FEATURED ON THIS EPISODE

INTERIOR DESIGNER’S GUIDE TO CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN THE EPISODE:

WHAT TO DO IF YOU’RE ON CONSTRUCTION SITES RIGHT NOW AND YOU AREN’T CONFIDENT IN YOUR SKILLS

WHAT TO DO IF YOU CAN’T TAKE A PAY CUT TO GO BACK AND WORK FOR ANOTHER INTERIOR DESIGNER TO GAIN THE SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE FOR CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

THE FRUSTRATION OF NOT BEING TAUGHT THE BASICS OF RUNNING A PROJECT

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I have had the privilege of speaking to countless interior designers over the past three years since I started this podcast.

Today, I want to talk about some of the frustrations I hear about from other designers when lacking the skills and knowledge for construction management.

The most common frustration I hear about is that construction projects are kind of foisted onto them.

This means the client will drag them into a project because they already know them or are already working together, and so it’s a natural progression for the homeowner to bring along the designer that they know, like, and trust.

Totally makes sense – except the designer doesn’t have the skill and understanding to manage a project that is very different from managing a decorating project. Not that one is harder than the other, they’re just very different.

So I have designers calling me, saying, “Renee, I have no idea what I’m doing! I am faking it til I make it, and I’m exhausted doing it. I don’t think I’m making any money on this project – my goal is actually just not to lose money.” 

That should never be your goal. That may be your reality right now, but it should never be your goal.

The other designers I hear from are new to the industry. They haven’t been in the business a long time, and they only have experience spending their own money.

And what I always caution designers with is that it’s a different scenario when you’re spending someone else’s money. There has to be care and a sense of responsibility when you’re spending someone else’s money. And that should never be taken lightly. 

I don’t want designers to fudge their experience. There’s no upside in doing that to a client. 

I promise you at some point, your lack of experience will show itself, and you will be caught in a much more uncomfortable situation than had you been upfront and honest in the beginning and still gotten the job.

Don’t get me wrong, everybody has their first job. Everybody has their first 5 jobs. By being open and honest about and pricing your services accordingly, you will still get those jobs. You will just now feel comfortable knowing that you’re not having to fake it behind the scenes. That is never a winning scenario. 

The secondary part is that designers say they can’t work for someone else. 

They have to be making a certain amount of money. Therefore, they want to go out on their own. I understand as someone who was living in New York City and working at these incredibly low-paying entry-level jobs in our business. And it truly is a sin how low paying our industry is in big firms because we are critical to the success at any level. 

Receiving low pay for your services often has a negative effect on your output because you don’t feel validated if you aren’t being paid, in some cases, a livable wage. 

So, I understand why designers don’t want to go that route or want to shadow another designer or take on those roles if it’s your second career. 

The next category of designers I hear from is their frustration in not being taught anything about construction in design school.

It was my teachers in the New York School of Interior Design who actually talked about construction as opposed to actual classes that got me hooked on this niche inside of our field.

It was my teachers in the New York School of Interior Design who actually talked about construction as opposed to actual classes that got me hooked on this niche inside of our field. 

In particular, one teacher taught me how to draw my project, ink to canvas. She was an anomaly in that field. She taught us how to draw any plan required for construction – I mean any. 

Here’s what got me hooked – she said, “I want you to understand these drawings so you can sit at a table with the architect, toe-to-toe, understand what they’re saying, and add value to the overall design of the project.”

 I thought, “I want to do that. I love these drawings. It’s like a puzzle.” And so, when I graduated, I sought out firms that were doing construction work.

But I wasn’t technically ‘taught’ any of this in school.

I learned it from the designers I worked for. It wasn’t until I started this podcast and kept hearing from designs desperately seeking this information that I realized how many designers out there are on job sites every day and aren’t sure of what they’re doing. 

So, I am all in on sharing what I know. I am all in for boosting this industry. And it would be a dream come true if every homeowner assumed that an interior designer needed to be a part of their renovation construction project from day one. 

If you’re on construction sites right now and you aren’t confident in your skills, what stages come, the steps to take, or you’re unable to take a pretty significant pay cut from your current position and go back and work for an interior designer, or if you went to school and you weren’t taught the basics of running a project, my recommendation for you is to be very careful crowd-sourcing the information on Facebook Groups and Google searches. I see the questions and answers and read through them. They’re usually pretty good and are certainly well-intended. But you can tell that the people responding might not have a lot of experience of their own. So, yes, it is a step you can take, but better yet, share this podcast with your interior design friends. There are ways to find out this information from seasoned interior designers. Also, tell them there is so much content on my website. There are free resources, low cost downloads, as well as an incredibly robust, self-paced course, The Interior Designer’s Guide to Construction Management.