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interior design is not about flowers

If you could see me now you’d see the droop in my shoulders. It wasn’t the first time someone demeaned what I have been doing with my professional life for the last 25 years. She’s a friend and she really didn’t mean to.

We were talking about credentials and continuing education required in various professions. When I told her the amount of continuing education I must take to maintain the 3 credentials I’ve attained, she smiled and wondered aloud why I’d need continuing education to decide what color the flowers should be and where they should go.

I smiled at her joke and I cried a little inside. It wasn’t a funny joke. But it does clarify an issue in my field….people don’t know what interior design is.

According to the California Council for Interior Design Certification:

An ‘Interior Designer’ is someone who can complete an interior design project from start to finish, including preparing construction documents for bidding and permitting, as well as supervising the construction and installation of the work. This person in essence becomes your agent to deal with local building codes and building departments, and licensed contractors. They have the expertise to handle all of these different players…

An interior designer works in the field of construction to create the built environment. We sign drawings like architects do, however the scope of our projects is limited to work that does not involve the structural components of a building (the parts of the building that support the roof). If structural components are involved, then a structural engineer must be engaged. If the exterior of the building (known as the core and shell) are involved in the project, then typically an architect will be engaged. On residential remodel projects a skilled interior designer can usually handle the full scope of the project.

An interior designer works in the field of construction to create the built environment. Click To Tweet

design and documentation

Prior to building any construction project, documents must be created. Prior to creating these documents a design must be completed. My job as your interior designer is to work with you to determine the needs of your project, create a design to satisfy those needs, then document that design and see it through construction. There are several steps involved:

programming:  You will answer questions about the use of your space; what works and what doesn’t; when the space is or will be used and how and by whom; what you want it to look, feel and sound like. We will talk about the function of your business and of other businesses like your business. I will take measurements and draw base plans.

schematic design-design development: I will layout the walls within your space, determine power and plumbing needs and locations, create designs for millwork and custom furnishings, design the overall look and feel of your space. I will coordinate the consultants we may need to engage for acoustics, lighting, art, architecture, graphics, etc. I will also engage fabricators to create specialty items. I will determine how the various codes will impact the space and begin a conversation with your local building and fire departments to affirm that we are designing to code. During these phases I will present the design to you as it develops and refine it to meet your aesthetic and functional needs. Depending on the use of space, particularly with commercial projects, functional needs and code compliance will drive much of the layout.

permit documents-bid documents-construction documents: To communicate your design I will create drawings and write specifications. The various consultants on the project will also create drawings for their specialties which either the architect (if there is one) or I will coordinate into a single unified set. Using these documents (which can number hundreds of pages) we will first apply for necessary permits. This process can take months to complete and will often include the submission of further documents to satisfy your local building/fire/health departments. Once permits are issued, and if this project will be bid, drawings and specifications may need further clarity and revision and will be issued to bidders to get final pricing for the project. Once bids are in and a contractor is chosen, documents will be issued for construction.

construction administration: During construction I will visit your site regularly, get to know your contractor’s superintendent well, answer questions as they arise, review items and finishes prior to installation, point out problems when something is not built to plan, keep you apprised of progress, approve your contractor’s billings so that you only pay for work that has been performed, and engage other members of the team as needed.

codes

Part of the job of an interior designer is to understand and have the ability and knowledge to research codes that are applicable to your project. When creating the design for your project, all of these codes must be addressed and complied with. Prior to applying for necessary permits, the requirements of these codes must be met in your permit documents. Codes fall into several categories:

building codes: These are codes that keep you and your employees and customers healthy and safe. We call these codes ‘life-safety’ and they include things like the width and length of corridors, exiting, fire sprinklers, the size of windows, emergency lighting. There are plumbing codes that specify how many toilets and lavatories your space must include and what type of fixtures are required. There are energy codes that limit the amount of wattage that is allowed for lighting and specify where motion sensors are required. There are local codes that can include just about anything and which I will research and discuss with your local building department as early in the project as possible.

health codes: Health codes address kitchens and restrooms in your commercial project. They also have requirements that must be met for tattoo parlors, swimming pools, medical facilities, water systems and multi-unit housing.

accessibility codes: The federal ADA regulations include very specific requirements that allow space to be utilized by people with various disabilities. These requirements are far-reaching and include things from parking lot ramps to the height of wall sconces in hallways and the size of toilet stalls.

education, credentials and certifications

There are many people out there who call themselves interior designers. Some of them are decorators who choose colors, select furniture and drapery, or, like my friend said, locate your flower arrangements. An interior designer is credentialed in some way, has specific education and knowledge, and can do the work of a decorator and much more.

education: An interior designer receives education on everything discussed above. In addition we learn about color, lighting, acoustics, three dimensional space, art and architectural history, available and appropriate finishes and materials, and even furniture and millwork design.

