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Only Girl On The Jobsite Designer Edition

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What you will learn from this episode: 

• Understanding what a forever home means to your client

• Why discussions about how long a client plans to live in their home matters

• How to handle uncomfortable situations when asking your client difficult questions

When speaking to clients, I often hear, “This will be my forever home.”

But before taking that at face value, I dig a little deeper and ask a few more questions. As an interior designer, it’s my job to tease out what they really mean by forever.

Why is this an important topic to cover? Because my clients hire me for my professional opinion and advice. Part of that advice revolves around the investment they are making in their home and how to do it wisely.

Knowing if your client plans on staying in their current home until their kids graduate from school or if they want to live there as long as they possibly can will help them decide how to invest well in their project.

I can get behind a large investment when I know it will provide a long return.

If they plan on living in the house for another 20 to 25 years, then making a considerable investment now, like an expensive wallpaper, will allow them to get all of the enjoyment out of it and not regret making that decision.

If they were thinking of moving, maybe in five or six years, I may recommend investigating a mid-price point wallpaper that still looks great. They might not notice the difference, and they won’t be as upset when they sell it and possibly have the new homeowner tear it out.

Another thing to think about is accessibility and aging in place.

Considering adding elevators or handicapped bathrooms can be tricky to explain to a client now, but valuable for them in the long term, so they can finish out their lives and stay in their home as planned, knowing that there will be systems to support them.

It’s my obligation to have these conversations and encourage them to think things through that they might not have thought about otherwise.

I feel that is a win-win for both the designer and the client. It establishes a trust between a designer and a client that is invaluable for the success of any project.

If you haven’t already heard, we are in the process of revamping our Only Girl On The Jobsite Designer Edition course. We are adding more topics and lessons based on questions that have been brought up by current students. We are relaunching this soon, so if you want to hear about it first, you’ll need to get on the waitlist. You can find that on my website, under the Designers tab at the top of the page.

Don’t forget to sign up for my email newsletters. Visit www.devignierdesign.com and scroll to the bottom to sign up. As always, you can reach me at renee@devignierdesign.com or DM me on Instagram @devignierdesign if you have any questions or topics you’d like me to cover in future episodes.

Like this Episode?

• Be sure to check out Episode #47: Steps to Take Before You Start a Renovation Project

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