The Shopping Spree

Stan and Grace Cohen were a delightful couple. They were at the threshold of their golden years. At our first appointment they opened the door and greeted me together, then together we slowly toured their home. Stan was the tour guide and family historian; Grace was Stan’s editor. The home tour, their story and the meeting as a whole could not have gone better.

Meeting #1

A year ago the Cohen’s had remodeled the kitchen and knocked out two adjacent walls to create a “Great Room/Kitchen” area. Now they were ready for the Decorator.  Grace had magazine pics of rooms they liked and after looking at the pics, the room, Stan and Grace, I knew just what they needed! I designed the room aloud, with much waving, pointing and nodding and the Cohens concurred. We ended the meeting as new BFFs.  I sent them an overview and a “Letter of Agreement.”  Once signed, we met to review the results of my research.

Meeting #2

Not a lot of choices, just the agreed “look.” I brought fabric swatches, paint samples and manufacturers’ pictures of the furniture. The next day I sent them the cost breakdown of their choices and the deposit requirement. A week went by before…

Meeting #3

At LIVING SPACES!! Grace wanted to meet there to see sofas and chairs, sit on them.  “I wanted to see what you see, Joy, like this lovely chair,” Grace gushed. “What do you think?”

I felt sick. This is not the way it should go! I shuffled through the appointment as they mocked me with piece after piece that mimicked my vendor pics of furniture. Even the fabric was “like” what I suggested and all at half the price. I mumbled something about quality and left early.

Meeting #4

Twelve days passed before we met again. Grace wanted to see fabric choices for the window treatments. Stan and Grace opened the door together, big smiles, very excited, then together they ushered me into the Great Room—the all new, fully furnished by “Living Spaces” Great Room!! “What do you think, isn’t it beautiful, this is all because of you, Joy,” cooed Grace as she gave me a big hug.  “So what do you think?” Stan probed. I plopped down in Stan’s cheap vinyl recliner and replied, “I am… speechless…may I be excused?” Yep, I left, before I started crying.

I was “shopped” by the sweetest old couple…. How did this happen?  This financial disaster, although pleasant in every other way, was my “wake-up call.” I needed to re-examine my procedures, consider why I was dismissed and protect myself from this happening again. Ultimately, I changed three things about how I did business and from that day forward, I was never shopped again.

1. No free consultation meetings. A free meeting does not create value. It does, however, establish your worth. If you are like me, my best stuff is born in the moment of conception, when I enter a room under consideration, all my senses are alerted to what is wrong, right or missing in the design. I usually mumble aloud, “…you need to move that console to that wall, get rid of that chair, the sofa needs to float …etc.”  I’m literally giving them the very thing they don’t have, my “worth,” handed to them on a platter!

The first meeting is now a mutual interview. Do we get along, do I see potential for this project, can I get them excited through random ideas and are they prepared to surrender to me as project “manager?”

2. No more vendor “tear sheets” with item numbers, manufacturer names and prices. Now I just use the image with dimensions during the concept presentation, then whip it away! We know the Internet is a predator, looking for innocent shoppers, and it has become way too easy to zip over to Amazon and see if that “Hooker” chest is available!

I try to present as many visual aids as possible: floor plan, elevations, color rendering and collage board of color, style and influences. This sort of individualized concept development gives the project an exclusive air, unique to the client and their specific taste. I find the more complicated the process “appears,” the sooner they are glad I am in charge and stop looking over my shoulder.

3. Charge by the hour! Note: This is specific to residential work only. For one, cost plus, flat fee and retail method of compensation would all be void if “shopped” during a project. We all know the days of fabulous finds available only to designers are over, and anyone can get a resale number! What we have to offer the public as designers is now different. Your job is to sell the client on your worth. That means translating your service into benefits that are important to the client and educating the client on the “value” of design services.

A client’s long time challenge could be remedied with a casual observation by the designer. A minute to say, but years of experience made it possible…for this, and every other hard-earned opinion one should be paid.

