Customers We Love to Hate: The Controlling Husband

All Designers know the client experience can be bitter or sweet.

Oft’ times a client becomes a lifelong friend and sometimes the client can become the project’s demise. In this series of “CLIENTS WE LOVE TO HATE” I will share some of the client issues I’ve encountered and the solutions that led to successful results. I welcome you to send in your own story with a “happy ending” to what could have been a design disaster due to an uncooperative client.  We could all use some field-tested ammunition when faced with a client positioned to sabotage your project. Knowing how to defuse potential trouble is all part of this crazy, people-loving business we are in!

The Situation

Meet Rita and John: early 60s, with two grown, married children.  Family home: 3,500 sq. ft. in upper middle class neighborhood. Proposed project: refurbish family/great room.

I meet with Rita, a lovely, timid, ladylike woman with a sweet nature. She explains what they want to achieve and then leads me to the “great room” and prepares our iced tea while I survey the area.  I assess… hmm, recover sectional, replace club chair, expand entertainment built-in for flat screen, buy new coffee table and OMG! Burn that recliner!  Our meeting was civilized and rather formal. Rita surrendered to my advice, was open to my suggestions and eager to review my samples in tow. It was a slam-dunk.

Design Challenge: The Controlling Husband

An hour had passed; enter John, “the husband,” fresh from the golf course. He plops down in the recliner. “SO, what’a you girls up to?”

Rita quickly injects, “This is Joy, the decorator that did Peggy’s house.”

“Peggy’s house? I don’t want you painting all the wood white in here,” John growled.

“I would never,” I mumbled and reached to shake his hand.

Rita quietly reminds him, “Remember we talked about this, John. I want a new print for the couch.”  “Look,” she says while flipping over the cushion to reveal a hole.

“Can’t you patch that?” John questions me.

“Well,” I begin, “IF I could find this fabric I could recover the cushion, but it still wouldn’t match because the entire sofa has faded a little and the cushion would look off color.”

“Well, how much is this gunna cost me?” John grumbled… and blah, blah, blah…you get the picture.

Fast forward 45 mins:  “OK,” resolves John. “You can recover the sectional and get Rita’s chair…”

Then, I made the fatal mistake. I felt it coming up but couldn’t stop it, the word bubble floated away from my lips… "So John, what about your recliner?”

John sits straight up exclaiming, “Whoa, whoa, no, no, no you will not touch my chair! This area here,” he gestures a box around his chair, “…is OFF LIMITS! Is that understood?” He glares at Rita and then throws one at me.

“Yes Sir!” I confirm, with a crooked smile. Rita quickly whispers sympathetically, “He loves his chair, it’s all broken in.”

“I understand. Not a problem,” I assure her. “We will work around it.” We shake on it and say our good-byes.

After leaving the meeting my head was spinning between the design concept and the sabotage of the dreaded recliner! That blue-brown-grey Poly and Ester, dirty-armed, grease-stained eyesore that is, naturally, the room’s focal point! I can go one of two ways here. I can be “Frasier” and let John’s recliner be the comic relief in the room or I can fight for the integrity of my design!

Action Called For

Fast forward, 3 months and 10 days. Rita and I worked on the great room together, scheduling our meetings around John’s work, poker nights and golf weekends. We re-faced and expanded the wall unit, recovered the sectional, replaced the club chair, area rug, coffee table and all the lighting. We scheduled the final installation during John’s four-day convention in Chicago. We bleached the ceiling beams, installed the shutters and painted the walls. I displayed the bookcase and hung the artwork and all of this around the blue-grey-brown beast! It looked beautiful and Rita was thrilled.

The Solution

Photo courtesy Leathercraft.

Oh, and the beast? Well it took a month, a neighborhood party Rita threw for John’s birthday and a visit from their son and daughter, all leading to the relentless ragging by friends and family about his ugly chair! Five months after project inception John caved and backed off his unreasonable demand. Out of respect for John I looked long and hard for a chair that satisfied both John and his great room.

Photo courtesy Leathercraft.

Fortunately the new “non-recliner-like recliners” were just hitting the market—chairs that reflected current styles and silhouettes but didn’t look like a recliner. At last the lonely world of the unyielding recliners had integrated the living space!

The Outcome

John was a happy man, enjoying his environment upgrade from a stylish prone position, and Rita got her just reward.

Photo courtesy Comfort Design.

The client issue of “the controlling husband” can go many ways—sometimes its money, a need to be involved in the design process or the injection of unreasonable or tasteless demands on your design. In John’s case it was a power play, a need to be considered in something he had very little interest in. Yet John dearly wanted a home that reflected his success in life, clearly not reflected in his chair, yet he still stood his ground. All this without considering the effort and strategic lengths we had to go through to complete this project to spare his ego.  It was old school: a woman getting her way by making a man think it was his idea. But, born a generation before the liberation, it was Rita’s only option. It was all she knew.

Despite the changing times, women like Rita—some of them very young—are alive and well today, living among us in these “old fashioned” relationships. I’m sure some have been your clients as well. So, while times have changed, sometimes the tactics for dealing with a difficult husband have not. 

