FENNY SAYS: WHO SETS THE BUDGET?

So… we are back to the budget issue. We have touched on it previously on this blog but it’s something that keeps rearing its head over and over again. We’re going to take another look at it because there’s nothing more stressful than when clients ask us to give them an idea how much it will cost to redesign their space.

Let me begin by asking you this. If you wanted to buy a car, would you not know how much you have available to spend? Once you know that, you already know the brands you can check and the brands you shouldn’t bother with. In addition to this, wouldn’t you also know if you want – a two door or a five-door car? an automatic or manual gear system? And a few other specifications depending on how detailed you want your search to be.

This scenario should be the same if you want to hire an interior designer to work on your home/office or whatever it may be. You need to give us this information so we know how deep we can go in the designing of your space. We can use Marble or we can use Ceramic tiles. Many design features serve the same purpose but some are just more luxurious than others so it is very important to inform and be informed when starting a project or making an investment (and yes I see interior design as an investment) especially when you can find information on just about anything on the Internet. Now I’m sure you’re wondering- “what is the point of an interior designer if I have to do all this” and to answer this question,

Your Interior Designer will do what’s best for you and your space. We will advice you on what fits in your budget, what doesn’t, what fits in your design style, what doesn’t, what works for your space and what doesn’t and most importantly, ensure that the proposed designs fit your personal preference.

I understand that someone who is not in the profession and has little knowledge of it may find it challenging to do extensive research, but you are the client so start from yourself because you matter most. Think about the minimum or maximum you have to spend and that would be an excellent start because truthfully the job can always fit into the budget the same way that you can buy a pair of shoes for N10,000 as well as N100,000. You can’t buy a N100,000 pair if you only have N50,000 in the bank.

I hope we’ve been able to shed a little more light on the issue, however if you have any questions or contributions, they are very welcome.

Brand your Interior Space.

There should be a seamless integration between a company and its interior space and the one thing that brings them together is the brand. The brand is what makes a company unique and it is important to always look for mediums to strengthen the brand. It is not one of the popular ones but Interior Design has its own way of strengthening a brand. The interior space plays a very important role in winning clients over and earning their loyalty, even more important than the product as the space is the first aspect of a brand that clients relate with.

Chanel Store, Neiman Marcus, Las Vegas.

Apple is one of the strongest brands today and that is not only because of their products. It is because of the seamless relationship between their products and everything that surrounds these products. Everything looks like everything; their phones look like their laptops, their laptops look like their website and their website looks like their store.

Apple Store, Santa Monica

The most important thing to do when designing a space for a company is to understand their brand. You must go through their mission statement, understand their logo and use the brand as your design inspiration. This will help you develop a design concept that adequately translates the essence of the company’s brand and helps ensure that clients experience the story of your brand when they enter the space.

Google Office, Budapest

In 2014, I developed a design concept for Christian Dior and this helped me understand the importance of interior branding. At first, I found the brief very challenging because I didn’t understand the brand and wanted to go straight into designing the space. After getting understanding of the Dior Brand, it became easier to design the space and choose the right colours, materials, textures, finishes and furniture to use. I named the concept- The Evolution of Fantasy because I thought that covered my understand of the brand.  I think I did a very good job with the design as I have come across pictures of a few Dior stores around the world that are quite similar to the one I designed but see for yourself and tell me your thoughts in the comments.

MY DIOR CONCEPT

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EXISTING DIOR STORES

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Design Around Your Signature Piece

Signature pieces are the best way to interpret your personality in your space. They are pieces that reflect who you are and should make anyone that knows you smile because they understand exactly why you have it. A signature piece can be art, furniture, wallpaper, an accessory… anything . They are amazing but they can also be very tricky if you don’t understand how to work with it. The first thing to understand or accept is that your space will belong to your signature piece but if you pick the right piece that interprets your personality then that should not be a problem. The signature piece defines the colours that you can use, it may even pick the theme of your space for you and also the layout of the space.

Source- Matteo Nunziati

Many people believe that a signature piece either jumps at you or you spend time struggling to find the piece (or pieces) that is (are) right for you. I think your signature piece should jump at your from across the store or gallery. I don’t think you should go looking for it, I think you just spot it and it makes a statement immediately. That “you had me at hello” type of situation.

