The Designer’s Worst Nightmare – Being Comfortable

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I was very polite in the title of this blog post, what I really meant to say was the designer’s worst nightmare is being lazy!

It is so easy to find a color that works with everything, so you use it on almost every project. You find a furniture supplier that you get on well with and the provide you with great service, then you never look any further. You have a favorite artist that you use to source artwork for your clients, they keep churning out the same concept but just in a new colorway every few months. You have a favorite light fitting because it is energy efficient and thats your token gesture to green design. You choose the carpet that the last sales rep in your office showed you because it is still on your desk from his last visit as you were too lazy to put it into the sample room. Do you get the general idea?

Clients go to designers to get something to suit their needs, they want it to be individual and know that you have put your heart and soul into it. They want to make sure that when they visit a friend, they don’t experience deja vu! The designer must stretch their mind for each and every client, or they may as well give up now as their boring designs will eventually kill them anyway. Being comfortable is not an acceptable state for an interior designer, you should always be trying something that frightens you a little, just to keep you job fit.

So what I want you to think about for 2011, (oh, Happy New Year by the way), is finding new and exciting products that can make your designs unique and make you have to think about ways to use them. Think about how you can use existing products in different ways, or get out some paint samples and play around yourself with different color combinations. Try something that is outside the square, you might be happily surprised at the outcome and you can save yourself from the designer’s worst nightmare!

Here is an article of a similar topic I wrote some time ago that has some more ideas on this.

9 thoughts on “The Designer’s Worst Nightmare – Being Comfortable”

  3. Dumase

    Thanx. Happy New Year to u too. Your course has been very inspiring. I hope to turn myself into a professional interior decorator in this year.

  4. bernard

    Hello Lee, happy new year to you and your family….yes definitely agree…thanx and more power

  9. Devangini

    Hi Lee,

    I absolutely agree with you – especially when it comes to colour. I was watching something yesterday on TV where the makeover experts came up with a beautiful lime green and wood colour trim for a bedroom. The linen was white and wooden accents like a screen were added, along with glass jars and pastel green candles. But you know what, the home owners were opposed to the idea from the word go. The end result? The designers forced their way through and the room turned out beautifully. Wish more people would experiment with colour!

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