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.

LS Loves-Legacy Place

Legacy Serviced Offices has launched their first premium serviced office centre, Legacy Place in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.

Legacy Serviced Offices was established in January 2016 to provide “plug and play” office suites and services for clients in Lagos. 

The 300sqm office space boasts of 8 private office suites,1 meeting room, 1 seminar room and a tea room, all benefiting from fast fibre optic internet service, uninterrupted power supply, a dedicated server room, telephone and mail handling, among others. These features ensure that clients can begin to carry out business at LP from their first day at the facility, without having to bother about essential services. The space is very modern and sophisticated with its frosted glass partitions, perfect illumination, bright walls and sleek furniture.

I love the simplicity of the colours in the space and the mix of materials. They give the perfect balance of life and light to the space.

I have heard that your office space can affect your productivity so its important to have a workspace that inspires you. Well, I think I have found all the inspiration I need at the amazing Legacy Place.  Legacy Place, 1619 Danmole Street, Victoria Island, Lagos

Phone:  (+234) 814 150 0022

Website: www.legacyoffices.com

E-mail:info@legacyoffices.com

Twitter: @legacy_offices | Instagram: @legacyoffices | Facebook: Legacy Offices

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

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

EXISTING DIOR STORES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

His Style, Her Style… Their Style

Having a design style is like having a semi-superpower. The power to know exactly what you what your space to look like.It really is amazing but can be a nightmare when you have to share your space with someone who has a completely different design style.

Source- Home Designing

Most newlyweds face this problem. So many questions: Will you marry me? (I will), Do you take this woman….? (I do) and now will you take my contemporary over your traditional? (I so will not!!!) So what do you do? How do you make your space appealing to both of you? You have to merge your design styles and come up with a compromise that satisfies both styles. It’s a lot more effort but it’s possible.

Source- Kepler House

One thing to do is to share your design style between elements and accents. If you decide that all the furniture is going to be traditional, then you bring in your contemporary touch with colours, art, fabrics e.t.c

Source-Ocean’s Loft

Another way is to work with your structure. Use architecture to bring in those traditional elements that reflect your design style and balance this with contemporary pieces. The traditional in her will enjoy the structure of the space and the furniture will keep the modern man happy.

Source-  Sam’s House

When merging styles, always remember the importance of scale.Ensure that the items that carry larger visual weight have lighter colours and the items with the lighter visual weight can have darker colours.

Source- Decoris

Here’s how I see it; everyone has a contemporary flat or an ethnic beach house or a classic family home. So dare to be different, find a common ground, make your own statement and create a design style you can call “our design style”

Source- Home Portfolio