Source- Live Stylish Daily

Once you find your piece, you should see it as a guide to help you design your space. Whether you are moving into a new home and designing from scratch or you simply want to redecorate. A signature piece will help you streamline the colours that you can use in your space as not all colours would go with your piece except your signature piece is white, black, grey or any other neutral colour. My advice is that you should go bold with your signature piece except you choose to have more than one signature piece in your space. Yes, you can have more than one signature piece. The main piece needs to find you first and the you can go in search of more pieces that compliment it. Make sure all your signature pieces compliment each other so you don’t have too many pieces fighting for attention .

Source- Wall Art Prints Australia

When you’re designing around your signature piece, size matters. If your signature piece is a small item, you should place it where it will always be seen so that it doesn’t get lost and if your signature piece is a big piece, you should give it its own breathing space, don’t crowd it with too many things because that will cause clutter.

Source- Best Interior Designers

There are so many design ides you will get when designing or redecorating your space. Sometimes, all you need is a signature piece to guide you in you design process and finish up your space perfectly.

 

Free your Space!!!

Clutter is possibly Interior Design’s biggest enemy. It goes against everything Interior Design believes in. It hurts the eyes, it affects the circulation and it affects your design pieces.

Often times, when people think they need a complete facelift, all they really need is to declutter and rearrange their space. This can change the look of a room significantly. The things you add to your space have a very strong impact on the final look of the space even if its just a table top accessory. Its like if you wear 5 necklaces and 6 bangles on a pretty dress, you completely ruin the whole outfit.

Designing your space without clutter or even decluttering your space starts and ends in your head. Its important to have the end result in mind from the beginning of the process. First of all, do not over-furnish your space. You shouldn’t be thinking of the additional sitting space you will need when you are having parties or hosting at the beginning of your design process. If you are not an event panner, then you definitely won’t be hosting everyday so you shouldn’t clutter your space with furniture that you have to live with daily. The days or times that you will need them are one-offs and when you do need them, you can get what you need and send it away when you’re done.

Source- Elevation Interior

Secondly, you must realise that not everything can fit. Some things may hold special value but if it does not fit your space, you should not force your space to live with it. Think of your space as a human being, You probably had your favourite shoes when you were 6 but now you are older and it no longer fits. You have to let it go.

If you don’t use it, then there is no need for it. This is a problem that we all have. Now that bread maker in your kitchen, you bought it 3 years ago, its still in the box, its never been plugged, you have never turned it on, you don’t even know how to turn it on, you’ve never made bread and you’ll probably never make bread. You don’t need to keep anything because you feel its going to come in handy one day. If that day hasn’t come by now, it’s not going to come.

Source- KG Showroom

Ensure that everything has its own place in your space. I always talk about storage so I’m not going to go into that again today. You probably have your bookshelf, shoerack, wardrobe and all other types of necessary storage but those its not the items that belong there that I am talking about today. You need to create a space for your daily essentials that don’t need to get stowed away but just need to be put aside tidily and temporarily. This is as simple as a console by your entrance or floating shelves or even just wall hooks to serve as a place for your bags, phones, keys, remote controls and other daily essentials.

Source- Memorable Decor

Finally, you need to Budget. Your space is not a one off event (and even those you have to budget for) it will always be there. If you’re moving into a new office or a new home or whatever space and you don’t set a budget and allocate your budget, you will keep on buying things you don’t need.

HIS STYLE, HER STYLE… HER WALK-IN CLOSET

So we have given the foosball table a nice home in the man cave. Now its time for the ladies to go wild with their own design style. A walk-in closet that serves as her sanctuary, her entertainment center, her dressing room and also a display room for all the clothes, shoes, bags and accessories.

Source- Home Design Lover

There are different factors that make your walk-in closet and the balance of these factors is what makes the perfect closet. Your closet needs to be bright, it needs to have well-organized wardrobes and storage but most importantly, it needs to be convenient to use.

Source- Mihome

One of the factors that make the perfect walk-in closet is the storage. It is important to know what you want to fill your space with when designing your closet. You need to ensure that the storage (shoe rack, bag rack, folding shelves, hanging rods, drawers e.t.c) you will have there can accommodate all these items you intend to store inside. Keep the storage units on the highest level for the items your don’t use often. The mid-level storage units can be used mostly for items that you feel you don’t use enough because putting them at eye level means that you see and remember them all the time. The low level or hidden storage units can be used to store those things that you cannot live without because whether you see it or not, you know exactly where you folded it and when you folded it there. Having good storage and a good storage plan means that you don’t ever have an untidy closet. You will be shocked how much untidiness and clutter can destroy your perfect interior.