There are many accredited educational programs, from 3 years (post-graduate) to 4 or 5 years, which provide some type of degree. The program I completed was a 5 year Bachelor of Science program. Different programs provide differing levels of education. If you are looking for an interior designer’s qualifications, start with education but also look for advanced certifications.

certifications: As in most professional fields, there are many advanced certifications available to interior designers. The three that I’ve attained are listed, but there are others as well, particularly in the realm of sustainability.

  • CID: In some states (as in California) the term ‘Certified Interior Designer’ is codified in the Business and Professions Code and can only be utilized by interior designers who have taken the certification exam. These interior designers have specific education and have proven their knowledge of process and codes and their competency in applying this knowledge.
  • NCIDQ Certified Interior Designers have distinguished themselves by demonstrating a specific set of core interior design competencies, supported by verified work experience and a college degree. They have proven their mastery of aesthetic considerations as well as of current standards established to protect public health, safety and welfare. They have earned the industry’s highest standard of proficiency in interior design principles by successfully passing the NCIDQ Examination. (definition from the NCIDQ website)
  • LEED AP ID+C: The USGBC created the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design accreditation program to credential leaders of sustainability in the built environment. The accreditation that I studied, tested for and practice is in interior design and construction. There are other ‘green building’ programs as well as other accreditations within LEED. All indicate specific knowledge around sustainability.

So yes, an interior designer can help you choose flowers. And most designers, after years of study and practice, have a ‘good eye’. But we also have extensive knowledge and experience that qualifies us for much more than that. I hope this clear things up just a bit. And don’t worry, my feelings aren’t really hurt.

Keep in touch,
Leslie

 

after the election: design

after-the-election

Do you want to talk politics? Me neither. But I do want to talk about what we, as designers and architects, can do as we move forward into this new and shifted world. How will we protect the environment that may not be top of the new administration’s list of priorities? What kinds of projects will we take on pro bono in support of the disenfranchised? How can we create a world that is inclusive when our country is so divided? Closer to home, how do we provide a workplace that is all-embracing, safe and productive?

help people go home

Build houses with Habitat for Humanity. This is one of my favorite organizations to volunteer with. I’ve learned to hang gyp, tape and mud, pull electrical, wire an outlet, paint a wall, wire a switch. Helping build a building has taught me much about what’s behind those lines I draw for a living. Better still this helps people stabilize their lives. Habitat for Humanity is nationwide. Find them here.

design for everyone

We don’t have much choice about ADA. We complain and moan about having to put a ramp in a facility that wouldn’t be used by someone in a wheelchair anyway. It’s time to turn that conversation around. Let’s look for opportunities to use the principles of universal design: design that accommodates the widest range of individuals. We are a diverse population of cultures, abilities, economic levels. Designers and architects can lead the way to design that works for our aging population, the deaf, those without sight, varied cultures as well as varied abilities. When clients complain about spending money on accessibility, show them there’s another way to have that conversation.

fight for good design

There are clients out there (we won’t mention any names) whose taste is…..questionable. When working with those clients you need to stand up for good design. Don’t give in without a fight when they want to build something that offends the sensibility of the neighborhood. Do take the time to work to educate your clients about what design really is: a specification of an object, manifested by an agent, intended to accomplish goals, in a particular environment, using a set of primitive components, satisfying a set of requirements, subject to constraints (Wikipedia). Make sure your client’s goals are acceptable to you before accepting a commission. Consider walking away from a project that forces you to short change good taste or appropriate design parameters.

bridge the divide

“After seeing the legibility of the election’s results—and the connected spatial and divided geographies of urban versus rural, the coasts versus middle America, and of white versus black versus latino, and many others, I appreciate the charge to the ‘revolutionary act of knowing others.’ This is a conversation that is needed, and it cannot only happen in the space of the media and social media and politics. It needs to also happen in spaces and places where we all live, work, play, and connect. Our shared nation is as tangible as Main Street and as real as our many different types of homes, workplaces, and public infrastructures and facilities.”—Justin Garrett Moore, executive director of the NYC Public Design Commission.

Published by fastcodesign.

