Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Mini Job Flood

I say "mini" flood because it's not as if I'm taking on huge jobs right now, but I have picked up a handful of little guys and it's keeping me busy. Just had a meeting yesterday with a woman in Beverly Hills who had previously worked with my mentor Merlene Bryant, which is how I was referred, and it went well. Simple enough-get a set of dining room chairs reproduced and reupholstered, so she could sit the whole family around the table at Thanksgiving. I haven't actually had antique furniture reproduced before, so I'm going on a hunt today. My first stop is Steven Thomas Antiques in Santa Ana. I was tipped off to this guy about six months ago during a little resource exchange in my Business Strategies class. It's always a great idea to write down any resource that people are recommending because you never know when you'll use it!

My second little project is a trip to Portland this Thursday and Friday to set up the apartment of a client who's house I recently completed in Hermosa Beach. This is interesting because I haven't seen any photos of the apartment, so I'm basically winging it when I get up there. I am preparing for the trip by looking up local resources, so I can do a whirlwind shopping trip Monday and set everything up on Friday. This is exciting because I don't normally design in this way...I'll imagine that I'm on Design Star and Kelly Wearstler, etc will rip me apart if I don't get it right!

My third small project, the details of which are still being hammered out, is a referral from my next door neighbor who connected me to a friend of his that lives right up the street from me-gotta love the convenience factor there. The potential client rents, which I don't normally love to get involved with because you're so limited in what you can do to the place, but it needs a facelift nonetheless. The space is your typical bachelor pad, which is to say there hasn't been an extensive amount of thought put into the design, and it doesn't exactly scream "home aka Nest". I like the idea of doing this because I know that with minimal furniture and accessory purchases along with rearranging the furniture layout, this place can be 1000% better. The client also has his own clients and colleagues over to the space, which makes it even more imperative to clean up his act.

My "diary project" the SoCal Nest is still moving forward. An issue came up that I've dealt with before, which is how much input can you or should you give to a client who asks your opinion on another designer's designs. Let me lay the story out for you more specifically... SoCal Nest is doing an outdoor covered patio which includes a BBQ area. I don't have all the details, but the design of the BBQ area came from another designer who was already on the job when I was hired. I don't mean to say that there is another interior designer on the job-there's just me-but this person probably works specifically for a BBQ/Outdoor area company and designed the space through that company. When my client sent me the plan for this and some of the inspiration photos, I didn't want to step on any toes, but I put in my two cents.

The design is pretty simple-curved counter, sink, BBQ, etc.-but I didn't think the curved counted worked with the lines of the house, and I told her so. I feel a bit weird about it now because I've had people undermine my design opinion in the past, granted it was a client's girlfriend who didn't have a design degree or taste but....it is really irritating. Too many cooks in the kitchen really. I may be over thinking this as I tend to do, but I wonder if anyone has experienced this type of situation before?

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