Source- Decoration Channel

The light in your closet is another very important factor. You must ensure that you have sufficient light coming in from the right angles and in the right direction. Natural light is always amazing but in a dressing room, its better to depend on light that you can control. Your ceiling lights should be evenly spread and not in clusters so that they brighten the whole space. Make sure you don’t put your dressing table or mirrors directly under a light source and your mirror lights should be front facing lights because downward lights would not reflect well in mirrors.

Source- Fanrto

When I am in my (extremely unfinished) dressing room, I think about dressing rooms that are big enough for hosting and I get so jealous. I wish I had enough space for a sitting area. A nice corner sitting area for girly chat while you pick your outfit. This is good for company and entertainment and it stays out of your way. A middle sitting area is also very elegant and interactive but that is only achievable in a very big dressing room. Its more convenient to have a bench in the middle if you don’t have the space.

Source- Girlsonit

My last and most important factor in your dressing room is circulation. What’s the sense in a perfect closet that can barely fit a person? Exactly!! You must make sure that you don’t have to move anything around in order to move comfortably in your closet. Yes, you may have to walk around your bench or your ottoman if you have one but you should not have too many obstacles in your way.

Source- Metro Decoration

Whatever your design style, make sure you follow these tips to create the perfect walk-in closet.

 

What your Interior Designer needs to know about you.

Hey  Guys, happy holidays and happy new year. I’m so sorry I have been incommunicado… New Year, clean slate 🙂

Over the holidays, I was having a conversation with a colleague who is currently working on a project. She was extremely frustrated and didn’t know what to do with the space. She told me what she was trying to achieve and we worked on a submission together. A week later, she called back and said the client hated it. I was so confused so I asked her, “what exactly did the client want?” and she said to me “I don’t know, I haven’t met the client”. She had never met the client, she did not get a brief, nothing. She just had a space.

Interior Design is about space planning but you need more than just the space. You need information about who you are planning the space for, what you’re planning the space for, where the space is located and so on.

Personally, before I see a space, I prefer to meet my client. I have come to the realisation that everyone has a design style. As a human being, I have my design style but as a professional, I know and can translate many design styles so I need to know a lot about my client in order to translate their design style.

First of all, a designer needs to know about the users of the space. How old is the user? Is the space for a group or for one person? Male, Female or both? This gets the ball rolling for the designer.

We then need to get to your personal preferences for the space. What do you want in the space? What don’t you want in the space? What colour do you want to see and what colour would you hate to have? Do you have any design inspiration images? Is there a finished look you are trying to achieve?

Finally, we need to know the purpose of the space. If it’s a living room, for example, we need to know if it strictly for receiving guests or also for entertainment. This will determine if the room will have  a TV and where the TV will be.

Now, you must understand that we are not trying to invade your privacy. All this information helps us determine a design direction that fits your taste and requirements instead of imposing our taste on you. Without this, your designer may come up with an amazing design proposal but you may not like it and not because it not nice but because it doesn’t suit you. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

 

 

I wouldn’t do that if I were you… (Part 2)

Lets talk about overplaying themes. This is a very common one that you see in many spaces, especially homes today. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having an inspiration or a theme for your design, its all about how that theme is translated  and this can be done in many ways; patterns, colours, materials and many others.

Source-stylebyemilyhenderson.com

Lets take colour for example; it has the power to affect the size of a space. Darker colours will make your space look smaller while lighter colours will make your space look bigger. If you have a theme colour that’s dark, it’s better to use it on a feature wall or on your furniture. It will be a huge blunder to use Navy blue paint on all your walls and have Navy blue sofa with gray pillows. The room loses balance.

Source- thebloggerbusinessassociation.com

Patterns are another great way to interpret your theme. They can help give your space a new look without having to change your whole interior design but can also be overplayed. A patterned pillow on a patterned sofa in a living room with patterned wallpaper and a patterned rug… I wouldn’t do that if I were you.

Source- skydesigns.us

All you need to remember when designing with a theme is balance. Do not allow your space get to drowned by overplayed themes.

I wouldn’t do that if I were you… (Part1)

Interior Design mistakes are very common today and it is important to note that a high budget doesn’t necessarily mean your space will be well designed and decorated. Its so painful to look at a room you have spent so much money on and then you wonder “where did I go wrong” and this is one of the many reasons why Interior Designers are needed.

Source- Unboxedwriters.com

Interior Designers take out time to acquire knowledge of how to manage spaces, proportions, colours, lighting, patterns and many other factors that could affect a space.

