While it is true that some designers prefer to design only with their own personal preference of style, most designers, ours included, are more interested in designing in your style. We genuinely want to deliver a product that you find pleasing, but everyone’s tastes are different. The more that you can communicate and share, the easier it is for the designer (and ultimately construction team) to deliver. It can be extremely helpful if you put together a “notebook” with pictures and features you like. This can literally be a physical notebook, but more easily shared and updated would be something saved on Pinterest or Houzz. Even though they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words”, still be sure to include a description of why you saved any picture. The designer may see one thing, like a stone accent and you really intended to showcase something else in the same picture, like the transom window in the middle of all the stone that you don’t really care for! You yourself may very well forget why you saved a particular picture months later. When you start daydreaming of your next project, start putting together your notebook to share with your designer when the time comes to stop dreaming and start creating.
It will depend on the type of project as to what types of pictures to save, but here are some thoughts of things to be thinking about and looking for:
-exteriors
-kitchens
-primary bathroom and bedrooms
-common living spaces
-fireplaces and mantles
-trim details
-colors, textures, and styles
-floor plans
In addition to including pictures of what you DO like, it can be equally helpful to know what you DON’T like. Just be sure not to get the two mixed up! One final thought of useful information to share. If you have undertaken a project before, share stories of the experience, both the good and bad. If this is your first-time remodeling or building, but you’ve heard great stories you hope to experience, or bad stories you wish to avoid, share those as well. It may seem like over sharing, but the more we know about your likes and expectations (and dislikes and concerns) the better prepared we will be to deliver a product and story for you to share in the future of how it should be done!