Anticipation and Emotion When Remodeling Your Home
“…life is 95 percent anticipation.” – Gloria Swanson
If you’ve ever experienced a “big reveal” at the end of a remodeling project, you know the elation and sheer joy of seeing your finished space for the first time. You might also recall the happiness you felt when you made the decision to redesign your home or finally build your dream house. The anticipation begins at that moment.
Remember the time and energy spent finding the right professionals with whom to collaborate on your project? A great match between the interior design team and a client feels so good. Getting to know one another is delightful, sharing the vision and concepts for the project. The anticipation builds.
An example of a project palette we present to clients. This one was created for Boston Home.
When our client and team adhere to our dedicated process and systems, projects typically proceed smoothly. But throw in the unpredictability of an ongoing pandemic, supply chain issues, and a shortage of skilled workers, then inconsistency creeps into the situation. Emotions can hit peaks and valleys, especially when expectations don’t align with realities. (Read what we’ve written about setting intentions and managing expectations.)
How do we manage challenges around:
Budget
Product availability
Change orders
Installation
Punch list
Communication is essential. We send Weekly Updates and schedules to our clients so that there are no surprises. We do our utmost to anticipate issues. When a change has to be made, we make sure that we’re all on the same page.
A rendering of proposed renovations and furnishings.
Relationships are at the core of our business; we want to know how our clients are feeling throughout the project, from the earliest design discussions, in the course of product selection, during construction and installation, and all the way up to punch list items.
Even in the best of times, there are elements of the remodeling process that can cause stress - for clients and interior designers. We know delays are one major cause of frustration - we feel it, too. Again, delays have been more frequent because of Covid, supply chain woes, and labor shortages. Most of this is out of our control, and our clients are generally understanding. Then there are delays caused by our clients, usually inadvertently, because of budget concerns, indecision, illness, or change orders.
We understand there may be some revisions along the way, but we also want our clients to understand that these contribute to higher costs and scheduling changes. There must be a time to move beyond the planning phase and into the delivery stage: furniture procurement, construction, and installation. Interior designers work on more than one project at a time. These are often at various stages of development and production. But when one project stalls, it can create an issue for scheduling other work.
“Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy.” Lao Tzu
Our passion for excellence drives the DADI team to work diligently, offer consistent processes, allow room for flexibility, and provide the highest quality experience that we can. We strive to make the entire process as joyful and low-stress as possible - for our clients and ourselves. But we’re all human beings - humble and fallible. Through it all, our core values are of the utmost importance: compassion, generosity, and trust.
When our shared journey of design nears it’s finish, nothing is better than seeing the delight wash over our client’s faces as we welcome them into their newly finished homes brings us our greatest joy.