Adding To Your Life

Last Spring,longtime friend and client Connie lamented over lunch  about not having a screened  porch on her Keowee lakefront home. When I asked her why she didn't add one she responded by saying several builders had told her there was no way to put a porch  where she wanted one because of her complex roof line.

" Sure you can", I said.

Just after Labor Day the selected contractor will begin her porch project. The journey from that lunch time conversation to her new reality was actually, pretty typical in the custom designing process for me. It has been the first of a lifetime  experience for Connie. Even clients who have had design services in the past may not have experienced the  extended process necessary for making an addition to a home. It  can be complex.

I would love to tell you I was able to smooth everything so successfully Connie had a stress free experience but this was not the reality. The process requires a lot of work on the part of the client.

Sequential decision making is necessary. It is true some clients say, "Just do it!" but most want to have a say in the  function, the style and the budget of their projects. Which means putting in the time
and the hard decision making is required. This sounds tough, I know but it is the truest path to a successful design that is yours.

It is a key responsibility of the designer to help the client identify the function, the style and the budget  for their projects.  Just yesterday I received an inquiry e-mail about our services. In that e-mail, the homeowner said,
"...my experience in the past with decorators is they have their own style or I have been unable to adequately communicate my preferences and I've ended up with rooms that are too formal/traditional for me."

Her lament is the very definition of  the differences between a decorator and a designer. A decorator does just that, styles (decorates) your home for a season or to reflect current trends. It is a lot like going to Talbot's or Chico's for their pros to "style" your personal look. There is a tremendous difference in having your home decorated in the latest home fashions and having one designed to meet your needs both functional and aesthetic.

Designers are educated in  creating volumetric art which  uses the elements of light, color, texture, scale, contrast, focal point and furnishings  to create an environment which reflects the interests, lifestyle and functional needs of the occupants which compliments the architecture and the views out every windows. We designers  bring the full comprehensive design process to every project of every scope and every budget.

With Connie, we broke the process out into stages.

 In the assessment stage, I came  to her home to
take field measurements, take photographs of her architecture from the rear, to analyze how a porch would look from the dock, to identify best views we wanted to capture and to determine the material use best suited to her contemporary architecture.

The most important part of this process was the interview to determine how the porch would be used. It sounds simple but Connie's needs included her daily enjoyment of her gorgeous location, and adequate space for dining and gathering for her frequent entertaining schedule. To my delight , we also discovered  she  loved the idea of having the perfect spot for  her grandchildren to experience Summer nights sleeping on a porch, watching the fire flies and the stars to the tunes of the hoot owls.

In the design stage we produced Plans "A" and "B" with both bird's eye views and elevations of how either plan  would  actually look on her house. The plans show options for a vaulted ceiling of either a hip or a gable style, a straight out  from the  main house  floor plan and the other  angled  to the long view up the lake. That long view was really, really nice but angling the Porch  visually dominated her architecture. We wanted a more cohesive statement so we choose the straight out floor plan and revised a furniture plan  angled  to capture the long view.

Once all the decisions have been made on the footprint and the materials, we produce design documents by which the projects are permittted,  bid and, built. A selected plan is   finalized with  an on site review of all the materials selected: woods, stone, screen, railing, roofing, lighting, skirting, stain, furnishings,  to give the client the best visual possible of what will be built and how it will look. Those series of decisions are necessary to make a project perfect. In some cases, clients are not good with conceptual space so for these folks we mark the outline of the floor plan onto the ground with marking paints or flags and tape.  It is always an emotional and a financial expense to add an addition to one's home so we do our best to help the client "see" what does not yet exist.  

Bidding out the project is actually pretty simple. Invite  2 or 3 good builders to come meet the home owners,  walk the site, review the plans. Encourage builders to bring their best crew and make any alternative recommendations they may have, before they bid, so those changes can be reflected in the bid.

The hard part for Connie was in choosing the builder! All good builders, with solid reputations,  reasonable timelines and competitive bids. When you like them all, the choice is hardest.

If you are considering adding to your life, not just  to your house, then do  prepare for a positive experience by choosing those professionals who can best guide you in attaining your goal  in a way which will reward you with a "happily ever after". If you would like our assistance in reaching this goal please e-mail us, we will be happy to respond.