Over the next week, I will be discussing some common Interior Design mistakes and their solutions. I don’t expect this post to turn you to Interior Designers overnight but I know it will definitely help you correct the mistakes you’ve made and make your space look much better.

The first and most common mistake is Poor Space Management. There are so many factors that can affect the management of your space but here is a simple way to put it. When designing and decorating, you must remember that; apart form the furniture, accessories and accents, a person or even more will still have to make use of the space. I will highlight some of the factors that could affect the management of your space.

Source- createdhouse.com

Do not put two sofas across from each other. Once you do that, you automatically make that the only path in that area. Once you have two sofas are facing each other, what you have done is you have created an alleyway and there is no freedom of movement. The space for feet then doubles as the (only) path in your space.

Source- Interiordesigninspiration.net

Another thing I wouldn’t do is over crowd my space. You really should not have to do a pillow ritual before you can sit on your sofa, or move a whole bunch of frames and vases and ornaments before you can place something on your table or console or not be able to see your walls because you have it all covered with art, photos or mirrors. Every item of furniture should have its functional space before being decorated with accessories. Remember that every colour, pattern, furniture, tile and light in your space is there to decorate the space and should be allowed to do just that without being crowded.

Source- popartdecorations.com

Clutter is another problem and I doesn’t necessarily mean being messy or untidy. Sometimes, clutter could simply mean that there is no space for an item. Storage units are decorative and also very useful. They keep unnecessary items out of sight so they do not take the beauty away from a perfectly decorated room.

Source- hgtv.com

Try out these tricks at home, in your office or any space and I hope you see a difference 🙂

Feature Wall

A feature wall is simply a wall with a different design from all other walls in a room. It creates a focal point and brings in a lot of excitement. They are easy to achieve and can be done in a different material from the rest of the room or a different colour. They can also be changed very easily for people who get tired of the Pop it brings.

Source: Varrell

Picking the right wall for your feature wall is very important. The first thing to do when trying to choose is to eliminate all walls in the room that have doors and windows as this will break the flow of the feature wall and take away from its purpose. Once those are out of the way it becomes a little easier to choose the wall that needs to be highlighted. Obviously a feature wall must be seen by any and everyone that walks into the room. A trick I have learnt and that works for me all the time is to invite someone that is new to the space in when the room is bare, give them a minute to take it all in and then ask which wall caught their attention. That wall is usually the best wall to pick and highlight.

Source: Mybaijiale

The next thing is to decide what design you want your wall to have. Feature walls can be achieved with many different colours and materials. So you have to have an Idea of what you want and then go with the flow. Do you want a plain or patterned wall? Patterned? Ok, Do you want it to be the same colour as the rest of the room but with some pattern? No?  Ok, Do you want a different shade of the colour you have or a completely different colour? Once you have all these answered, then choosing your design will be very easy.

Source: Legcloud

The last thing is to give your feature wall a balance. You must make sure the wall is not crowded. There is no point highlighting a wall that is mostly covered but at the same time, you have to make sure the wall is not bare as that may bring too much pop into the room and may overpower your space.

Source: Prinston Glass

What’s your Budget?

The first question I ask my clients at the beginning of a project is “What is your budget?” and the immediate response is “I don’t have one, I just want you to look at it and tell me how much”. Even if you don’t know what you want to spend, we all have that “I can’t spend more than XYZ” thought and that XYZ, is your budget.

Starting with a budget gives you an idea of your end result from the very beginning. Once you have a budget, you know if you can achieve all that you want and whether you can do so exactly as you imagined it.

Interior Design gives many options to the desired result. For example, if you want a feature wall, you can achieve it with a type of stone, which is expensive; wallpaper, which is cheaper; or paint, which is cheap and cheerful, and many other options that vary in cost. Having a budget gives you or your Interior designer a starting point to determine what you can get and how you will get it.

Another advantage of a Budget is that it helps you scale your project reasonably. Most of the time, clients don’t realize how high their budget for one area is and are usually shocked when informed that they can re-design an extra space with that budget. Other times, clients underestimate and in just one conversation, I can make my client understand that all that they want can’t be done with the budget and some areas can be left as is, or done later.

A budget also gives room for more creativity. Being forced to work with a budget will make you think outside the box when designing. You won’t use the typical easy way out, not only because it may (or may not) be expensive but because you will want to challenge yourself and see how well you can work without being able to ask for more. Design is endless and the more you have, the more you spend so with a budget, you will be forced to prioritize and focus.

DIY may seem like a wise way to save money but consulting with an Interior Designer is a wiser investment and will help you allocate your budget effectively.