20 lessons
I started in this industry 20 years ago as a design center assistant, knowing absolutely nothing about the technical side of the industry. I couldn’t tell you about various types of countertops and their maintenance, which tiles are appropriate for walls but not floors, or that your farm sink has to be onsite and installed prior to template. After about two years in that role, I realized that interior design was my passion and it inspired me to enroll at The Art Institute of Tucson. I had a few amazing instructors and mentors, and I am still connected with them to this day!
Shortly before college graduation, I had secured a job a luxury furniture showroom in Tucson. The experience taught me the ins and outs of high-end design. I learned everything from area rug scaling, fabric types and their durability, to accessorizing and window treatments. (I think I’m the only designer that LOVES window treatments.) It’s so important to make sure you know that the furniture you are ordering fits through your front door or that it clears angles down hallways and into bedrooms. My parents ordered a giant computer desk and hutch when I was younger and the delivery team had to take the screen off the window of the bedroom and maneuver it through the window. Luckily it was a single story house.
I worked at that showroom for a brief period of time before moving into the builder world. This is where things got real. I learned a lot in college, don’t get me wrong. But nothing prepared me for the real world besides...the real world. I managed a design showroom for local builders and retail clients, creating interiors for everything from smaller production homes to expansive custom builds. I averaged roughly 240 homes per year (the job was not for the faint of heart). Not only was I fully submerged very quickly into the world of tile and granite, but I was also taught how to estimate. I handled everything from the interior finish selections to the drawings to the estimating, including slabs. The pattern of the slab and the layout determines your slab count. Are we waterfalling the island? If there has to be a seam, where is it going? We need to bookmatch it. Are we doing a 3” miter? Full height splash or will we be doing tile instead? SO. MANY. DETAILS.
I want to share some key tips and lessons I’ve learned over my 20 years in the industry. Although some seem small, they can have a huge impact on the project.
PT 1
SPEND THE MONEY
Trust me. As long as this doesn’t hurt your savings account, spend the money. In six months, you will forget the extra cost, but you will still love your new space, and money always comes back. Settling for a sectional that’s “good enough” and then not liking it in a year and wishing you had just spent the money is a crappy feeling. More often than not, I have seen people decide to get rid of a piece of furniture they’ve settled for and get what they really wanted initally, and now they are out the money they spent the first time around and the money for the new piece. I’m here to save you money in the long run.
COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION
You cannot over communicate in design and construction. If you are thinking something or have a question, say it. Ask it. Don’t be afraid to speak up! You know how you live in your house better than your contractor does. We’re all human and as much as we try to cover all of our bases, sometimes things slip through the cracks. Especially when dealing with multiple trades involved on a job, it’s best to keep everyone in the loop. One small misstep can create a domino effect of delays that can sometimes be costly - think multiple plumber or fabricator trips.
I helped my sister get a new sofa a couple years ago and there is a height difference between us. (My younger sister is about 3" taller than me!) I spent a couple hours sourcing the perfect sofa based off of the requirements she and I discussed. 2-seat sofa with extra wide seats and lumbar support, both with power recliners and usb ports. She wanted it to be modern looking with wide arms and a firm seat. I tested out a few and narrowed it down to the best one that checked all of the boxes. The headrest even moved independently from the rest of the sofa providing extra support, I was thrilled. She sat down in it and fully reclined and said, "Oh, I want to make my head is fully supported so I can doze off in it if I want." We had to start our search over. This was a major feature that she wanted in a sofa, but didn't tell me and since she was my sister I said, "Don't you think you should have mentioned that??" LOL Sometimes these little details get overlooked, and if it's not something that is a common request, it's easy to miss. As designers, we try to cover everything we can possibly think of, but we do not read minds. If something is a must, please tell us!
MEASURE TWICE, ORDER ONCE
You know the saying "Measure twice, cut once" right? In my line of work, I measure and run my square footages twice before ordering - and these days I rely heavily on my installers for SFs. One simple oversight or math error can result in a potentially costly mistake, or you end up with too little or too much tile.
