5 TIPS ON HOW TO HAVE AN EFFECTIVE MEETING

WITH A DESIGNER

CREATE A LIST

NEEDS VS. WANTS

NEEDS WANTS

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To help you get your ideas flowing about what you want your designer to do with the space in ques-

tion, create a list. This list can be anything from, but not limited to:

Now that you have your list, it’s time to separate what you need from what you want. This is probably

one of the more difficult parts of the decision making process, but it will be worth it! The sooner you

figure out what you need versus what you want, the easier it will be to stay on budget and on time and

your designer can implement the things you need effectively.

- New Appliances

- Refinish the cabinets

- ADA compliant bathroom for aging relative

- New Sectional Sofa & Chaise

- The latest and trendiest appliance

- Designer cabinet hardware

- Designer deco tile in the bathroom

- Additional pillows on the sectional

This list will also help you and your designer prioritize what

is needed in the space.

- Family Needs

- Favorite Colors/Paint

- Favorite Styles/Furniture

- Things you don’t like

- Things you want to keep

- Your deepest desires

- Your utmost priorities!

Looking at what you wear also helps you gather

ideas of what you want in your home. This gives the

designer insight about your style and how it could be

reflected in the design and style of the home.

For example, if you have a lot of crisp blazers, dress

pants, and polished shoes for work and clean pressed

dresses, the designer can infer that you like looking

professional and your home should look the same. If

you have a lot of

pattern, color, and texture in your clothing, you could

be gravitating towards an eclectic style, and so forth.

LOOK IN YOUR CLOSET3

BRING INSPIRATIONPICTURES4

Bring your favorite issue of Elle Decor,

Veranda, or any magazine that has images that

caught your eye.

Clip them them out, tear that page out, then

make a collage, or simply put them in a folder to

keep them organized.

If you’re afraid of scribbling notes on them, make

a copy and point out all the things you like and

dislike about the pictures.

CREATE & SHARE ANIDEABOOK ON HOUZZ

HOW TO:

5A great way to communicate with your

designer is through Houzz, a website and online

community which brings together images and

discussions about architecture, interior design &

decorating, landscape

design, and home improvement.

One of the most popular ways to gather ideas

for your designer to work with is to

create an IDEABOOK.

If you haven’t signed up for Houzz, have your pri-

mary email ready to use or sign up using Face-

book or Google.

Creating and sharing an IDEABOOK is simple and can be done in multiple ways, but the

easiest way is to type what style you want in the search bar and view photos of that style.

Next, scroll through all the photos and pick out what

you like. When you hover over the picture you’ll see a

SAVE button. Click on that.

You will see a pop-up screen in which you will place the

image in your Ideabook. If you don’t have Ideabooks al-

ready, click on Create New. Type in the name of your new

Ideabook, then press Create.

You can add notes about what you like about the photo.

Then finally, press Save to Ideabook.

In the next screen, you can share this

Ideabook with your designer! Just enter in their email and

if they’re on Houzz, just type in their name (or user name)

and add them. Be sure that your designer can edit the

Ideabook so they can share other ideas with you too!

What’s even cooler about Houzz is that there is a mobile app so you can add ideas on the go! Be sure you don’t add

too many ideas, though. To have an effective meeting with your designer, you must keep your ideas to a managable

amount, after all.

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