The importance of interpreting a client brief

As we enter a new year and a new chapter, I am excited to think about the new projects we will be undertaking in 2022.

As interior designers and interior architects, we are always designing with our clients’ brief in mind, without influence from our own unique tastes or preferences. I’ve decided to start right at the beginning of the process, with the importance of interpreting a client brief in interior design. 

 

Clients don’t always know what they want, or how to tap into it…

There are many reasons that my clients choose to work with me when designing their new home, one being that they are unsure where to start when it comes to design. Over the years, it has become clear to me that I have a unique ability to really decipher and understand what my client wants and needs from a design, perhaps knowing more than they might even know themselves yet. How? Experienced, intuition, inquisitive questions that guide my clients to the answers that they need to provide a strong brief from the outset. 

Lots of questions. Blue or green? Blue. Do you like greys & charcoal? Stripes, yes or no? Although this line of questioning may seem very simplistic, it is during this discovery process that I can begin to create an intuitive vision in my mind of what we are working toward. 

If you’re working with an interior designer, always be sure to give them as much information as possible when you are being asked questions about likes and dislikes, as well as offering freely anything you think would be valuable to know. If you’re redesigning an existing home, do you want to retain the existing character? Is your dream living in a French-inspired home, something contemporary, clean-lined and minimal or a combination of classical and contemporary? 

 

Likes & dislikes 

When you ask somebody what they like or dislike, it’s not always an easy answer, as there are simply too many options to consider. Likes and dislikes are so incredibly important to establish during the initial brief, so I will always ensure that I am helping direct clients to an answer that is true to themselves. With a combination of cleverly designed questioning and honesty from clients, it can become very clear quite quickly what somebody’s likes or dislikes may be. 

 

Clients know what they want, but don’t know how to achieve it…

Then there are clients that know exactly what they want. They have delicately prepared their own extensive research (I always encourage my clients to bring as many visual elements as possible to the initial consultation, whether that be old school magazine cutouts or an online Pinterest board) and have a great understanding of what they want to achieve, but just don’t know where to start.

By collaborating with an interior designer, they are guaranteed to get the best outcome from their project. It can be incredibly daunting decorating, furnishing and styling an entire home from a blank canvas. With so many unique (and many un-thought of) elements to consider (for example proportions, scale, colour schemes), working with a professional will mean that your ‘turn-key’ end to end design is cohesive throughout your home; spaces that work together, nothing in isolation. In addition to this, we have long-lasting relationships with suppliers across every industry, from sourcing fabrics/materials to the best tradespeople to complete large, high-end installations.

There are many services that you would never consider doing yourself without professional help (like the plumbing in your new bathroom, or wiring in your new kitchen). Our clients have excellent taste and wonderfully unique styles, but it does not make them designers. Our role as designers is to enhance and bring together all of these elements seamlessly, with our many years of combined professional experience in doing so.

 

Keeping items that you love

Although we advise our clients (strongly) never to purchase items for us to specifically design around (as from our past experience this has never turned out well), we do appreciate that there are items that you love and want to incorporate into the design of your new home. These items can be a starting point, for example using the colours from an existing rug to draw inspiration from for the rest of the room, whether that be incorporating colours into curtains, a bedhead or a feature chair. 

So it’s incredibly important during the brief stage of your project to make your interior designer aware of items that you wish to keep in your home, to allow them to be integrated seamlessly. 

Your home should be a place that you return to if you’ve had a bad day and can feel instantly calm and connected; your nurturing happy place. When I’m designing homes for my clients based on my interpretation of the brief, I measure my success by the emotional response that the design evokes. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a client fill up with tears (happy tears) when we literally bring their dreams to life, and this happened very recently.

 

Are you looking to work with an interior designer to help you design your home? Reach out to us online if you would like to know more or book an initial consultation with Marylou Sobel.