The following, is from Lessons can be learned when interior designers get shopped, an article published in Multibriefs: Exclusive by Fred Berns, a coach and promotional writer for interior designers.

"If your prospects are "shopping" you, they're not shafting you. They're doing you a favor.

Most interior design professionals cringe at the thought of providing design ideas to prospects, only to have them take their business elsewhere.

But what "shoppers" are telling you is that you're not selling them. They're sending you a message that you are not communicating your value in a way that convinces them that they should absolutely, positively buy from you.

You should be thankful they're giving you a wake-up call. They're letting you know they don't get what you got, don't understand what makes you different, special and unique. They don't understand that because you haven't adequately informed them.

When they shop you and/or drop you, they are simply informing you that they don't view you as a priority.

Getting shopped is a sure sign you're not asking prospects enough of the right "pain" questions. A sales-savvy design professional carefully probes into the major challenges prospects face when it comes to their design project — and then positions himself or herself as the one most qualified to help overcome those challenges.

At a time when it's never been easier for prospects to buy design services and products elsewhere, the one thing they can't get elsewhere is you.

Do you say that? Do you remind prospective clients that, if they go elsewhere, they'll miss the benefits of exactly what you offer?

Next time point out that, if they shop around, they'll miss out on the benefits of exactly what you offer. Chances are they won’t get your ...

• qualifications
• experience
• expertise
• education
• insights
• skills
• know-how
• team (contractors, etc.)
• vendors and suppliers
• other resources
• specialties
• product knowledge
• industry knowledge
• insights about local design trends
• commitment to customer service
• attention to detail
• availability
• flexibility
• guarantees and warranties
• passion

There are a whole lot of ways prospects would rather spend their time than shopping around for the best interior design professional to meet their needs. You can and will get their business — and will likely develop lasting relationships with them — by spelling out your unique benefits."

The Working Window

For a moment, come with me back to the 1980s. No, no, I’m not going to pull off the scab off our fashion faux pas…eeek, but we could dish about the window treatments ?! Equally as scary, but less personal were these over the top “window ensembles.”  It was nothing to top a double traverse rod of full sheers and drapes, with stationary panels and a festoon valance with double cascades… or a big, padded cornice with 3” welt top and bottom, crowning a fluffy balloon shade, flanked by puddling side panels and all this in a collection of polished cotton prints by Waverly! It was as if every window was covered in a bad bridesmaid dress, too much fabric, too much fluff and too many patterns and prints… funny stuff.

Welcome to the utilitarian era in window coverings and the “Working Window.” Today, more than ever, the home upgrade is about the application that serves the home owner. They would never tolerate a sleeping mask for an afternoon nap or closing off their view because the sun is too bright, because they don’t have to!  The popularity and importance of window shades and blinds is evident and it is your job as designers to make this necessary utility work with your design and not sabotage its coolness.

The current buzz is all about the technologically connected “smart” home, controlled from your phone or tablet. The home that, if you are running late, lets you “button up,” turn off, turn on and close down, while waiting to board! Now you can add “motorized window treatments” to this list of modern conveniences, programmed on your phone to open or close your blinds on a schedule you design. These state-of the-art window coverings can be found at DA through Graber’s “Virtual Cord,” JC Window Fashions “Glydea Range” program and Hunter Douglas’ “Power View” collection. And according to Donna, virtually all blinds can be adapted for motorization.

Additional trends in the window fashion industry are focused around our bigger lifestyle concerns and have become an offering, in the product line of all companies.

Energy Efficient Blinds: keeping the heat in and the cold out.

 Compliance with Child Safety Standards: cordless blinds, becoming the new standard.

Green Design: Fabrics treated with repellents to combat allergies, mold and mildew. Stain resistant fabrics and blackout fabrics for restful sleep. Faux wood shutters for “no moisture” issues.

Trends in window applications…

The fashionable window is still a minimalist. Moving away from excess led us to the blind/shade world, where the window covers do all the work and the full drape flanks, like columns on a porch, adding a grand softness. 

Interior drape walls; Simple pleat, floor to ceiling fabric walls, minus the exposed hardware.

