Have you ever been to a wine and paint night? Easels line the table with blank canvases and primed painter’s palettes. Although you may not know where to start, the instructor guides you step-by-step, helping you paint a beautiful picture…as you sip wine, of course!
Now, unless you are a talented artist, imagine what your painting would look like if you didn’t wait for expert guidance. Would you have had the right brushes, type of paint, or canvas? Would your artwork have turned out as beautifully as you hoped it would? Would you be proud to display it in your home? Probably not.
Interior design is the same, but magnified a thousand-fold thanks to the nature of the investment and its permanence in your home.
When you decide to build a custom home or to completely renovate your existing home, you probably won’t know where to start, what materials to select, or how to create cohesive style. That’s where we come in as your guide, your advocate, and if you want us to be, the artist who creates the entire masterpiece for you.
And it all starts with a Design Consultation.
What is a Design Consultation?
A Design Consultation is a two-hour working meeting, where we meet with you onsite and discuss your design goals, tastes, interests, lifestyle, and project in great detail. We will help you map out the process, avoid pitfalls, and we may even recommend materials that make your space extraordinary. We’ll also share valuable advice for maximizing your investment and the process itself.
While our Design Consultations can stand alone (and are still highly valuable this way), they are also a great way to see if you enjoy working with us, in which case it becomes the launch point for the rest of your project.
After our Design Consultation, you may be ready to take the next step and work with us in a Full-Service capacity, where we take the reins of your project and bring it to life for you through project management, procurement, installation, and final styling. This is another topic we’ll discuss during our time together.
What can we achieve during a Design Consultation?
Each consultation is unique to each person. The questions you have and the scope of the work will determine the direction of the consultation and what we would like to achieve.
We always start by clarifying the direction you want to take with your project and addressing your challenges and goals. Then, based on your goals, we move forward with giving guidance, recommendations, and take a peek at any design inspiration you might have. For example…
If you are building a new house, we will go over the architectural drawings, discuss the procedure, and talk about furniture placement and ideal space plans throughout the home. After looking at your inspiration images, we can create a general design direction or colour story for home.
If you are renovating an existing home, we will go over the project’s scope, share layout ideas and tips for orchestrating the process, and talk about furniture placement. We can also help you create a general design direction for the aesthetic.
If you’re still not sure what we can achieve for you in a Design Consultation, book a complimentary discovery call with me here, and let’s talk about it.
How to Prepare for a Design Consultation
1. Get inspired! Once your consultation is booked, we will send you a Pinterest board for gathering inspiration. Then, head to Pinterest and start pinning the photos that give you all the feels. During your consultation, we’ll use your selections to get to know your style and discuss what you love.
2. Rank your goals from immediate needs to “would be nice”. If you know the priority order of your goals before we meet, we can jump right into what needs to be done now and use the allotted time efficiently.
3. Decide on an investment range, so that when we look at the scope of your project, we can help you understand what you can achieve with your desired investment. Be open about what you have to spend so that we can steer you in the right direction.
4. Write down all of your questions. As you prepare to meet with us, a question may pop into your head. Write it down, so you don’t forget to ask it during our consultation! Start a running list at least a week before our meeting, so you can make the most of our time together.
Are you ready?
Feel like you’re ready to take the first step toward a home you love? Book a Discovery Call with me, where we can talk about your project, get to know each other, and see if we’re a good fit for your very own Design Consultation. I can’t wait to meet you.
Xoxo,
Maria