What does my client want?
First I arranged a consultation on the phone with my client to establish a connection; and to begin delving into their world of design.
I used this time to ask vital questions I would need to answers to before I even considered a general concept, such as room requirements, special adaptions for the family, era inspiration etc. I found our consultation interesting as it is a strange experience to see how differently two individuals would decorate the same space.
Designing with Ease
“I like the very classical look, tall windows, tall doors, the high ceilings, I like the wooden floors, I like the deep skirting boards, the wide architrave on the doors, I like the traditional stone frontage,”
CONSULTATION TRANSCRIPT
The interior design consultation is an opportunity to see your home first-hand and start the conceptual process. It's a time to listen to your decor dilemmas, learn more about your vision for the space, how it fits in with your lifestyle, etc
-START OF TRANSCRIPT-
MYSELF- What design style(s) do you prefer? --- because you mentioned the geo-Georgian is there anything else along that kind of thing
CLIENT- I like the very classical look, tall windows, tall doors, the high ceilings, I like the wooden floors, I like the deep skirting boards, the wide architrave on the doors, I like the traditional stone frontage,
MYSELF- Is there any particular type of stone or colouration?
CLIENT- I don’t know what the stone is but like a roman stone.
MYSELF- What design style(s) do you absolutely dislike that you wouldn’t have in your home?
CLIENT- I don’t like lots of small rooms that lead into each other, I feel it’s very much like a maze or a warren. I like open space; I don’t like boxed in features or small tiled fireplaces/hearths I like the big open wood style fireplaces with a tile inlay. I don’t like flat roofs I prefer domed or pointed traditional style roofs, I don’t like serving hatches or interconnecting room windows. I don’t like the idea that you have to walk through a bedroom to get to a bathroom for other people to have to do that too.
MYSELF- What about jack and jill?
CLIENT- I don’t mind jack and jill for bathrooms, but I don’t like if I had to get to say [REDACTED]’s bed. room I would have to walk through my bedroom to get to theirs. But I don’t mind rooms sharing bathrooms.
MYSELF- What colours do you like or dislike?
CLIENT- I like greens, chalky style colours.
MYSELF- Muted?
CLIENT- Yeah and mauves, and I like lavenders very natural, I like blush I don’t like bright colours, I don’t like fuchsia pink.
MYSELF- So like soft natural tones?
CLIENT- Yeah, I like soft natural like chalky colours. If you had a bright fuchsia and knocked it down with white so it was pastel, they’re the colours I prefer. Although saying that I do quite like my bathroom at the moment and its teal and quite dark but it’s quite a big room.
MYSELF- It’s still a very natural colour as well --- so you don’t like anything too garish.
CLIENT- No I don’t like patterns per say. I’m not a lover of dots and dashes and stripey wallpaper. I prefer paint although saying that I do like my bathroom again which has a contrasting cream wallpaper with blue birds on it. Which sounds awful but it’s just outlines, and it does pick out the teal in the room, so it works.
MYSELF- So still a nature theme?
CLIENT- I like florals I don’t like geometrics.
MYSELF- What patterns, if any, do you like? – we’ve kind of covered this but is there anything else?
CLIENT- I like florals I like birds, I don’t like geometrics I don’t like crosshatches. I don’t like tigers and leopard print.
MYSELF- Nothing too eccentric?
CLIENT- I mean I don’t mind as maybe a soft furnishing to highlight something in the room, like and elephant pillow like I had a long time ago on the sofa. But I wouldn’t go leopard print or lots of umbrellas repeated over and over. I don’t like repeated patterns. Small patterns – I don’t mind if they’re big because you don’t seem to get so many [repeated].
MYSELF- Do you have any inspirational images you can share?
CLIENT- Yes, I can send them across.
MYSELF- What does your family normally do in this room (i.e., what is the intended use of this room)?
CLIENT – I mean not really any purposes but in an ideal world id like a room where we can relax in, go to like a snug in the evening with a nice fireplace, And then have a more open living area for when all the family comes around, And obviously I’d like a dining area, whether that be joined to the kitchen, although I think a private dining room might be quite nice if we were ever having a special occasion i.e. Christmas. But we don’t really need like a games room or a cinema room. Maybe an office.
MYSELF- That’s fine, so there’s no desperate need for a certain kind of room?
CLIENT- No – actually a boot room, somewhere I can wash the dogs down after they’ve been splodging.
MYSELF- Are there any furniture or decor items you absolutely want to keep? Please attach photos and measurements if possible.
CLIENT- Yes, I definitely want to keep my big 8-seater dining table. I definitely want to keep my grand sofas I definitely want to keep my king-sized bed
MYSELF- What do you like/dislike about the current design of your home? Please attach pictures if you have any.
CLIENT- In my house at the moment I like the wide architrave around the doorways, I quite like the layout, I don’t like the fact that I have to come upstairs to get to the main floor. I would like French doors out of my kitchen into the garden area. But I like the shutters and I like the big windows and the sash windows, and I like the tall ceilings, so I’d like to keep those features. The only thing id change is the way you have to come upstairs to access everything. I love my stairs though. Don’t get me wrong. But I wish that was the staircase going up to the other floor.
MYSELF- Rather than the current servants style staircase?
CLIENT- Yeah rather than the spirals I’d prefer the grand staircase.
MYSELF- Do you or your family have any special needs?
CLIENT- No
MYSELF- Is there anything you’d like me to keep in mind like wheel accessibility in the doors or is that not really a concern?
CLIENT- It’s not a concern at the moment but I think if we followed the design. Of the Georgian wide doors, it wouldn’t be an issue anyways because they’d be plenty wide enough for a wheelchair
MYSELF- What are some of your hobbies/passions (e.g. traveling, reading, painting, cooking, etc.)?
CLIENT- I like traveling, my dogs are my key possessions. I’d like it to be dog friendly. I do find this house a lot easier and quicker to keep clean than the last house. Because it was lots of small rooms and the only real heating was a coal fire. Whereas here I like the cast iron radiators.
MYSELF- So easy to keep clean is really important.
CLIENT- Yes because we’ve got 4 dogs, and a cat so obviously we want nice access for the cat to get in and out and nice garden area for the dogs to into, French doors easy access because they’re getting old.
MYSELF- What is your budget?
CLIENT- Between 250 and 300, so let’s say 280.
-END OF TRANSCRIPT-
Separating Relevant Content
After the consultation I wrote out each requirement and prioritised them for the concept board, as although my client may want multiple things it is important to consider the fluidity of the interiors and how the home will flow.
Get Inspired
I was lucky enough that my client gave me creative freedom for the most part, as long as i worked around her general brief. from here i began looking for inspiration images