  • Create a workplace that allows for differing opinions and will support differing points of view.
  • Encourage conversations that lead to understanding that begins in the workplace and extends to the world outside.
  • Organize volunteer opportunities for your employees or give them time to volunteer during work hours.

consider pro bono work where it’s really needed

The new U.S. administration may not support many of the social and environmental organizations historically funded by our government. If there is room in your budget for pro bono work, see if any of these organizations are in need of a new space, a re-organization of existing space, perhaps new furnishings, etc. Do some research and work for the organizations that you believe in.

work locally

“As we consider what the U.S. presidential election means for our nation as a whole, we must not lose sight of the positive influence we as architects and designers can have on our local communities. In fact, it is on the local level where politics and policies tend to have the most direct impact on everyday citizens. So while I recognize that there is a great deal of uncertainty in the wake of the election, I take comfort and pride in knowing that we, as a community of design professionals, will continue to focus on improving our local communities.”—Phil Freelon, architect and design director, Perkins + Will.

Published by fastcodesign.

build with the environment in mind

Encourage your clients to build sustainably: use local products, reduce power needs, use products that are produced sustainably, install low water landscapes, build near transportation, keep building health in mind. Build to LEED standards or Green Globe Standards even if the project won’t be certified. Pay attention and suggest building methods that protect our fragile earth and those of us that plan to live here for a while.

speak up

The AIA came out with a statement after the election that didn’t reflect the feelings and attitudes of its members. The backlash was fast and it was huge, leading to the AIA walking back their original statement. Pay attention to what the professional organizations that you belong to are saying. Do you agree? Use the power of your peers to make a statement, start a trend, open a dialogue, support your beliefs.

any other ideas?

This has been a divisive election and has left many feeling sad, disappointed, frightened, dis-enfranchised. What else can we do to mend?