When I first was learning to estimate, I didn’t pay attention to the square footage per sheet of a particular mosaic I was specifying for a client’s kitchen backsplash. Most mosaics are roughly 1 SF/sheet, but not all. This one was about 0.4 SF/sheet, which means my installers had half the material they needed for the job, and I charged her half of what I should have. Needless to say, I never made that mistake again. This can also apply to measuring your space and the furniture you are purchasing for the space. Before ordering an oversized couch or dresser, double check that it can fit through various hallway angles, stairwells or elevators. Oftentimes, the delivery team will stand things on their end and carry it through, assuming your ceiling heights allow for it.
IT LOOKS WORSE BEFORE IT LOOKS BETTER
Whether you are building your home or remodeling, things always look worse before they look better. Allow everything to come together before judging. Tear out isn’t pretty. It’s messy and dusty and can take days depending on the size of the project, and the more that is demo’d, the worse it looks. If your house is being built and doesn’t have drywall up yet, your space will look incredibly dark and smaller than you imagined – which can create a bit of anxiety.
When working on a furniture project, I highly recommend my clients wait for everything to arrive and have items delivered together. Let’s say your sectional gets delivered before your area rug and coffee table, but you have your end tables and lamps. It looks unfinished (because it is!) and the sofa now looks out of place. I promise everything will come together in the end better than you imagined. It’s important to trust the process.
DOCUMENT EVERYTHING
I learned this when I was pretty young from my mom who used to work at a law firm before I was born. She used to document everything – conversations with customer service representatives, who she spoke with and the date the time. You never know when you might need it. Document conversations you feel might be significant to the project and follow up with emails confirming discussions. Although we try to keep changes to a minimum, they happen. In most cases, change orders are created and the client signs off on it. Please read your change orders for accuracy before you sign. Oftentimes a client will be back and forth on a few different options so much that it becomes confusing to everyone, even the client at times. It’s so important that you make sure the most recent change order reflects your final decision.
This is where documentation comes in. I kept a piece of paper in each of my client files for notes. Every time a client called me to discuss potentially changing something, I noted the date, time and what we discussed. Even if they didn’t go through with it, I noted it. I once had a client swear up and down they selected one type of edge for their countertop, but what was signed for and installed was a different edge. They had thought about changing it several times, but never did.
EMBRACE IMPERFECTION
I’m also talking to myself here. Those of you that know me know that I strive for perfection and sometimes to the detriment of my mental. I spare no details in design and this is why clients hire me. BUT, nothing is perfect. While we utilize machinery to fabricate countertops and furniture, we frequently work with naturally imperfect materials (leather, wood, quartzite, marble, etc.) and at the end of the day, we are all humans working together to create this beautiful space. Maybe you find the most stunning slab of quartzite and once it’s laid horizontally, you notice all of the fissures that create a difference in the appearance of the finish throughout the slab. This is certainly something I point out prior to making the final selection of the slabs, however it’s easy to miss some of them when slabs are upright when viewing.
Have you heard of wabi-sabi? It’s a Japanese aesthetic that recognizes and accepts beauty in imperfection. Appreciate the fissures and inconsistency in the finish on your quartzite. Learn to love the variety in your full-grain leather sofa, scars and all. Notice and embrace the variances in your marble tile. This is part of Mother Nature, and it’s beautiful. Let it be imperfect, there is perfection in that. If that is not something you are ok with, I would guide you to a man-made product that is more likely to be consistent in finish and texture.
CHOOSE YOUR GROUT CAREFULLY
Grout can drastically change the appearance of a tile, especially an intricate mosaic comprised of mixed materials like marble, metal, stone, glass, etc. A natural marble or porcelain marble look tile can look lighter and softer with a coordinating grout and then look darker or have more contrast with a darker grout.
Choosing a grout is not just for aesthetics, you also need to consider your lifestyle. Depending on the surface the tile is being applied to, how do you function in that space? If this is a backsplash, are you a messy cook and splash oil and spaghetti sauce up onto the backsplash when cooking? If this is flooring, do you have kids and dogs that are in and out of the house and might drag in dust and dirt? There are some options available to help mitigate potential grout staining as well. Nothing is stain-proof. Light grout shows dirt and stains and dark grout shows water build up in the shower. Grout in general is maintenance, but there are some ways to make it easier on you.