OR as a division of space within a room.

  

The exposed hardware, drape wall, one rod, 2 or 3 drape divisions, and multiple needs are met.

  

Also a solution for arched windows, the drape wall or café curtain.

Shutters, wide vane, plantation like, simple, clean always stylish in fun colors or stained, on windows or as doors.

The humble bamboo roll up shade…organic, clean, natural coloration and affordable, what’s not to love?

For multiple openings, on to a tropical paradise, try these organic reed-pole awning windows or stationary shutters.

What are windows wearing?

SHEERS, Exquisite gossamer sheers with embossed or printed patterns.

Sheers in dramatic colors like coco or smoke, or combining 2-tones of sheers, and always the whites and neutral sheers.

VELVET Still the best hang for drapes!

BOLD PRINTS and embellished patterns for drapes and fabric blinds.

Of course the classic, casual LINEN weaves for drapes is still the forerunner, with longer, less gathered pleats, like the “euro” or the “inverted” pleat styles, hung tight to the rod and higher on the wall. However, ultimately the best application, is the one most appropriate to the room. Trends are fine, but consideration for the architecture, your clients’ needs and the design style always trump a trend! Bottom line: if a heavy, damask brocade completes your room design, then  that’s the right choice!

Come lunch with Donna as she shares what she knows about window wear and teaches us how to sell the new, hi-tech blinds and shades at our Window Wisdom “Lunch and Learn” on Thursday, June 4!

DAConnie: Designing Woman

If you are a friend of Design Alliance and you have visited our showroom, chances are you have had an encounter with the small, but mighty Connie Bloodworth. A designing woman, she has spent over 40 years—13 of those years behind the desk at Design Alliance—helping others create beautiful environments. And at the end of May she is retiring.

Connie showed signs of a future in design as a young girl through her way with color, sparing her mother from design disasters by using her natural color-combining skills. Later, Connie’s love of interior design and her innate business sense gave her the confidence to open her own interior design studio in the 70s. After a few years, she took a break from the business to design her own life as a wife and a mother, making marriage and children her priority for a while. However, the idle brain of a problem-solver and multitasker cannot thrive when dormant, so in 2002, when a beacon of beautiful aesthetics crossed her path through a position at Design Alliance, she was ready!

She joined forces with owner Joy Solleder and co-worker Donna Erickson who had built Design Alliance over the last seven years. Connie took on the position of Fabric Showroom Manager, with wallcovering and trim, settling in to her “corner office” for the next decade. In 2013, Joy Solleder sold DA to JoEllen Collins and Joy Crowe and Connie took over the position of Furniture Manager for the next year and a half. Today, 13 years later, she longs for more time with her husband and grandchild and has decided to retire from her full time post at Design Alliance.

If you have been lucky enough to have Connie shine her light your way, you know she is your champion. Her charming smile will disarm you as she sings your praises, like your very own publicist! Having Connie on your team is always a plus. She is determined to find a solution, fearless to pursue the persons of interest, motivated by information and a directory of who’s who and what’s what in this industry.

We will miss her and her design tales from “atop her foot,” her enthusiasm for a new idea and her generous spirit with what she knows about this business of design. We know that Design Alliance is what it is today, in big part, due to the passion and participation of one DAConnie and her love of design.

We wish her well, as she is needed at home to care for her husband, John, currently on the mend.      

We also expect to see her smiling face in here from time to time as she works on her own projects and on projects for DA. After all, a designing woman can’t simply go “cold turkey!” And, if you need Connie’s help with a particular project, don’t hesitate to ask—she’ll be available for consults by appointment.

Come say "goodbye" on Thursday, May 28. We're hosting a retirement party for Connie from 11 am to 3 pm.

Think Outside the House

A few weeks ago my partner, Jo Ellen, showed me a picture of her friend’s home in Vermont covered in a blanket of snow, like a Christmas card. IT’S MAY, for snow plow’s sake! How lucky are we to be living in the perfect weather of San Diego!