Keep in touch,
Leslie

~~~~~

ps….if you haven’t seen the book in the photo, here’s a link. There are multiple sites online where you can also download a pdf, but I recommend buying the book and keeping it somewhere accessible. I keep my copy on my coffee table. And no, those aren’t my fingernails.

dear favorite client

dictionary

You hired an interior designer for a reason. Your local building department said you needed one. The health department suggested that a designer could get your restaurant open more efficiently than you could. Maybe you wanted to streamline your office space. Or you’re one of those really wise people who knows your own limitations and architecture falls outside of your skill set.

You’re a left-brainer who thinks in spreadsheets and actuarial tables. What can you expect from a creative? What do they do exactly? And how?

there isn’t just one design process

Well dear left-brained client, we’re all different. We all do things differently. We approach projects differently and access solutions differently. We each have a creative process that is, at least in some way, unique to only us.

words

My process always begins with words. Lots of questions which always lead to more questions. Then I sit down and begin looking up definitions of the words that were answers to the questions. The dictionary is my first resource when I begin a project. And words guide my creative process until the project is complete.

movies

Marcio Kogan, a Brazilian architect, sees his projects as movies. He walks through a scene in his head, creating his building as he does. Clearly he has a sense of humor…once the project is built he often creates a film starring the now real project.

camping

David Darling and Joshua Aidlin camp out on the site of their future project. They feel living and sleeping at the site allows them to ‘extract a building’ from the location rather than adding a building.

playing with clay

Anna Heringer calls part of her process ‘claystorming’….conceiving her ideas by shaping hunks of clay. Like grown-up play doh.

cartoons

Niroko Kusunoki of the Paris based architecture firm Moreau Kusunoki creates intricate pen and ink cartoon style drawings, complete with thought bubbles, to place buildings in their surroundings and refine how they work.

photo courtesy moreau kusunoki/architectural record

photo courtesy moreau kusunoki/architectural record

Some designers begin with sketches, some with 3D renderings, some with photos, some with movies or music or art. Many with a combination of inspiring sources. We use whatever creative avenue works for us, then almost magically –and often in the shower, or upon waking in the morning, or while walking the dog—we are able to peel back the layers of the problem and reveal the solution.

embrace the process…and your designer

So get to know your designer before you hire your designer. This is a personal relationship as much as it is a business relationship. You may not understand how your designer thinks, but you need to appreciate how he or she gets from where you are to where you want to be. And you must trust your designer to know and follow their own process.

The perfect client, from our perspective, is the one who not only respects our creative process but embraces it. With every project we begin it is our hope that you will be our new favorite client.

Keep in touch,
Leslie

dear design school grad, redux

 

la quinta plan

Congratulations graduate!

You designed your way out of college with all of those sleepless nights and huge pots of coffee. I bet you know every show on television after midnight. Now that you’re ready to create the next greatest building interior, here are a few tips from the trenches (well at least the trench that I work from).

If design doesn’t feed your soul, don’t do it.

I was a senior in business marketing when I switched to design. Business school did not inspire me and someone suggested interior design. First I laughed (right, pick pillow and curtain colors for a living?) Then I started talking to professionals in the field. What I heard sparked a fire in me that I couldn’t articulate and hadn’t felt before. So based on my gut reaction, I added another two years to my college career and made the switch. I still can’t articulate the feeling, but I do know that if I am not creating, drawing and solving problems that create better lives for my clients, I don’t breathe as well.

If design itself doesn’t feed your soul you still have options: sales, facilities, move coordination. Find your niche.

There are no shortcuts.

When you graduate you won’t be designing the next cover project for Interior Design Magazine. You will be creating presentation boards, putting documents together that show other people’s designs to their best effect, putting together finish schedules, specifying furnishings that someone else chose, cleaning up the conference room. Your job is basically to make other people’s jobs easier. This is the path.

  • Study hard
  • Learn the amazing computer programs that are available to you and offer these skills every chance you get
  • When you finish a task ask for another
  • Expect to work long hours when a deadline is approaching and don’t make plans the evening before a presentation….you will have to cancel

I began my career in small design firms so that I was exposed to the full breadth of design projects. My projects weren’t spectacular (small office spaces, very basic tenant improvement work), but I learned how to run a project from start to finish. If you choose to begin your career for one of the larger firms, you may work on more prestigious projects, but you will do a smaller piece of them. You know your personality, so move in the direction that best fits who you are. And whatever you do, do it well. The devil truly is in the details…mess up the details and the senior designers in your firm won’t want you on their projects.

You are a problem solver first….never forget that.

Pretty isn’t the highest priority. Your first job is to solve your client’s problem, and before you can do that you must understand what the problem is. Research your client’s business, ask questions about your client’s lifestyle. Understand your client’s family, customers, employee needs…whatever is appropriate to this project. Determine the best way to make this project function so that your client’s life is better as a result. This is how you solve their problem. Then make it pretty or hip or cool or dark…aesthetics are important, just not the first order of business. A project that looks good but doesn’t work well is a failure and you won’t get hired again.

Learn all you can before you begin and then learn some more.

There are certificate programs and short degree courses. Take the long course. Design is not just color theory and lighting science, it is a way of looking at the world. The only way to get there is to take the long course…and understand that there is no end. In order to create successful design you will need to understand the world as it grows and changes. Keep reading, talk to experts in other fields, pick the brains of the contractors and fabricators you work with, travel, take pictures. The world is an exciting place and everything you learn will make you a better designer. Get accredited and certified in whatever areas you have interest. That alphabet soup behind your name helps to tell your story.

