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red or gold crushed velvet, cut pile damask, flocked wallpaper, lots and lots of fake wrought iron, lots of horrifically detailed dark wood furniture, usually had amber hanging lamps.
My aunt's house had all that, way back in the late 60s ... but her pendant lamps were avocado. As was the sofa, the rugs, the tablecloths ... but the kitchen and breakfast room were burnt orange.
My mom stuck with her Danish Modern furniture. She still has most of it, and 50+ years later, it still looks great. I told her I get dibs on the sofa when she's ready to part with it.
Maybe "the most talented" designers can't, but I can.
Designers don't live in the rooms they design.
My coffee table is one of my prized possessions. There will always be space for it.
ITA!
My Coffee Table is one of my most sentimental piece (DH loves it)... it is a pretty big piece of 40" X 40" square as seen in the pic.... than even a rectangle coffee table, where the space is much easier to work with since you have short section and longer sections (mine is locked in at 3 feet + no matter how you turn)...
And prior to this house (bigger space), I lived in many much smaller space (as many people from Boston, CT or even DC would know).... I still managed to "work" that space, with my chunky coffee table.
This coffee table is 10 years old and from a modern collection 2000 - 2001 Ligne Roset carries when Nelson Tables, Barcelona / Wassily chairs etc. make their "come back" from the 50s/60s.... Actually in the 20s and 30s there is already a modern piece from Eileen Gray.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopes
Your living room isn't truly small if you can fit a coffee table and a functional ottoman in it. Either that, or you like stepping over furniture.
This coffee table is more a "Collectible Antique" as many of my other furniture pieces are... so no ottomans (no matter how trendy) will replace it.
And even if the space does not allow for both (coffee table & ottoman)...
It would be a sacrilege to ditch say a nelson table for a "trendy" ottoman...
Most ottomans "material-wise" they'd deteriorate much faster than a metal & glass piece of furniture even IF they are "collectible".
A real true collectible piece (like antiques) will hold on to its real value ONLY when the material holds up and will be in its original shape, not when it is all crumbling and turning to dust.
And trend...
Trend comes and goes.
In a blink of an eye, part of 50s/60s (my fav. era) will make a come back again & again...
Maybe "the most talented" designers can't, but I can.
Designers don't live in the rooms they design.
My coffee table is one of my prized possessions. There will always be space for it.
Heres the deal about the bolded sentence.
Any decent designer is going to make the room work on a practical basis first, by not cramming the room full of furniture.
Our job is to observe how the clients live in their rooms, and then to translate those observations into a workable floor plan, based on those observations.
If someone told me that their coffee table was a prized possession, I would find a way to incorporate said table into the floor plan.
My aunt's house had all that, way back in the late 60s ... but her pendant lamps were avocado. As was the sofa, the rugs, the tablecloths ... but the kitchen and breakfast room were burnt orange.
My mom stuck with her Danish Modern furniture. She still has most of it, and 50+ years later, it still looks great. I told her I get dibs on the sofa when she's ready to part with it.
My mom still has all her solid walnut Danish Modern, its right at home with the English country look she is doing right now.
Heres the deal about the bolded sentence.
Any decent designer is going to make the room work on a practical basis first, by not cramming the room full of furniture.
Our job is to observe how the clients live in their rooms, and then to translate those observations into a workable floor plan, based on those observations.
If someone told me that their coffee table was a prized possession, I would find a way to incorporate said table into the floor plan.
I do agree with what you say totally...
And working with what a client have is usually quite typical especially in this economy... even more so in the future trends coming up where eco & green will be the focal point, thus "less waste" of space & materials (recycle aka reuse; important to note with the "labor" as well as with anything related).
Still...
One cannot deny that Ohiogirl is correct as well as in designers really don't "live in" the room they design (unless it is for themselves of course).
Because simply, how much time do you think an interior designer truly spend with their clients???
Unless their clients (these clients only comes with connections & well-reputated artists/designers/architects) possess big amount of money to spend (= less and less clients in this economy; do correct me if I am wrong since I am retired from the housing industry...) or they are close relatives or friends... time is still money for any working designer (say around $20-$50+ up per hour of consultation, $50-$100+ / hr for idea drafts, presentation board / computer generated layouts etc... , 5% - 30% mark ups of purchased materials and such especially at architectural firms? Even for free consultation even as "promo"... a designer will be even more hard press for time = money...). This economy is not going to make even Warren Buffet open up his purse strings too much for things that is quite redundant (when they have been there & done that... it is not though one hire a designer to do up their house/offices every week or month) KWIM?
All I can say is the designer hired can only best "interpret" how their clients lives (of course successful and awesome designers will do it very very well because simply of "creativity" & "adaptation" to be able to think outside the box)... because unless a "live-in" family members, that designer cannot forever "follow" that client as their collection of furniture / decor changes around them.
So in the sense of "live with"... Ohiogirl is quite right.
In the sense of a good designer being able to best interpret / read the needs of their clients... you are quite right.
