Featured on the Show:

• Renovation Management for Interior Designers – Expanding your business with a lucrative service

What you will learn in this episode: 

• The difference between renovation management and construction 

• The difference between builder specs and managing a project

• Why you need to be selling your renovation management service

So I’m often asked what the difference is between renovation and construction. When we use the terminology ‘construction,’ people often think of a ground-up home. However, you can’t do renovation without construction, so I do tend to use those words interchangeably. So renovation management and construction management are the same things. However, I don’t want people to confuse construction management with a General Contractor because those are different roles and most states have different licenses to become a general contractor. What this podcast is all about is an interior designer managing construction projects, whether that means the renovation of a few spaces or ground-up construction. 

That sort of ties into the next question I get, and that is builder specs and managing a project. I have a lot of designs who reach out to me, and they do builder specifications. What does that mean? A builder needs specifications, in particular, if they’re building more than one home. So what that means is they hire a designer to create the specifications. That can include or exclude furniture. It can just be kitchen cabinetry, countertop materials, tiles, floor, paint, and things of that nature that are more considered construction projects. And what that is is a one-off. And in my experience, you hand off the specifications, and then the contractor that hired you to do it takes it and implements your specifications. 

So this podcast is taking a designer through the management of a construction or renovation project. 

And that can take on two different roles. 

One, for a very large home, or ground-up construction, there is traditionally a construction company that his hired to do it. A designer doesn’t have the licensing and permitting abilities a construction company has. Your role is still managing but your managing as the advocate for the client and not managing the actual trades. That’s what the GC or supervisor does. Your job as an interior designer would be to managing deadlines, or specifications. You’re also going to be managing issues that come up along the way. 

The second role, and what I find to be the more common role, is the lead of the project. Meaning the client reaches out to the designer and tells them they want to do a kitchen, a bathroom, a small addition, etc., and then the team is built. To be clear, the designer doesn’t hire a contractor. The client does. However, the designer can recommend contractors. They can, and they should be helping their client vet these contractors and trades and subs so that the project team is the best it can be. Then moving forward, the designer is the one keeping the schedule moving forward in conjunction with the contractor. The contractors are more than happy to hand those tasks off to a designer. So the designers’ role is large. 

There just isn’t enough support for designs in this subsection of interior design. And that’s what gets me excited. I want designers to be more confident, to be more knowledgeable on construction projects. 

Firstly, I know we can, and it is an incredibly important for an interior designer to be an expert in order to stand out in our over-saturated industry. And secondarily, I know designers are already doing it right now. They’re just anxious and twisted up and don’t know how to respond to situations. And trust me, I have been there! I know this angst, and I also know how to get out of it, and improve and excel at renovation management.

Also, in today’s episode, I share how so often designers don’t list their renovation management on their website or aren’t comfortable selling that service. This is also the point of this podcast! This podcast is for designers. My course is for designers. I want to see all designers who want to sell this service set themselves apart from other designers in their area and become an expert in renovation management, and to have the support they need. 

I’m excited to hear your feedback from today’s episode, and if you have another idea for an episode, I’d love to hear!

Like this Episode?

• Be sure to check out Episode #20: Managing a Renovation Project – What Is My Role?

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