Pretty pictures aren’t built projects.

Part of every design job includes an understanding of the local jurisdiction’s rules, operating procedures and building codes. You learned some of this in school….learn more. Anyone can draw pretty pictures (well almost anyone), but can these pretty pictures be built? Learn how to research this information and the senior designers in your firm will be begging to have you on their teams. Even if this never becomes your area of expertise, know enough to ask appropriate questions as a design begins to gel. It seems to get more difficult all the time to navigate the myriad rules and regulations that sometimes feel like roadblocks, so get used to finding ways around. I learned early on (thanks to my friend Ed), that the best way to complete a project successfully is to meet with building officials before design has even begun. Explain the project goals and ask for guidance to avoid potential bumps in the road.

Welcome to the world of design! I hope it fills your soul and makes you as happy as it makes me.

Keep in touch,
Leslie
NCIDQ (this means I’ve studied and passed the national interior design certification exam)
LEED AP ID+C (this means I’ve studied and passed the LEED exam for interior design and construction, a green building certification)
CID (this means I’m a certified interior designer in the state of California and can sign my own drawings)

program it again!

construction2

the beginning

Your project began a while ago. Remember? Your architectural team asked you a lot of questions, probably using some version of a questionnaire that was distributed to the many stakeholders involved in your project. There were interviews and meetings. You told them how you would be using the designed space, who would be using the space, when the space would be used and by how many, what time of day the space would be used, what you wanted the space to look, feel, sound like. And probably a whole lot more. This was called programming and it was a bit grueling and probably kind of boring. But your architectural team pushed for answers. You were glad when it was over and you began to see renderings and samples of what your newly designed space would look like and how it would solve the problem you needed solved. You felt the adrenaline rise anticipating the completion of your project.

delays

Then there were delays. Maybe the project would cost more than you had budgeted. Or your local jurisdiction had some issues that took months, or even years, to resolve. Maybe there were stakeholders who weren’t happy with the current design which resulted in a redesign, and maybe another. Perhaps the stakeholders changed and new stakeholders had questions that hadn’t yet been resolved. There are more reasons for delays than there are for projects to begin and complete on time…expect delays.

for example

I might be the most unpopular parent in my local school district right now. Sometime around 2002 our district began planning for a new outdoor stadium at the high school. With a toddler and a 2nd grader, this was way off my radar. One delay apparently led to another, and construction has not yet begun on the stadium project. This year the bond measures needed to finance the project passed and the project is now picking up speed. Designs were created, then re-created and last week there was a meeting. Parents and local residents were invited. I now have a daughter in her third year at university and a high school junior. I attended the meeting.

One of the main goals of the project has always been to build a field that could be used year round. In 2002 artificial turf was deemed the best solution. In 2015, with many turf fields already installed, we are beginning to learn there are some very good reasons to question the use of turf. And in 2015 we have a whole new set of stakeholders, both student athletes and their parents, who have never been part of the turf vs. grass conversation. Some of them do not want a turf field, and some of them (me) spoke up at the meeting. The room got very quiet. Changing the project from a turf field to grass would require a complete re-design, and resulting additional delays, for the project. So who dropped the ball?

begin again

There are many reasons to re-visit the programming stage of a project. The two greatest reasons are the passage of time and a significant change in stakeholders. Both were at play in the example that made me the least liked parent in town. Your architectural team should drive review of programming data, but if they don’t, it is up to you.

passage of time

If your project is delayed for any reason, and the delay extends long enough that data already collected might significantly change, needs might change, or the use of the project might change, then programming should be revisited. Was your project programmed more than a year ago without forward movement in design and construction? Then someone on your project team should review the programming data and verify the data’s current accuracy. If there is the possibility that it has become out-of-date, then re-program the project. If, as in the case above, millions of dollars are at stake, it is worth a few weeks (or even months) to verify that the project is built to fulfill current needs.

change in stakeholders

Has the delay resulted in a significant change in stakeholders? In a high school situation, there is an entirely new generation of stakeholders every four years. And partial turnover every year. This is an important consideration when programming a project in this arena. Even in business, there is turnover of stakeholders over time. At the beginning of the project a list of stakeholders should be created (not necessarily by name, but certainly by position). If delays result in a significant change in these stakeholders, then conduct programming again with the new stakeholders.

do it right

Sometimes doing it right means programming more than once. Construction projects are expensive and to be successful must satisfy the needs of current stakeholders. This means getting that first step, programming, right. No matter how many times that step must be re-visited. A multi million dollar construction project (any project for that matter), that does not fulfill the needs of its stakeholders is a very costly mistake.

A construction project that does not fulfill the needs of its stakeholders is a very costly mistake. Click To Tweet

Keep in touch,
Leslie

If you are interested in the research I’ve done into artificial turf, email me. I didn’t include that information here as it is outside the scope of this article. Just be warned, it probably won’t make you any more popular than it made me!

my favorite restaurant design competition winner is….

…not from the US. As a matter of fact, there was only one US winner this year in the Restaurant and Bar Design Awards 2015. Parq Restaurant, San Diego, won in the ‘colour’ (it’s a competition out of the UK) category. More on our one winner later.

