It can be a walk in the park or a troubled journey! The process of understanding the Vision another person has in mind is complex; it takes time, insights and patience. We have all said “…oh, I know exactly what you mean!” But do we – can we — when it comes down to interpreting their vision into raw space, advising expenditures and assuring a “perfect” outcome?
Well, yes, and No! “Perfect” almost never happens; and while “exactly” can come close, it is not a good idea to make promises that precise, too early in the game! Understanding someone else’s Vision takes research, familiarity, examples, corollaries, and other such insights gained through good communication and cooperative illustration.
Your professional interior design team is tuned in with the listening and relating skills that are very essential for grasping, acquiring and comprehending that end result their client envisions for their interior space project. Prospective clients usually see their projection in living color with all the bells and whistles, and at the beginning, are not necessarily concerned about the pragmatic possibilities – or limitations.
As you, the client, go into specific descriptions and elaborate on all the details you want incorporated into that envisioned environment, your listening designer is moving along a parallel mental track. It’s a track that begins to browse (or race!) in and out of the myriad resources that might be “fits” to the vision that client is revealing. Designing your environment begins almost immediately in your designer’s mind, as you move through your descriptions, desires and images.
Along with positive impressions that might work, your design team must sometimes deliver disappointing facts concerning possible limitations. The feasibility of some ideas can be leveraged by anything from regulations and ordinances to climate, the condition of the structure — or unexpected cost realities!
The more thorough client and designer can be in initial conferencing concerning wants and needs, the fewer disappointments there may be further into the project. Surprises can cause trouble – or be completely unworkable for some elements that come into the picture too late to be accommodated through reasonable retrofit or cost. Pie-in-the-sky is best discussed early when unique designing into the big picture can make it happen.
When you are planning to seek the services of a professional design team, do your preparatory homework. Words are important, of course, but the better prepared you are with notes, rough sketches, pictures that reflect your tastes in color or style, examples of fixtures or components you want to consider or mimic – the easier it becomes to transfer your Vision to those who will be helping you make it happen.
If you are one of the many who have some ideas but don’t quite know how to pull them together, your professional design team can help. The planning process is your most important preliminary phase. Your team knows that once you decided to move forward with the project, you just want to get on with it! However, try to pause and do what it takes to be sure that you are bringing your team accurately into the clear Vision you have in mind.