DESIGN FOR YOUR LIFESTYLE
And on that note, never bend your habits to fit the space or the aesthetic. Always stay true to who you are and design for your lifestyle. Sure, there may be some habits you’d like to change or start and that’s perfectly ok, but in general if it’s a pretty big habit that needs changed, most likely it won’t.
I had a client a few years ago want to completely change her aesthetic. She wanted an off-white vegan leather sofa with a light soft pink and off-white abstract patterned rug. My very first question was about her daily habits – does she eat and drink on the sofa? Does she use lotions or oils? Does she wear shoes in the house? As much as she wanted to change all of these habits, she didn’t, and within roughly a year, her sofa had color transfer on it from her jeans and her rug was dirty from her shoes. Her cleaning habits were also not as often as they should be, thus creating the perfect storm. Once color transfer is embedded into the sofa like that, it’s nearly impossible to clean and keep clean.
If you don’t squeegee your shower tile and glass after every shower, consider a neutral tile with some pattern or visual texture that will help hide water spots, especially if you have harsh water like we do in Phoenix. I’m a crazy about my shower. I squeegee the walls, the glass, and then I squeegee the floor, moving the water down into the drain. After that, I wipe down the fixtures and the shower door handle with my towel. Now my furniture? That’s a different story. I’m high maintenance enough, I don’t want my furniture to be.
AREA RUGS ANCHOR YOUR SPACE
There is much debate and varying opinions about area rugs. Size, placement, and whether or not they are ok on top of carpet. But what all designers can on agree on is this: area rugs anchor your space. They keep your furniture grounded visually and stop them from appearing to just be floating around your space. I am a firm believer in area rugs, no matter what surface they are going on. If you have carpet in your bedroom, you still need a rug. Now because of that, the types of area rugs we want to look at will be a little more limited than if you had hard surface flooring, like tile or engineered wood.
The sizing of the rug is sort of up for debate. Here is my opinion. If you have a queen bed, you want at least a 6x9, maybe an 8x10. If you have a king bed, you want an 8x10. If you have a bench at the end of your bed, you will want to size up with rugs, that way the bench doesn’t appear to be hanging on for dear life. You can also play with the position of the rug and pull it out a skosh further towards the foot of the bed. But you need to make sure it’s still close enough to the head of the bed so that when you step out of bed, your feet hit the rug. If the rug is too big, it will look like the room is missing furniture, so keep that in mind. Living rooms are a little different with the sizing and placement of area rugs, and there is a lot more wiggle room. This largely depends on the overall look you are wanting to achieve and how much space you have.
SELECT YOUR PLUMBING FIXTURES WAY IN ADVANCE
This might seem unnecessary, but there is a reason why your plumber needs to know what your fixtures in your shower will be well in advance. When I was managing the design center, it wasn’t necessary that I knew what plumbing fixtures my clients selected (aside from a farm sink, but we’ll get to that later), but their builder and their plumber definitely needed to know far in advance. Working with a builder vs a general contractor is different in a lot of ways, but the general processes are somewhat similar. When I say builder, I'm referring to more of the production builders, whether they are national or local.
I had a client that selected a basic showerhead and trim, then a couple months later changed their mind and decided to go with an a ceiling mounted rain showerhead and a handheld. Here is why communication is SO important. The plumbing was already done and the shower was already tiled. The vendor offering the plumbing fixtures for the builder should have called the builder to ask where they were in construction and they would have been told it was too late to change. Truth be told, it’s never too late – but how much time and money do you want to invest to change something? Typically, a builder will not change something like this and a general contractor will if you want to pay for it. That is one major difference between the two. Sometimes it's not that complicated and it's a simple fix. But be prepared that sometimes it is that complicated.
Know what you want well in advance. If you think you might want something more luxurious, make that decision before the plumbing is done. Save yourself the time and the money. See my very first piece of advice: spend the money!
PT 2
GO BIG WITH ART
I’m not saying to go ridiculously big with your art, but make a statement! Art is the jewelry of our homes. We use art to tie in colors, set the mood or show off our personalities. Art should be proportionate to what it is hanging above or next to, and/or the size of the wall. And yes, art can be pricey – I understand this – but it’s important to select appropriately sized art for the space. Larger art naturally gives off a more luxurious look. If a larger piece of art is not something you have room for in the budget at the moment, that’s ok. I recommend you hold off on purchasing anything and save up for the right piece.