When was the last time you factored in an extra 45 minutes in the morning due to weather? Uh… NEVER! Every year weather-weary Americans abandon their homes and migrate to So Cal so they, too, can wake up under blue skies at 72 degrees. It’s unacceptable for us San Diegans not to embrace, enjoy and respect our sunny coastal climate and move it outdoors.

The way we live has changed; not just inside, but outside in our yards and patios. We are now absorbing inspiration in a beautiful garden setting by soaking up the greens in a peaceful place to relax, in a shaded gathering spot for conversation, or with the alluring ambience of outside dining.

Okay Designers, you need to think outside the house! Take this newfound respect for your environment and expand your projects by helping your clients, still unaware of their outside assets, see the lifestyle waiting just outside their door. Now, if any of you have a client with a view like the one below, and they do not have an outdoor living space, feel free to use the “Shame on you!” method of selling.

Then show them the picture of Jo Ellen’s friend’s house in Vermont. For everybody else, unless your client is in a high rise without a balcony, all homes have room for at least one perch to view a beautiful day. Help them see where and how.

Use your designer’s eye to see the potential for your client’s outdoor living area. If they don’t have an ocean view, look for the “focal point” outside their home. Remember, second only to sailboats is the beautiful garden. Someone worked long and hard to create this magical nature space and it should be enjoyed!

There is also the valley view, the foothills, a pool, pond or lake, the green belt or the spotting of trees on a stretch of lawn… not long for our neighborhood!

Maybe an interesting covered area or pergola  and, lest we forget, the small space required to house the big enjoyment of an outdoor eating area!

Maybe their view is a wall… or a tiny patio. Show them where flowerbeds could be created or help them create a stylish pot garden or design a unique canvas awning! 

If all else fails, this is where the “Good Weather Guilt Trip” comes in and how the joys of the out-of-doors are many and should not be denied. Morning coffee or “happy hour” after work, candlelit dinners, Sunday brunch, an afternoon nap, a quiet reading spot, thinking spot and party spot! It’s a whole other room and X-amount of additional square footage of living space in our land of good weather!

If your clients are smart enough to have figured this out and they have outdoor furniture, maybe it needs to be refreshed. Show them the new Duralee outdoor fabric collection. Or maybe it could use some pillow accents—bring the Elaine Smith catalog over. Or they don’t have a fire pit. Tropitone does! Show them!

If the rug is faded, we have rugs.  And ceiling fans, outdoor artwork, hanging chairs, lights and lanterns and all sorts of outdoor furniture!

Let us help you help your client find their outdoor living space! There is a project waiting for you to find, Designers!

Learn all about the versatility and style offered by Sunset West outdoor furniture at our Lunch & Learn scheduled for May 21, TAKING IT OUTSIDE!

Sofa Savvy Sells

The sofa, davenport, divan, chesterfield, the couch…call it what you may, but this large upholstered lounge is the “Big Daddy,” “The Diva,” “The Patriarch” of the family room and the piece of furniture all the other furniture wants to hang around.

Sofa by Stanford Furniture.

Note: Any designer worth her weight knows the preferred industry term is “sofa;” however, the proper term for a piece of furniture on which one could sit or lie is a “couch.” A sofa is a couch with arms and back completely upholstered. Hmm, they say potato and we still say sofa!

The Ava sofa by Lazar.

Sofas are a big investment with many choices to be made and mistakes are costly. Making the right choices and asking the smart questions takes “Sofa Savvy.” Start by deciding the sofa’s role in your “approved” room design. Is it the little black dress you can wear over and over by changing the accessories? Or is it the unforgettable red dress, a statement piece that makes the room? Then, advise your client accordingly on the division of funds, between sofa style and sofa substance…

Sofa by McKinley Leather.

Sofa by Christopher Guy.

In the cycle of trends, every decade or so the sofa stylings will be spot lit  with key features defining the trend and giving a cutting edge sofa “15 minutes of fame,” plus an expiration date! Go ahead and give them that TRENDY room for a 3-4 year run…That is what “Flores” is for! When a classic, timeless sofa design is the right choice, make the investment in a good piece.

