Partnership is one of the most versatile terms in our language!  It can indicate anything from a formally documented legal business structure, all the way to quaint observations of Wolves and Whooping Cranes in nature that “partner” for life!  In our Interior Design context, there are all kinds of partnerships that occur just because of the nature of the work.
 
The first and most obvious, of course, starts with yourself and the Interior design expert you select to make your project vision come true.  Whatever you want to call your formal agreement – a Contract, a Memo of Clarification, a Job Order, etc.  – you will be working as informal partners in all stages of the plan.  Every aspect of your project that requires specific skill, specific materials, certifiable services, professional services, appropriate equipment manufacturers plus other necessities such as dependable communication, documentation and transportation, all amount to “secondary partnerships” for getting the job done.
 
However, as anyone who has ever been in any kind of a “partnership” knows – it can get tricky!    ​

It doesn’t seem to be the details themselves that bothers us; it’s how they are managed in a given situation.  When you place your design project in the hands of your design team, you buy into that team’s overall ”style,” and that of each of your project specialists.
 
Let’s face it.   Some styles can be annoying – particularly when they require accountability that may not line up with our own personal patterns.   Keeping all the balls in the air is very important.  There are many ways to manage the myriad details in projects of all sizes.  Flexibility and an open mind concerning perceived differences in how to handle the details is a benefit – not a handicap.

The simple, clean lines of a finished project do not reveal the hundreds of details that brought it all together.
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​That’s when your design team may be flattered, but at the same time, knows that part of the job will be helping the client to develop their own vision.  There are situations where a prospect makes it clear that they want a great environment, but don’t have a specific theme in mind, seem to have no materials preferences, color focus or the faintest idea where to begin!
 
Almost everyone has preferences!  Often the assertion:  “I really don’t care – I trust your judgment!” actually has to do with transposition.   For instance, you may know exactly what you want when you choose your clothing or select an automobile make, model and color, and a range of other situations where you make selections based on clear preferences.  But, envisioning how to pull a complex commercial or residential environment into balance and harmony seems monumental and unfocused.
 
It can be difficult to envision a favorite color, for instance, on the full expanse of a wall – though you love it in a necktie or sweater.  Picturing patterns on upholstery, paneling or flooring for a space sixty feet by eighty, for instance, is very different than for a vehicle.

​Where’s the middle ground?  How does your design expert make the selections for you to choose from?  One thing is certain, it is not from guesswork!
 
From initial contact, through documentation and all the subsequent steps and stages that lead to project completion, your professional design team is getting to know you.  That important process is one that continues – not one that is addressed and then at some point, is considered complete!
 
Your design vision may start with definite and specific form, but – like many art forms -- it continues to evolve.  As the project develops and becomes real, the subtleties and nuances of the original vision mature and shift.  Within the desired concept, the vision grows as each new choice is made, and as circumstances may influence

​You’ve hired your Interior Design team, you have signed all the paper work, paid your retainer and are ready to embark on the project – at last!  After a lot of careful consideration, you made the decision to stay put and not vacate your home or business site while the design project gets underway, then all the way to completion.  You have planned to accommodate the various crews, area by area, by “moving over, exercising patience, trying to stay out of the way – and offering your help wherever it might save time or money.”
 
Oh, boy...   Sometimes what looks like a white flag of truce and peace can turn into a big red flag signaling confusion and trouble ahead!  So, let’s take a look at options.
 
In some cases, it’s not a matter of moving out when a project begins, but delaying moving in.  Circumstances, funds, and timing do not always play out in harmony; often there may not be a choice.   The project may have to go forward with everyone present and accounted for.
 
Assuming that best case is not possible, and the less desirable choice must be tolerated, it’s good to remember it can be managed!   While not the most desirable of circumstances, it is possible to successfully conduct an interior design project while the business or family remains on site.

​Like a table with a missing leg, a project without the appropriate collaborative team just won’t stand up to its responsibilities.   It’s an invitation for confusion, mistakes, delays and collapse.
 
It is a rare project that can find its way to satisfactory conclusion without an integrated team and a commitment to teamwork.  Even the smallest project has parts that depend on other parts, skills and talents that come from several sources.   And there may be complex aspects that require special expertise.
 
Your design team is an orchestrated collaboration of the resources that your professional designer has determined essential from your plan guidelines.  It is important to know who needs to provide what, at what point in the process and in conjunction with which other procedures!    Coordinating the players, timing their interface, having what each needs when they need it, is the overriding design within the master design plan.
 
When your interior designer comes on board to your project, there may already be an architect deeply invested in master plans and construction drawings.  Most architects have a network of affiliations with specific commercial and residential interior designers.  They ordinarily invite the appropriate “match” to participate in their contracted project.

The client is always “in charge!”  That’s why the game sometimes changes without warning from their side of the table. 
 
Your design team manages a large pool of resources – all of which have operational scenarios of their own.  That’s why the game sometimes changes without warning from their side of the table!
 
Your professional design team is familiar with these negative possibilities.   It can be disruptive, but circumstances do sometimes unexpectedly alter cases.
 
There is, of course, the very human menu of reasons:  illness, unexpected financial reversals, a rift among principals, legal and compliance changes and similar situations.  But, sometimes the reason seems to turn on a whim or a communication glitch.  Suddenly there is a significant change in the project’s complex; it can shake the project’s foundation as well as the relationships.
 
