
 
Large concerns are usually obvious to all the players and probably will quickly bring cooperative attention to bear for solutions.  Very small concerns (questions or momentary mysteries) might just be handled as they arise, where they occur, and not even cause a blip.
 
While the terminology “concerns” may seem vague or obtuse, most of us could quickly come up with examples!  In the course of a project there is often sudden concern for something all assumed was handled – usually by someone else!  And assumption is a concern in itself!

​It can be a real challenge to meet the holiday seasons with good taste that enhances – not harms --your year-round environment.   Whether you are planning for residential or business celebrations, take the time to think it through-- for good presentation and good use of funds.
 
Regarding Holiday Decorations, you will want to put enthusiasm and holiday spirit into all your efforts, but not compromise your basic decor, color scheming or furnishings.   Many of the things available for holiday ambiance come with some risk.  Some even present subtle forms of wear and tear to existing finishes and flooring.

​ Some can drive your design team stark raving nutz!
 
The serious side of this problem is no laughing matter, and nutz or not, time is money and that invoice in the mail is the bottom line clincher.  It is vital to know all the facts about how it got to that number.
 
We all like to think we are efficient – and prudent.  But, too often, little stuff adds up and disputes that assumption.
 
How efficient is it, for instance, to take four five- minute phone calls with your designer waiting each time (on the clock) to continue your meeting?  Do you think your professional should “give you” that quarter hour?   Or, when your designer arrives on time for your appointment and you keep them waiting thirty minutes – do you think they should clock off?  (You would not want your designer taking phone calls or texting while you were paying them to be focused on you!)

​Transform:  to change completely or essentially in composition or structure; to change the outward form or appearance of;  (Webster/Chambers/Oxford).
 
Professional Interior Design is a professional service that an expert drives and a client navigates.  The success or shortfall depends almost entirely on communication!   The “where to begin” and the “arrival at desired outcome” depend heavily on one component – client – imprinting another component – Interior designer or team – with the desired vision.  Easy?  Well, not always!
 
In “transformative” Interior design, the challenge antes-up considerably, and the journey is quite different when compared with Interior design that springs from existing patterns and tastes, refreshment Interior design that maintains and corrects, or remodeling Interior design that grows an environment with upgrades but preserves the known and obvious preferences.

There is never a shortage of grief when disaster sweeps through a region, leaving normalcy in the dust.    Disasters – man made or natural – seize temporary control of lives and circumstances.  Whatever the plans might have been, they have involuntarily been changed.  At the very least, they have been drastically delayed.
 
In situations where complete loss of property exists, the impacts of such loss are great; and, all of the fail-safes that businesses and homeowners have previously set in place must come into play. 
 
For some, however, such preparation may not have been an economic option.  Many have been set on a disastrous path of great loss with bleak prospects for regaining stability, any time soon, without the benefits of insurance and other protections.
​