Trends

In the meantime, let’s look at who else short listed. And if you play the bi-coastal best restaurant game, notice that there are 3 entries short-listed from New York and 3 entries short listed from California. And there are 4 entries that are located inside hotels….nice to see this trend continuing. And yes, I know I included a potty shot below. The whole of Mourad is beautiful, but the bathrooms have me swooning. Something else I noticed across the board….a lot of gold. Does this mean we are coming to the end of the reclaimed-from-an-old-barn look? Can we (hopefully) continue to use sustainable materials without having them look like we pulled them out of the basement?  Oh lordy, one can only hope.

lordy people we can be sustainable and still see an end to the reclaimed-from-an-old-barn look Click To Tweet

Short List

all photos courtesy Restaurant and Bar Design Awards and the design teams involved: Studio Munge, Meyer Davis Studio, Dawson Design Associates, Lundberg Design, nemaworkshop, Emporium Design, hOmE Studio and Bluarch.

The winner is…

And our one and only US winner is Parq Restaurant and Nightclub in the GasLamp District of San Diego. Congratulations to Davis Ink on their win! It is definitely a colour-ful space!

all photos courtesy Restaurant and Bar Design Awards and Davis Ink.

Enjoy the pretty pictures. I certainly do!

Keep in touch,
Leslie

toddlers and architects

toddler

So right off the bat I need to say that many of my friends are architects, I’ve worked with many amazing architects who are much smarter than I am, and I have absolute respect for the profession and most of the people that put AIA behind their name. As an interior designer, collaboration is my middle name. It is the rare project that I work without the involvement of an architect. Like many professions where different specialties work closely together (front of house and back of house comes to mind), some casual ribbing is de rigeur. And after working with a starchitect (or at least a wannabe starchitect) on a project early in my career, this little ditty rang true for me. It was pinned to my wall for many years as a reminder to me to take it all very lightly.

Of course most architects are not starchitects. But there is a historic difference between how an architect approaches a project and how an interior designer approaches a project. Aside from basic knowledge, architects have tended to approach the building from the outside while interior designers always approach the building from the user perspective. That is at the core of our training: how will the person using the building interact with the building? So when I read an article on FastCo today about the future of architecture, I smiled a little smile and there might have been a face palm involved. According to the architects interviewed, one of the emerging attitudes in architecture looks less at the physical building and places greater emphasis on the opportunity represented when people gather…..hmmm. Focusing on the user isn’t really all that new now, is it? Are architects finally realizing that what goes on inside the building is the reason for the building? And are they now taking credit for what interior designers have always known and often had to fight for? In all honesty this is great for the profession because it is right for the user. And if architects want to take credit then so be it. At least we finally agree.

If you’ve seen the latest renderings and write-ups for a new Google campus, you are seeing this idea in action. The buildings (and it’s hard to call them that) are designed around needs of the employees and the community and are created to be changeable as those needs change. It’s a brilliant concept and exciting to see architects looking at their buildings from the inside out.

I know….sounding a little snarky.  And yes, I do expect a lot of flak for this so let me have it!

Keep in touch,
Leslie

sing your budget out LOUD!

cost

before the beginning

The first step in any interior design project is what we in the field of architecture call ‘Programming‘. That’s where we ask you about your operation, your aesthetic inclinations, how many people will do what and where, etc. But actually, there is a step before Programming. It’s kind of like the prologue to the book you just started reading (of course you read the prologue, right?) The prologue to Programming is the budget discussion. Unfortunately, many clients are hesitant to divulge this information, thinking that if they keep it a secret we will do a better job of designing on the cheap. It doesn’t work that way folks. Construction is big, expensive business and good design does not make it more expensive. Good design makes an expensive construction job worth the money you just spent on it. Keeping your designer in the dark about your budget will end up costing you more in fees and a lot more in frustration and relationships. If you don’t know what your budget is, or should be, your designer/architect can help.

reality check

Construction is booming in most areas and most sectors right now. That’s great news on a lot of fronts. What it means to you the client, however, is that prices are probably moving in an upward direction. So managing your budget is more critical now than ever. And the first step in managing your budget is determining a realistic budget. If your budget is not realistic you will end up spending money on fees to no avail.

I had a client a few years ago who was convinced he could open a frozen yogurt shop for $150k. He priced equipment at something over $50k (remember, it was a few years ago), his inheritance was $100k over that, so peachy. Let’s quit being an IT guy and open a yogurt shop. The good news was that he had a budget in mind. The bad news was that it was not enough for what he wanted to do, and I gently told him as much. He spent a lot of time researching properties until he found one that he felt he could afford. We had already discussed his budget and that it would not cover his needs, but he was pretty determined. So we laid out the space, included minimal cost finishes, and got it priced. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $250k. Due to building, fire and health codes, some of the things that cost the most could not be left out (a restroom for example). Needless to say, he’s still an IT guy with a broken dream and a little less money in his pocket.

research, baby!

Before you pay for design services, pay for some really good advice. Talk to a designer/architect/contractor, lay out your ideas and let them help you determine if you can afford the project you are dreaming up. Do your research. And believe what you learn. That old saying ‘don’t confuse me with the facts’ is a very expensive way to go about business. Rider Levett Bucknall is a giant in the construction management business and they put out a quarterly report that includes cost per square foot in several sectors and several areas in the US. According to their Q3 2014 report, construction costs are increasing, in some markets as much as 3% (ouch Honolulu) in one quarter. Use their numbers to estimate what your construction costs might be. And remember, construction is only part of the picture (more on that below).

