Hiring a designer.

It’s so important to hire the right designer and it’s incredibly hard to do, especially if it’s your first time, because you don’t know what you don’t know. Hiring an architect and builder is equally important, if not more, and I’ll cover that in a later blogpost.

1. Hiring: Word of mouth, but still ask for references. Take the time to speak with previous clients and if you can, look at their work in-person. So much will be gleaned from being in a space that was built and designed by the person you’re considering hiring. But also, if you pickup on something negative that a reference says, believe them. In our case, we heard a theme from the references that the designer we were considering was very pushy, was unorganized, and not transparent in their budgets.We let this slide, thinking we could manage around it, but we were wrong.. and we hired wrong. If you hear something a theme, don’t ignore it! It will come back around and you’ll have to deal with it sooner or later.

2. Understand communication style. Make sure you’re clear on how the designer wants to be communicated with. Will they respond to your texts? Only email with a lag in response? Make sure it works with your style.

3. Dig into their process. Some designers will only present you with one option for everything their spec’ing, others will provide multiple options and really listen to your guidance. Some have their own agenda and push their vision onto you. This works great for some clients, but if you’re like me, you want more collaboration and optionality. Make sure you understand what type of a designer you’re working with: do they dictate or do they collaborate? Also make sure you understand the process for presentations and revisions.

4. Availability. Dig into how available the designer is. Will they show up and stick with you through all the tedious design work, like lighting walk throughs and cabinet shop drawings? Or do they have other projects and deadlines that they are prioritizing. Set expectations up front for the type of involvement you will need from them.

5. Billing. Everyone prices differently and being on the client side, I found it very hard not to feel taken advantage of. Make sure you understand their billing rates, the billing rates of their team-members, how invoices are detailed and put together, and how you should expect to be billed (and what their markup is) for any procurement.

6. Don’t be afraid to walk away. If it feels wrong, trust your gut. No matter how far into the process you are, you should feel free to make decisions that are best for you and the space you are building. It’s not too late, design is always salvageable and you should feel excited by the creativity. If something feels off with your designer, best to cut ties and find a new one.

Finding the home.

Have you spent years camping on dewy grass on a lot you bought a decade ago, learning the geography of your property and how the light falls in different seasons? Or did you impulse purchase and overpay for a home later to realize it needs to be taken to the studs? Guilty! Whether you’re grouped with the former or the latter or somewhere in-between, or you’ve yet to jump into home ownership, you still have work to do to find the home.

Who do you want that home to be?

And who do you want to be in it?

How do you want to feel tracing a hand on its walls, walking barefoot on its floors, and soaking in its bathtub.

I encourage you to daydream and lose yourself in thought imagining walking up the stairwell and plopping onto a couch. Waking up in the morning and meandering to the kitchen. Coming in from a run and tossing your sneaks and dirty clothes in a mudroom.

The form, function, textiles, textures, colors, light — it will all make the home, and you have got to figure out what you want your home to be.