Surprises You Wouldn’t Like!

​There’s a very long list of awful Interior Design “surprises” you wouldn’t like – but let’s explore just a few!
 
One of my favorites (that I have experienced several times with equally surprised clients) happens when a client wants to refurbish – or restore – an old building.  It could be residential or commercial –but it’s true for both: the older the building the more the surprises and more expensive!    You can almost bet that behind those walls amazing features may be discovered.  In one situation, we discovered that two major support beams must have been “in the way” for some resident years ago; they just sawed them off, top and bottom, for a better furniture arrangement in their living room.  Luck must have been in their favor and that of subsequent residents.  The upper floors started to sag a little, but fortunately hadn’t yet collapsed.   Advice?  If you are interested in fixing up an old property, get your General Contractor to do a thorough inspection before you make changes!
 

The marriage of light and materials needs to be a good match!  You want your Interior Vision to match the reality! ​

Another favorite involves lighting and various materials.  Everything in an Interior space is affected by the mode of lighting.  There’s, of course, probably some natural light.  Then there are several options of manufactured lighting:  incandescent, florescent, etc.  The surprises occur when inexperienced individuals select a lighting mode that isn’t right for the colors and textures that are also in that Interior space.   I have worked with clients who called in exasperation because they selected paint colors or fabric textures and colors that looked great until installed.  Then “...everything looked different – not at all what I thought I had chosen!”   The lesson in this dilemma is simply about knowing what happens to specific colors, materials and textures when exposed to different modes of lighting.  Advice?  Consult with an expert in whatever aspect you are considering.  Paint and paint types (matte, gloss) absorb and reflect light differently!  In the process, the other colors in that same environment also can change.  Fabrics absorb and reflect light and can give you different results than what you were expecting.
 
Another set of surprises lies in wait as you make important decisions concerning the durability of some materials such as floor coverings.   The wrong choice in a critical area, such as high traffic places, can be disappointing and expensive.   Entryways are not the places for vulnerable materials!  Choose appropriately for the expected use.   You don’t want to be surprised that in a very short time most of your carpeting looks great -- except where people enter and exit!   Advice?  Ask your profession Interior expert (or flooring source) about products that offer visual continuity AND appropriate durability for specific adjacent use areas.
 
Surprises should be saved for neat things like birthdays -- or triplets when you thought it would be twins – not surprises like the folks who opened up the wall of an old Victorian mansion and found a human skeleton! 
 
Advice?  Getting the right guidance from sources you can trust is worth the time and hesitation.  Most advice is at no charge.    And, “do it yourself” is much more fun when it doesn’t backfire!
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