share the knowledge

However you come to your budget, share it. Sing it to the heavens and make sure that everyone involved is clear on the budget you have in mind. Work with your design team to understand how your budget will be spent. There are several big pieces that need to be considered.

  1. Construction costs: these are the checks you will write to your general contractor and will most likely be the largest part of your budget
  2. FFE: furniture, fixtures and equipment will include all of your furnishings, also decorative lighting and most anything movable
  3. KE: if this is a food service project you will also have kitchen equipment to purchase
  4. Fees: permitting, engineering, architect/design, taxes, local fees of all sorts, project management fees
  5. Owner costs: computers, signage, accessories, POS systems, that beautiful Ducati motorcycle that you want cut in half and mounted on the wall (I really had to do this once….sigh)

keep your eye on the prize

Your design team and your general contractor will work together to keep an eye on budget.  All information except owner costs will be accessible to them, so you will need to share that piece. And remember that there should be contingencies in every section of your budget. Especially in a remodel. You never know for sure what’s behind that wall….can we all say asbestos? So make sure that as you move through the project and check and re-check the budget, that you haven’t sped through your contingencies and are now seeing your budget in the rearview mirror.

budget busters

Indecisiveness, decisions by committee, scope creep and changing your mind are all okay, but they all have a price. So if budget is more important than adding another fireplace, keep that in mind when you discuss changes. And when decisions are needed, make them promptly. Then stick with them. Unless a poor decision will create an operational nightmare, weight the cost of changing your mind against the cost of living with it, whatever that means. Check with your design team and general contractor about the cost of every decision if you are unsure….they can help you weigh the options.

There, now we have had the least romantic discussion we will have on your project. Let’s get on with the fun stuff!

Keep in touch,
Leslie

dear design school grad

bronica

The best career advice I ever got was from my first year design instructor. She told me to find another major because I wouldn’t make it in interior design. She didn’t think I was good enough. I don’t know if she actually intended this as good advice or if she was just an old be-atch, but if not for her advice, and the follow-up advice that I got from my senior seminar instructor a few years later, I would be waiting tables at some old coffee shop right now.

Over the course of the last twenty years, I’ve spent many hours with people considering interior design as a career or who have just graduated and want to know what to do next. So here are a few tips from the trenches (well at least the trench that I work from).

1. If design doesn’t feed your soul, don’t do it.

I had a degree in french and was a senior in the marketing program at my university when I switched to design. One day in my senior year when I was slogging through yet another marketing plan my sis suggested I check out interior design. Not wanting to choose colors and pick furniture as a career I shrugged the idea off at first, then finally interviewed some instructors in the department as well as working professionals. What I heard sparked a fire in me that I couldn’t articulate and hadn’t felt before. So based on my gut reaction, I added another two years to my college career and made the switch. I still can’t articulate the feeling, but I do know that if I am not creating, drawing and solving problems that create better lives for my clients, I don’t breathe as well. That old instructor who told me I wasn’t good enough clearly didn’t understand me (or design)…and her lack of faith pushed me to prove her wrong so that I could keep breathing.

2. There are no shortcuts.

When you graduate you won’t be designing the next cover project for Interior Design Magazine. You will be creating presentation boards (meaning you’ll be gluing pretty pictures and pieces of fabric to cardboard), putting amazing documents together that show other people’s designs to their best effect, putting together finish schedules, specifying furnishings that someone else chose, cleaning up the conference room, basically making other people’s jobs easier. This is the path. Study hard, learn the amazing computer programs that are available to you and offer these skills every chance you get, when you finish a task ask for another, expect to work long hours when a deadline is approaching and don’t make plans the evening before a presentation….you will have to cancel. I began my career in small design firms so that I was exposed to the full breadth of design projects. My projects weren’t spectacular (small office spaces, very basic tenant improvement work), but I learned how to run a project from start to finish. If you choose to begin your career for one of the larger firms, you may work on more prestigious projects, but you will do a smaller piece of them. You know your personality, so move in the direction that best fits who you are. And whatever you do, do it well. The devil truly is in the details…mess up the details and the senior designers in your firm won’t want you on their projects. During my senior seminar I had a conversation with my instructor that I’ve never forgotten. I was lamenting the fact that I didn’t have the crazy out-there conceptualizing skills of one of my classmates. He told me that if he had to choose, he would hire me over her because I had skills that were marketable and that he could use. I could draw and write, my communication skills were excellent, and I enjoyed working down to the details. He counseled me to grow these concrete skills whenever I had the opportunity.

3. You are a problem solver first….never forget that.

Pretty isn’t the highest priority. Your first job is to solve your client’s problem, and before you can do that you must understand what the problem is. Every project begins with programming and if this isn’t done well, your design will fail. Before you even begin asking programming questions, you need to research your client and understand their business, how they work, what their employees do moment to moment and day to day, who their customers are. If this is a residential project you need to understand how your client family lives and what makes them feel comfortable, at home, happy. How they entertain and whether they love the outdoors or prefer a cozy fire inside. Then ask educated questions about the specific project and figure out how your design can fulfill their need and solve their problem. When I’m doing a restaurant project I need to understand my client’s business. If they are a full service restaurant, the operation will look very different from a fast casual lunch place. And if they are cooking three meals their kitchen will require more space than if they make sandwiches. Once you have solved the problem, then make it pretty…aesthetics are important, just not the first order of business.