Motivations

One of the more interesting aspects of the design business is what motivates clients. There are two broad categories which induce clients to commit to a project. Need and desire.  The need for improved function or safety are the top two. If you can no longer step over the side of a tub to take a shower then you actually do need a walk in shower.  If your home has no main level master,  you can no longer navigate stairs and, you cannot sell your house in a dead market then,   a way to get to other floors or a way to live on the main floor is a functional reality. We have solved these issues , and others, many times over. There is always a solution even when it seems otherwise.

While we do find creative problem solving to address a functional
reality exciting;  to creative problem solve  something as winsome as a desire or a feeling is a rush!  I once had a woman come into
the design studio sans an appointment,  carrying a  vintage pitcher from a favorite Aunt. What she said was, " I want to feel in my Kitchen what I felt in my Aunt's Kitchen.
She loved this old pitcher and so do I"

As designers we cannot return your Aunt to the Kitchen.  Often,  with an object like this vintage Villerory and Boch pitcher, a good conversation and, maybe a picture or two , we can create the desired  feeling of comfort and love.  In this case what was needed was not a change of layout but a change of finishes. We were able to paint cabinets, replace  hardware and lighting, update the countertops and splurge on a beautiful blue enamel  Viking dual fuel range.

Their appliances had been in need of replacing for some time. Unfortunately She and her husband had been unable to agree on the type of appliances or the finish. He wanted an indoor gas " grille worthy" stove in  stainless  while
she was a baker hoping for commercial ovens and a new  panel front refrigerator to blend in with the cabinetry.  The surprise of the dual fuel
blue range with the stainless top solved the problem ! The burners and grilles are gas, the ovens electric or convection. The new counter
depth stainless refrigerator provided the needed clearance for the mobile island they both wanted. We all  agreed to a concealed dishwasher.  The result was not just happy home owners with a beautiful ,professional, efficient Kitchen but, more importantly, a client who awakes every morning to the feeling of well  being she experienced in her Aunt's Kitchen. I still feel lucky she walked into our design  studio!

A few years back we had clients with a home under construction in Acadia.  They had bought the home  from a contractor who was building it as a spec house. At the time of purchase the slab was poured, structural materials had been ordered and there were blueprints. I phone call from the site, " We bought a house! Come see!" resulted in a Sunday afternoon delight. The timing was perfect for making changes to the floor plan; expanding a porch and adding an outdoor Kitchen. Once we began the process of working with the builder in selecting finishes and fixtures the Mrs. said, "There are some light fixtures from my family home I would like to use if we could." A field trip to  the family homestead where she and her  seven siblings were raised  resulted in the rescue of a pair of vintage silver chandeliers. Quite beautiful fixtures which we were able to send out to be refinished and re-wired. We also worked with the cabinet makers to create a built-in  sideboard in the passage between Kitchen and Dining on which we showcased her mother's collection of silver serving pieces.  The delight in this project was not just the ground floor opportunity to address the floor plan, the finishes, fixtures and  furnishings. Or even great clients who were a joy from beginning to completion.  There was great  creative satisfaction in  combining  space planning and design services  to meet  this family's functional and aesthetic needs. Having the opportunity to incorporate meaningful  family heirlooms into a perfectly functioning, beautiful and nurturing home was an additional honor.

Just today I received an E-mail from a  Keowee Key client for whom we have done some renovation plans and installations. She is recently retired and still adjusting to being at home.
While she and her husband remain busy with interests in sports, music and volunteering, they
are not accustomed to the many hours at home together. Both achieved successful careers and were acclimated to private offices, decision making and autonomy.  At home, sharing an office has been problematic, resulting in one in the office and the other on a laptop in the Sunroom.

 Today was the day the Mrs. recognized the office was "his" not "theirs" and  sent an e-mail asking, "do you think I could have an office upstairs?"  I responded, "a woman who has lived with all males for 40 something years  (1 husband, 4 sons) has surely earned  a room of her own!"

 In truth we often see clients who do not use a third or more of their homes because it is reserved for guests. That is fine if you do not need the space for your own use. We encourage our clients to enjoy their homes! Unused, empty rooms are not a good thing. I will do my best to motivate this wonderful woman to allow herself to be as important as sometime guests.  That she will in fact choose to have an entire room dedicated to her. Not just a desk  tucked into a corner.

Motivations  can be as random as a beautiful Spring dogwood bloom or  the return of the bugs.
Today Penelope called to say, " I need a Porch! I am not spending another summer on Jocassee with these bugs!"