A Clear Path Forward
Photo Caption: Musing on design on a field trip to Clark Art Institute. Painting by Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta.
In the early years of starting our studio and working as a designer, I had no idea what our job was. I thought it was to dictate our taste and sensibilities to our clients. I thought it was to pick out dazzling wallpapers and fabrics that we liked and arrange those pieces in other peoples homes.
While these things are certainly a part of the job they are, in fact, a very small part.
What I know now is that our job is to take away anything that is in the way of people seeing for themselves what makes a profound difference for them.
It has nothing to do with if we are qualified to do the job, it has to do with if people feel they can trust us to guide or even more accurately facilitate their journey. Our clients are about to embark on a long and expensive trip. People can not see clearly to the other side.
Our job is to illuminate the best options given every very unique and personal situation.
All of our projects start with a “Discovery Call” ; this call is often over an hour, even for clients that may be only using us for a design consultation. We need to see the eagle’s view of the client's world. What are their skill sets? What role can they play? What role do they want to play? What are their time constraints? What are their budget constraints? What are the obstacles of the property itself? Is there significant deferred maintenance that must be addressed?
During Discovery calls we ask people to prioritize: Beauty, Cost and Functionality. 99% of our clients prioritize:, Functionality, Cost then Beauty in that order. These priorities speak to the need that most people are confronted with: where to put all of the stuff that is accumulating in their lives, so that we will be able to relax. This need is what often sparks people to reach out to us in the first place. Our ethos is that order in itself is beautiful. Nothing is beautiful that is not functional. Tactical life issues must be addressed first. Beauty cannot be found if legitimate concerns are in the way.
We also ask new clients “if working with a designer exceeded your expectations, what would that look like?” A client recently said “I would have one list of everything I needed to buy.”
People can see the breadth of experience any design team has. What people really want to know is can they trust you. Can they trust you to honor both their limitations and aspirations and hold those two things in equal balance for them. All suggestions from the design team must emerge solely from these considerations.
Our lives are complicated and overstimulated. We don’t need superfluous decor. We need trustworthy leadership to provide a clear path forward to love and peace in our homes.
Val Nehez is the owner and principal designer at Studio IQL in East Falls, which you can find at StudioIQL.com and on Instagram at studio_iql or for smaller projects quickandlovely_design.
