Tuesday, March 10, 2009

When a designer needs to hire a designer.

I love design. I love putting a color palette together, I love picking out furniture, I love doing space plans for my clients. I love it all. I really love the look on a client's face when they see their newly designed room for the first time. I love helping people achieve the vision they have in their minds for their home. So...why is it that I have can't find the vision for my own home??
We moved into our house about 8 months ago. We painted the bedrooms, a few bathrooms, hung some window treatments and replaced a lot of lights. The entire process took about a month, and I am lucky I did not develop an ulcer or rip all my hair out. Making decisions for other people is easy for me. I can do it in my sleep, I dream of a client's home and it is a sweet wonderful dream. If I dream about my own home, I am jolted awake in a panic! It is very stressful designing my own home. Maybe it is the pressure of being a designer and thinking my own home should be a "show palace" of sorts. Maybe I am worried that I will pick the wrong color or fabric and live each day hating my house. Whatever the reason, I have had many moments that I wished I could hire my own designer to make the decisions for me.
However, I am grateful for the experience. I can sympathize with clients that are fearful of something new. I always think every meeting with a client is fun and exciting, but I wonder if they are laying awake at night panicking about the colors I suggested or the sofa I told them they should buy. Or, maybe they are relieved that someone else is doing the work for them. They can go to bed at night and not think about all the colors of paint and all the choices they have to make about tile. Maybe I make their lives a little bit easier. I love that part of my job, making others lives easier. That sounds really nice!
Now...who is going to do that for me??? Ugh, why did I tell my husband I wanted to paint the kitchen and the family room this weekend. Well, I didn't really need to sleep tonight anyway! Look for blog updates on the next design project for my home. If you don't hear from me for awhile, don't worry, I'm just sleeping!

1 comment:

CarolAnne - camdesign said...

Completely understand, it is normal, I have asked all the ladies in my office and a few designers and they have all said they have to talk it over with a design friend...
I am going to help one of them to do her basement later this year...and she does whole homes and condos everyday...
So start with a floor plan and fabric...area rug, artwork...you know the drill... pretend it is not for you and give yourself the answers to the space planning etc...paint is just a color pulled from the fabrics...if all that fails...email me and I will help
Regards, Carol Ann
camdesign@shaw.ca