Management of a game change requires a commitment to solutions from all concerned.   Clear communication, revised documentation and sincere efforts toward understanding cause and effects are vital for re-stabilizing the project.   
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​More often than not, a project in either a business or residential category leads to another project in the client’s other aspect.
 
When your design team has become immersed in the details of your commercial design project for business, professional practice or institution, they probably have gained extensive insights to the personal tastes that would also drive your residential environment design.
 
In the process of studying everything from function, color, lighting and sound preferences to ambiance and accessorizing, design experts are able to re-translate those insights from one site aspect to second or third site applications.  The huge advantage lies in the fact that the hours and dollars that have been invested in learning about the client’s tastes and budgeting disciplines have already been covered, in depth.  Very little of the basic groundwork must be re-visited.

​Sometimes it’s a hard sell, because putting the whole team together at the front end of your project may seem premature and cumbersome.  Some professionals may agree with that caution.  However, bringing all aspects into focus in the initial planning process has many advantages that outweigh the resistance to do so. 
 
Envisioning the full scope of a design project as early as possible can eliminate both misconceptions and serious conflicts further down the line.
 
Organizing your team leadership participators in brainstorming and troubleshooting eliminates unrealistic perceptions that may exist concerning factors of cost, feasibility and possibility!
 
If you are an old hand at design projects involving all modes from completely new build-outs to remodeling and refreshing, you will probably see the wisdom in addressing as much as possible, up front.  On the other hand, if you are new at the game, it is worth your while to take a breath and slow down a bit.   Jumping right in with a chosen first priority, then winging it as you move along -- continually searching for the next-needed expert – is a recipe for trouble.

​In several past articles I have discussed the important connections between the decisions and results of your commercial Interior design project and other aspects of your business enterprise.   From human factors to effective marketing, synergy needs to happen!
 
The space planning strategies, the traffic patterns that your employees, clients or customers must follow, the emotional and visual impacts of color --  and your choices concerning furnishing and equipment -- are all part of what your business projects to its consumers!
 
As time and innovation move on, many, many changes occur in the fields of health, furniture design, efficiency paradigms and performance technologies!  Those changes have large consequences!

​Be it a cottage, a nest, a classic or a mansion, one’s home is a personal and intimate place.  Homes are reflections and projections of their owners and occupants.  Most homes are desired havens from the external contrasts where individuals work, visit and take care of life’s other necessities.
 
When the interior design of someone’s home is entrusted to a professional team, it is an extraordinary privilege.  In order to achieve and deliver the personal vision of a residential client, design professionals must actually intrude upon that client’s tastes, dreams and comfort-zones.  Your designer must learn not only what you want for your home, but also how you feel about that environment.

​Commercial Interior Design has many disciplines to consider!  That’s one big reason why preliminary brainstorming and conferencing with a business client is very important.  Once the paper work is wrapped up, the planning process begins and needs to be thorough.
 
There are several aspects to any small business operation.  There are, of course, the central and primary services or products that the business offers to its community market.  Those entail appropriate space planning and development as well as coordination of all the finishes, equipment, furnishings, etc., necessary for the specific circumstances.  And, because Interior business space integrity is an essential part of the business marketing plan (or should be), the Interior design must comprehensively synchronize with the desired business image.

​It’s not quite the same bag as buying a used car, but it comes darn close!   Transforming an interior environment that includes a challenging set of “givens” – some that can’t be changed  but maybe a few that can be modified – is sometimes enough to make you lose your hair...
 
“As is” comes in many forms, shapes, sizes and complexities.  Often a new client puts it right up front:  No structural changes, no major modifications of existing configurations...just do what you can!   And, oh yes; the orange ceiling color stays.   Oh, boy.
 
Like most Interior Designers (and Architects) I welcome challenges!   Most of them make you stop short at first, then the wheels get turning and the Interior design team accepts that this one will be different.  It simply means that the planning, strategies and prospective Interior design concepts will have to develop from the old exposed pipes, the mystery box in the far corner of the (orange) ceiling, and the sloping concrete floor.   The client’s clear message of limitations rings in your ears.
 
All of such challenges are not quite as radical as the example above, but almost any fixed situation – be it color, structural anomalies, or immovable objects – immediately force the team to “react.”     Creative design is usually reactive primarily at the front end – listening to the concept the client has in mind, learning the negative stipulations and/or limitations (including financial) and learning their Vision.  Then, the Interior designer moves into “active” mode, creating the client’s vision from their talent, knowledge of resources and understanding of the problems and possibilities.

​When considering your Interior Design Vision, you probably initially consider how you want it to look!  Next in line follow the important considerations of feel, function, purpose and support.  Those are the other sides of your design vision for which your professional designer takes responsibility on your behalf.  
 
Not everyone with a picture in their mind automatically sees the best ways to connect their visual preferences to those critical “other aspects” that will result in a successfully performing finished project.
 
Wanting your investment in your environment to be beautiful, to be in line with current style trends and to be attractive to the relevant market is predictably typical.  That desire (and goal), while credible and doable, does not – in itself – cover all the essential bases.
 
A commercial environment must meet many criteria to qualify as a successful installation.  Its overall design integrity, its specific configurations, the detail applications and its responsibility to appropriate functionality are high on the list of essentials.  A beautiful appearance with few or poor functional components that address the purpose of the environment, just will not work successfully, over time.

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!
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