The quality sofa has a balanced, kiln-dried hardwood frame. The joints are double doweled and the corner blocks are both glued and screwed, and the legs extend from the frame. The 8-way hand-tied spring coils are “dropped” into the core of the seat cushions, then encased in foam and wrapped with a 50/50 blend of poly and ester and duck down. Remember, the cushion and frame construction are the key to the sofas comfort and longevity.

Sofa by C.R. Laine.

When a customized sofa is necessary, a checklist of choices will need to be made, starting with the frame style. Over the years, the most popular sofa styles have gone through many variations and modifications, but the vast majority of sofas have morphed out of one of three styles:

• The Camelback: a sofa with one or more humps along the back
• The Chesterfield: a sofa with the back and the arms at the same height
• The Club: any one of a variety of sofas with arms at a lower level than the back.

The Camelback sofa.

The Club sofa: Van Buren Sofa by Kravet.

The Chesterfield sofa.

These are the “bones” you build on to determine your style. All of these sofas can be traditional OR contemporary depending on the parts you pick and the proportions of the profile.

For a comfortable sit, know your clients leg room needs. Try the “40/44 Rule,” by adding a seat height of 16” to the seat depth of 24” that equals 40” for short legs and a seat height of 20 with a 24” depth equaling 44” for long legs.

Check List Choices:

Arm Style                          Cushion Placement                         Cushion Style

Leg Style                           Skirt Style/placement                     Base Style

Back Style                         Trim/nails/welt application            Throw Pillows

The arm helps define the sofa style, and if it’s low and flat it can be another perch in the room. Do confirm how the sofa will be used with your client—is it more guest seating or a place for naps. Certain arms are classic like the “rolled” arm or “Lawson” arm, but move in and out of style. Others are timeless, like the “English” arm on a tight back sofa with a serpentine base and turned front legs.

Gianna sofa by Michael Amini. The arms make a great perch.

Sofa by Kravet.

Carley sofa by Lexington.

Cushions are very important to style and sofa maintenance. For example, a “T-Cushion” on the seat and back suggest a more traditional look. The “Box Cushion” with a knife edge is more informal than a box with welted seams. Fitted back cushions can go either way; a cushionless “tight back” tends to be more traditional. Also, you want to avoid “scatter back pillows” on large pieces, like a sectional… it’s just a big mess all the time!

Sofa by Leathercraft.

The base band and leg or skirt style is another area that changes with the styles. Exposed wooden legs are timeless on many classic vintage sofas and mid-century modern pieces. Currently, exposed wooden legs are very popular with all styles, with turned legs on the more traditional pieces. The normally traditional sofa skirt is now trending on transitional pieces with the “waterfall” or “dressmaker” skirt, creating the slipcover look!

Sofa by Comfort Design.

As you know, nail heads are everywhere right now, way more than just a bottom edge or following the shape of a rolled arm. Now it’s  an 8” high nail head design on a sofa band, or covering the side or back of a sofa. Very dramatic and unforgettable, it could be the “red dress” so make sure this trend is worth it!

Bardot sofa by Classic Home.

Lastly is the fabric choice. Make sure you edit the choices before you show your client. Only bring fabric that is appropriate for the sofa style, fabric with a high thread count and 25,000-30,000 rubs. Beware of linen blends and the stretch factor, add backing to tweeds and watch the scale of big prints on small sofas. The more you know how your client will use their sofa, the better you can advise them, so lots of Q&A before you start looking.

Sofa by Stanford Furniture.

There is no denying the importance of the sofa’s role in a home. It occupies a prime location in the room and beckons you toward it with open arms. These days at Design Alliance we are loving sofas and sectionals. Have you seen all our new places to perch or nap in the showroom? All of the manufacturers seen here and more were handpicked by DA for their quality, diverse styling and custom programs in a full range of price points. Come see, sit on and feel what we have available. Finding or creating the perfect sofa that serves your clients’ needs can be a daunting task, but if you succeed, you will have a client for life!