4. Learn all you can before you begin and then learn some more.

There are certificate programs and short degree courses. Take the long course. Design is not just color theory and lighting science, it is a way of looking at the world. The only way to get there is to take the long course…and understand that there is no end. In order to create successful design you will need to understand the world as it grows and changes. Keep reading, talk to experts in other fields, pick the brains of the contractors and fabricators you work with, travel, take pictures. The world is an exciting place and everything you learn will make you a better designer.

5. Pretty pictures aren’t built projects.

Part of any design job, a big part, is understanding the local jurisdiction’s rules and operating procedures as well as local codes. Anyone can draw pretty pictures (well almost anyone), but can these pretty pictures be built? Learn how to research this information and the senior designers in your firm will be begging to have you on their teams. Even if this never becomes your area of expertise, know enough to ask appropriate questions as a design begins to gel. It seems to get more difficult all the time to navigate the myriad rules and regulations that sometimes feel like roadblocks, so get used to finding ways around. I learned early on (thanks to my friend Ed), that the best way to complete a project is to meet with building officials before design has even begun. Explain the project goals and ask for guidance to avoid potential bumps in the road.

So that’s my unsolicited advice….if you’d like more, feel free to contact me! And welcome to the world of design. I hope it fills your soul and makes you as happy as it makes me!
Leslie

can scrum help interior design?

image courtesy scruminc.com

I’ve been hearing and reading the word ‘scrum’ a lot lately, and not in reference to rugby. The word itself still makes me giggle and blush a little (my twisted mind takes it to a dark place). Scrum, it turns out, is more than just a group of very dirty people locking arms and huddling together across a grass field to get a ball from here to there. When applied to business, it is a fascinating management concept well worth study. Scrum, a type of  ‘agile design’, may be the fix that the worlds of interior design and architecture have needed for a long time.

background

Scrum is a term and an idea that was developed in the mid-eighties to move the software industry in a more productive direction. We have Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland to thank for setting the industry off on this path. The basic idea was born as a result of the repeated failures of the waterfall method of management. Edicts and pronouncements from top management that trickle down through the ranks to the worker bees (programmers in their world), are not efficient and lead to projects that are delivered both late and over budget. Using the scrum method, small, autonomous, multi-disciplined teams are formed. These teams work very closely, meeting frequently and with extensive input from all players, in short bursts on smaller pieces of a larger project. As input changes, dynamics change and each piece changes until eventually a working whole is formed. The teams are facilitated by managers whose purpose is to remove obstacles, not dictate what to do nor how to do it. A very different paradigm from the waterfall method of management with nary a Gantt chart to be found (sorry MS Project).

design process

Historically the design process has followed a singular linear path from inception through construction.

  1. Programming: gathering all necessary information from the client
  2. Concept development: determining how the design will meet both functional and aesthetic requirments
  3. Schematic design: creating a preliminary visual presentation for customer approval
  4. Design development: developing the details of the design to verify appropriateness in terms of function, cost and availability
  5. Construction documentation: documenting the design for permitting and construction
  6. Construction administration: aiding the construction team and verifying construction follows design intention

In my experience, many interior design and architecture projects go over budget and often struggle to meet a timely schedule. And the methodology for attempting to keep these two bad boys from continuing to occur is typically loud vocalizing from above. Not a very effective management style. And this doesn’t serve the bottom line or the customer. Based on the linear list above, there are a number of places where problems occur. To begin with, stages one through three are typically handled by a design team, then stages four through six are moved to a technical team with minimal overlap. In addition to switching teams mid-stream, there are a number of weak points at various stages. Weak points create problems that will cost unanticipated time and money.

  • Programming: clients change their minds, and often information either changes or is missed early in the process and must be amended or gathered later leading to changes in the final design.
  • Concept development: depending on the effectiveness of the designers involved, function can be subjugated to aesthetics or vice versa leading to a less than ideal solution.
  • Schematic design: because the client is only minimally involved in the process, the schematic design becomes a critical point at which communication becomes the most important factor. If the design is not well communicated, even a good design will send the designers back to the drawing board.
  • Design development: since this is where the project typically moves from the design group to the technical group, many issues that might have been averted early on by someone who understands detailing (no, you can’t really float a ceiling), now become problems to solve.
  • Construction administration: the project is now in the field being built by people who had nothing to do with how it got here. Even though a good design team will have worked with their contractors and fabricators during design, things always come up. The tile specified doesn’t have a bullnose available, the hvac requirements changed and now the lights don’t fit, someone forgot to measure the elevator and the countertop has to be craned into an upstairs window, etc.

a better path

Certainly not all firms manage projects the same way or fail in the same places. Some are better and some are not. But I wonder if this idea of Scrum might be worth a look. Bruce Feiler applied ‘agile programming‘ to his family with profound results. He describes the basics succinctly and his video is worth watching. If something developed for software works for children, then I posit that it would work quite well in the world of design and architecture. No offense intended.

Tell me what you think. This is an exciting area and well worth some investigation,
Leslie