In a recent meeting I discussed with a client the exciting times ahead of them while they have a new extension built. Everything is meticulously organised, from the planning control, architects and right down to when the electrics are installed...and they have budgeted it all without coming to speak to me in advance - I was a happy afterthought, but just a bit too late to the party
HERE'S THE RUB
All of this hard surface work is brilliant and will absolutely make a home bigger and better , but no-one wants to sit in a breeze block room with plaster board ceiling and the cables coming from the walls without the floor finished or the walls painted and so many forget that the pretty things are what makes those four walls HOME.
Not to beat about the bush - all to many clients forget that good home furnishings make you happy in your space but they do cost money, and are often forgotten in the big build budget.
Even the biggest build budget can be blown when you add in flooring and wall coverings, sofas, beds, coffee tables and lighting. Not to mention the little details and styling items that turn a room from basic to brilliant.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
If you ask me, and lets be honest that is why you are here, you should make sure your architect and your interior designer communicate. Don't be told by them that they will do it all, the vast majority of architects are brilliant at hard surfaces, space planning and light management and much much more. I cant do what they do, but they cant do what I do - there is room for us all.
interior shot of a modern room (AI)
In this image you can see it is magnificent, but I am writing from Scotland and the longer winters and dark nights mean those windows are like black mirrors from October to March and my clients want window coverings and not always for privacy, more often for cosiness and warmth. A simple voile is ideal to hide the vastness but not add the warmth and I am well placed to help source some fabulous ones and advise on the best method to hang them.
Similarly, the sofa is a gorgeous big leather thing and I would have one in a heartbeat if I was sitting in Spain on a hot day but they just are not snuggly and your architect will love the shape because it echoes the lines of the build but I am just not buying it for vegging out on the sofa with a hangover and a box set.
Not all architects are this modern, I know. So make sure your architect understands you from the get go and, if you work your interior design scheme along side your architecture scheme the "whole" is harmonious and should end up being your dream. The niggle factors are dealt with in planning and the furniture and fixtures (FF&E) are an extension of the plan not an afterthought.
SO WHAT HAPPENED NEXT...
Well, myself and my client sat down and worked out what we can do with the tiny budget left from the build - It has almost all gone on the enormous windows.
We realised that in order to get a seamless finish for the drapery tracks before the plasterboard goes up channels must be cut to conceal the track. The amount of fabric required was eye watering and it means that they will have to make do with the old sofa and chairs for a while, and paint where there were dreams to put a grasscloth wall covering up.
So they have a great big new extension and it still looks like the old house with the old furniture . Everything they didn't want.
MORAL...
Make sure you employ the interior designer early, have broad communication streams with the all the parties involved and most of all leave something in the bank for the stuff of life. You might have the nicest plumbing or plasterboard but you cant sit on that to watch the telly.
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