P.S. Even if the commercial & housing space is not growing due to the economy... the needs for projects for interior designers/decor artists are (they still have to eat) and the schools are still churning out more and more designers & decorators to flood the pool. Just a fact... "jobs" are hard to come by no matter how one pushes for it, unless one is really really all that good and have a big name like Richard Meyer / Karim Rashid already attached to it.
And working with what a client have is usually quite typical especially in this economy... even more so in the future trends coming up where eco & green will be the focal point, thus "less waste" of space & materials (recycle aka reuse; important to note with the "labor" as well as with anything related).
Still...
One cannot deny that Ohiogirl is correct as well as in designers really don't "live in" the room they design (unless it is for themselves of course).
Because simply, how much time do you think an interior designer truly spend with their clients???
Since this is what I do, I feel I can answer this......while I am working on a job, I spend Monday-Friday 9 to 5 at a clients home, I am very hands on, I get a real sense of how they use the spaces, and can design a space that fills the needs of the client.
Unless their clients (these clients only comes with connections & well-reputated artists/designers/architects) possess big amount of money to spend (= less and less clients in this economy; do correct me if I am wrong since I am retired from the housing industry...) or they are close relatives or friends... time is still money for any working designer (say around $20-$50+ up per hour of consultation, $50-$100+ / hr for idea drafts, presentation board / computer generated layouts etc... , 5% - 30% mark ups of purchased materials and such especially at architectural firms? Even for free consultation even as "promo"... a designer will be even more hard press for time = money...). This economy is not going to make even Warren Buffet open up his purse strings too much for things that is quite redundant (when they have been there & done that... it is not though one hire a designer to do up their house/offices every week or month) KWIM?
Um, I'm not sure where you are going with this......I dont know anyone that charges less than $100 for the initial consult, after that, I usually charge by the job, not by the hour.
All I can say is the designer hired can only best "interpret" how their clients lives (of course successful and awesome designers will do it very very well because simply of "creativity" & "adaptation" to be able to think outside the box)... because unless a "live-in" family members, that designer cannot forever "follow" that client as their collection of furniture / decor changes around them.
So in the sense of "live with"... Ohiogirl is quite right.
In the sense of a good designer being able to best interpret / read the needs of their clients... you are quite right.
P.S. Even if the commercial & housing space is not growing due to the economy... the needs for projects for interior designers/decor artists are (they still have to eat) and the schools are still churning out more and more designers & decorators to flood the pool. Just a fact... "jobs" are hard to come by no matter how one pushes for it, unless one is really really all that good and have a big name like Richard Meyer / Karim Rashid already attached to it.
Theres plenty of work to go around, I can only speak for myself, but I work all over FL, and in MO as well.
Theres plenty of work to go around, I can only speak for myself, but I work all over FL, and in MO as well.
If so, good for you.
And it is very charitable of you here in the forum then, donating that time here.
As for the initial consultation of a $100 (makes sense actually if one have to drive out to the client's house... now I remember that Home Expo "when it was still in business" do use to do that too)... some furniture stores where in-house designers are "free" to get clients to buy... then a percent of that product goes to the designer (seen that done too). Worked with other designers who are also strictly by per hour as well... and remembered writing cheques out to them usually at the end of the day as it was proper.
Again to each their own I guess.
Given a choice, I'd much rather spend the time and purchase unique works at interior expos myself (then that piece will be special to me and I will get to know the maker/artist of that piece) than have spend the money on someone else to pick out a piece that I may or may not like (then have them tell me they cannot return it just because it is "special ordered").
$10 grand on a furniture or $6 grand on the designer & $4 for the furniture??? That $10 grand furniture every time... again, just me.
If so, good for you.
And it is very charitable of you here in the forum then, donating that time here.
As for the initial consultation of a $100 (makes sense actually if one have to drive out to the client's house... now I remember that Home Expo "when it was still in business" do use to do that too)... some furniture stores where in-house designers are "free" to get clients to buy... then a percent of that product goes to the designer (seen that done too). Worked with other designers who are also strictly by per hour as well... and remembered writing cheques out to them usually at the end of the day as it was proper.
Again to each their own I guess.
Given a choice, I'd much rather spend the time and purchase unique works at interior expos myself (then that piece will be special to me and I will get to know the maker/artist of that piece) than have spend the money on someone else to pick out a piece that I may or may not like (then have them tell me they cannot return it just because it is "special ordered").
$10 grand on a furniture or $6 grand on the designer & $4 for the furniture??? That $10 grand furniture every time... again, just me.
I'm working on a rendering this week for a client and shopping for antiques for another, I can multitask.
I charge more than $100 for a consult, the fee I ask for separates the folks that are merely trying to get ideas for nothing from the serious clients, most designers I know do the same.
I take a very long view with clients as far as design, I suggest they buy the best pieces they can afford, and not to buy anything they dont absolutely love, as they are going to have to live with the pieces we select for a long time.
99% of the time, I am called back after a few years to freshen up the rooms, or to work on something else they wish to do.
I dont advertise, my clients word of mouth recommendations are far better advertising than anything I could possibly think up.
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Maybe "the most talented" designers can't, but I can. 
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