BUDGET ADDITIONAL TIME AND MONEY FOR THE UNEXPECTED
Anything is possible in design and construction, and I mean anything. Life happens, things break, items are on backorder, etc. I am currently waiting on a quilt for a client’s bedroom that was ordered in the beginning of May and is still on backorder. When it was ordered, it was not showing backordered and about a week later, status updated to “on backorder” and the date keeps getting pushed. Almost 4 months later, I think I’m going to just start searching for other options.
Many years ago when I worked at the builder design center, my installers went out on an install for a kitchen countertop and the top broke in transit. My shop absorbed the cost to replace it, and thankfully it was not a one of a kind piece of stone, but nonetheless my client was now without a countertop for another week and a half-ish while my shop ordered a new slab and fabricated it.
I know from experience how frustrating it is when furniture arrives damaged, only to find it is discontinued or on backorder. Shopping around for other pieces takes time and oftentimes you find something you like and it costs you more.
PAINT IS A LOT MORE COMPLICATED THAN YOU THINK
Paint is a mood, not just a color. Have you ever walked into a space and felt cozy? Energized? Relaxed? Paint has this effect on a space. There is research that shows that red and yellow can trigger our appetites (think McDonald’s and In n Out) just like deep greens and blues can have a calming affect on our nervous system, making us feel relaxed. Paint plays such an important role in our homes. It affects our moods whether or not we think it does.
Have you ever wondered why there are thousands of paint options? Because the color of white you select can go yellow, beige, gray, blue, green or pink depending on what you have next to it. I always advise my clients to put up samples of the paint in their space and watch how it changes throughout the day. Notice how it looks at 7am when you are just getting your day started, 3pm and then 9pm after the sun has set. If there is a contrast to flooring (such as a warm gray paint and a wood tone floor), notice how the gray looks throughout the day. Grays also have a number of undertones that can come out and affect the overall look. The paint can appear to “turn colors” and either enhance or ruin the room’s look.
When I was in college, I designed my sister’s first home. The whole thing was a disaster. We selected a gray paint that in some lighting turned purple and made the white paint on the ceiling look yellow and the tile went from a neutral brown to a muddy green brown. Mastering paint selection takes years of experience and trial by error. Because every color carries a subtle undertone, you have to test swatches in different lights and place them next to other hues in your home to truly see how they behave.
KNOW YOUR CEILING HEIGHTS
This is especially important for accent walls and shower and fireplace surrounds. When I first started working for the design center, my design process for showers was simply selecting a beautiful tile with a decorative band and was happy with that. The colors looked great, right? I had an installer call me early on and walk me through the reasoning behind why it was so important to know my ceiling heights, count my tiles, and then adjust the sizing of the band accordingly. He made perfect sense, and it wasn’t just about making his job easier either, although I’m all for doing whatever I can to make my trades lives easier. Take care of your installers and they take care of you!
Most of the time, there will be cuts in a shower or on a fireplace surround or accent wall, especially when working with existing walls and ceilings. I’m not suggesting that you ditch your favorite tile if there has to be a cut, but I am saying to take that into consideration. Oftentimes tiles have a number of different sizes available within the line, and sometimes a custom size can be ordered. If you’re feeling really creative, you can order larger tiles and have your installers cut them to the size you want. I’ve done that a couple times, although the labor is quite a bit more costly for obvious reasons.
ALLOW 8-12 WEEKS FOR FURNITURE AND WINDOW COVERINGS
Typically, furniture and window coverings take 8-12 weeks for delivery, sometimes longer, but this is a pretty standard time frame. There are a few exceptions of course: purchasing furniture in the stocked fabric/leather choices, floor models and some window treatments like cell shades or roller shades. If you have a large holiday party you are hosting, please plan appropriately for your furniture delivery. This goes for your remodels especially! To be safe, I suggest padding your schedule with an extra two weeks for any unforeseen issues. (See the section above about budgeting additional time)
PLEASE DON'T STAND ON YOUR COUNTERS!
We’ve all been there. We need to change a bulb and don’t feel like dragging out the step ladder. But PLEASE do not stand on your counters. Slabs are heavy and durable, and a lot are very dense, but they can still crack. They are most vulnerable at the seams and across the unsupported spans of the cabinet opening. You will see some professionals standing on counters – and they have a methods for where to stand and how they shift weight onto the counter. I’m not sharing those methods with you because I do not want you on your counters. Protect your investment!
HAVE YOUR DUCTS CLEANED AFTER A REMODEL
Remodels are really messy and really dusty. No matter how much plastic and tape is used to section off the room you are remodeling, fine dust and particles get into the vents. Once your remodel is complete, I highly recommend scheduling a professional duct cleaning first, followed by a thorough whole-home deep clean.
SOME MATERIALS ARE NOT APPROPRIATE FOR FLOORS AND FIREPLACES
General rule of thumb: All floor tile can be installed on a wall, but wall tile is never suitable for the floor. And not all materials can be used around a fireplace opening. Be sure whatever material you are selecting is appropriate for the application.
When I first started in the industry, I wasn’t trained on the technical side of products – in fact, the thought never even crossed my mind. I trimmed a client’s fireplace with a beautiful black bullnose only to get that unexpected phone call a month or so later: the trim was popping off. We had to remove the trim and find a thin, suitable replacement to avoid ripping out some of the tile. I found a black marble bullnose that was quite a bit more expensive (and that came out of my pocket), but it was necessary to solve the problem and ultimately make my clients happy!
Understanding the product you are specifying, the client you are specifying it for, and where it’s being applied is crucial in design. Some materials might be appropriate for a floor, but not for the client. My parents had a polished tile in their home many years ago and I encouraged them to replace it before one of them slipped and fell but they didn’t want to spend the money. Understandable – flooring isn’t cheap. One day my dad slipped and fell and they called me right away to redo the floors. Luckily he didn’t injure himself, it could have been a lot worse. While conversations about getting older can be uncomfortable, they are incredibly important. I like to make light of the situation and help my clients laugh it off and understand that anyone of any age can get hurt, all it takes is one melted ice cube on a polished floor while wearing socks. My back would be out of commission for days if I slipped and tried to catch myself, or even worse, fell.
THE FARM SINK
Farm sinks are gorgeous and they come in all different styles and materials. I’m a sucker for a cool farm sink! I had a friend many years ago that ordered a farm sink and let her cabinet designer know about it, but she didn’t tell any other trade because she didn’t think anyone else needed to know. And to the outsider, that is a totally valid thought. She also didn’t have her plumber install it prior to template either. Now, this goes back to why communication is so important. Her countertop fabricator should have asked extremely thorough questions, the sink being pretty damn close to the top of the list. When template day arrived, the fabricator was unable to proceed because the sink wasn’t installed. My friend had to scramble to get the plumber in and have the sink installed and then re-schedule the template, all of which added about a week to the timeline. And when you’re living without countertops, a week is a lifetime. (This is where I come in!) Hiring a designer to oversee the process and communicate with contractors will drastically reduce your stress and minimize mistakes.
DON'T BE AFRAID TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!
Sometimes we get so in our heads that we can’t see the forest for the trees. We’ve put so many hours into figuring out an obstacle that sometimes it shuts us down to thinking outside the box. We put labels on furniture and don’t necessarily think to use them anywhere else but for the room they “belong in.” I’m currently working with a client who lives in a high rise and storage is essential. I found a dresser and we are using it as her living room TV console, because why not? I just gave her a TV console AND 6 drawers of storage. To some, this seems like a kind of obvious answer, but to those who often suffer with analysis paralysis, it really prevents the creativity from flourishing at times. A designer friend of mine just color drenched an entire den in black paint when she struggled to balance a bold wallpaper accent wall. It was scary at first, but the end result was stunning.
Think about solving current furniture issues by using other pieces. If you’re stuck on a vanity for your bathroom, think about converting a really unique piece of furniture, or creating a floating vanity with an apron front out of slab or metal. If you are completely revamping a bathroom and you want to save money, you will want to keep the plumbing in the current locations. But how do you totally reenvision that space without moving the plumbing? It takes some ingenuity and out of the box thinking! Don’t be afraid. Exceptional designs often spark from unconventional ideas!