Trust Me

I was 9 years old the first time I met a real Interior Decorator. It was after school at my “rich” friend Molly’s house. She lived in one of those perfect homes, always pristine, professionally decorated with invisible stanchions defining the “NO KID” areas. Molly’s mom, Mrs. C, had an appointment that day with the coveted, locally famous decorator Mimi Caswell. She told Molly we could watch, but to stay out of the way. So Molly and I perched at the top of the stairs and waited for this wonder woman while watching Mrs. C nervously align and fluff the perimeter of the living room.

When the bell rang and the door opened it was well worth the wait. Mimi Caswell looked 7ft. tall. She was wrapped in a big, soft, powder blue blanket, covering a black and white suit that looked like a PSA stewardess uniform and a shiny black helmet on her head. In reflection, I know now that her coat was cashmere, her suit was Chanel and her hair was Sassoon... and I’m pretty sure her lipstick was “Love that Red” by Revlon.

Anyway, she stepped into the foyer, dropped her coat on Mrs. C, who clutched it like a 3-year-old, then glided to the top of the living room. She stood there planted, feet apart, arms crossed and surveyed the space in silence. She took no notes, no measurements, she asked no questions. We all waited breathless. Then Mimi Caswell announced, “Now that’s a smart piece, we’ll keep that!” pointing to an English secretary, (I know now).

Then enthusiastically smoothing the air with her palms she stated, “And for your color scheme I like carnelian, olive and as an accent a pinch of puce!” she purred. “It will be stunning Mary, trust me!” She then twirled and headed toward the door. “We’ll clear the room Friday, Leo will make the arrangements,” she ordered while curling into her coat. Then before reaching the door she stopped and looked up the staircase at Molly and me, remarking, “Good afternoon ladies.” We sat speechless and she was gone.

For years to follow, Mimi Caswell, with her confidence and over-the-top presence, represented the interior decorator icon for me. I was now aware of their existence, and saw that same Caswell style reinforced with each sighting.  Like in the movies—“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” with Patricia  Neal or “Pillow Talk” with Doris Day—they were all dressed up in hats and heels, swing coats and girdles, meeting at the clients for a lamp delivery, to ensure proper placement, wave a glove and be gone.

What kind of power is that? The power Mimi Caswell had that left Molly and me speechless and had the home-proud Mrs. C ready and willing to hand over her house keys?

Artists have been beloved and feared through time, believing they have tapped their creativity and know something we don’t.  When presented with confidence, or worse, arrogance, it demands a certain respect. Like the Interior Design “style-makers” of the 1960s, with an unspoken patent on a “look” that became their legacy...and that “look” is for sale, with very little regard for the clients taste. “Trust me.” You were simply buying a promise of good taste and style at the cost of your own.

I believe all creators—artists, musicians, architects, chefs, sculptors, dancers and yes, even interior designers—create to appeal to our senses. They show us a new perspective and move us to feel. For designers the canvas is the space, our medium is the furnishings and our goal is an atmosphere—an environment that gives our client the desired feeling, through the color, style and texture of the selected elements. It’s their habitat, their abode, their safe harbor. It’s what makes them feel at home, and in 2014, achieving that is through good taste and style.

My years as a designer were dotted with what I call “fix-it projects,” when the client had hired a designer who disregarded their taste, their budget or their needs. They were left with $8k in full drapes they hated, or the budget went to a glass block wall and 4’ pivot door and no furniture. My challenge was working around furniture too big for the room, a trendy floor treatment (intention unknown) or simply no money left. 

Our project goals should not be a good portfolio picture or a funded canvas for our free expression; they should always be a happy, satisfied client. How the client wants to feel in their home, what the client needs to make their life easier, how to incorporate the ratty little chest her grandpa made or dad’s big puffy recliner—these are our challenges. 

When someone implies, “give me style,” “make me fabulous,” that’s a slippery slope. When we help our clients discover their own style, being fabulous will naturally follow. The days of, “It will be stunning, trust me!” are over. Engaging your client in the process not only lightens your liability, but makes this creation their own and they will be a big, proud advertisement for you! Trust me.

Ah... Here Comes the Sun

It was a cold and stormy day. A passing rain cloud casts a shadow across Design Alliance and the temperature keeps falling. I zip up my jacket and think warm thoughts…

I see myself reclining in the sun on my “Summer Classics” all weather, synthetic wicker lounge, and as I look down at my legs I wonder, “Where did I get this fabulous tan?” Then, I turn to summon the cabana boy for another mojito and I realize I’m still at D.A. working and this was all just a rainy-day-dream.

Photo courtesy of Summer Classics.

Daydreaming, ladies and gentlemen, is just one of the many benefits of outdoor furniture. Let’s face it.  We are in one of the most consistently “good weather” areas of the country and the best weather area in this state. Why shouldn’t we indulge in our wonderful weather?  Who better to create outdoor living areas than those who should—or can—go outside? Be it beach, mountain, desert or your own backyard, nature inspires us and evokes a sense of romance, so why not rejuvenate in your own private retreat?

Photo courtesy of Summer Classics.

These are the questions designers need to ask their North County and San Diego clients. This carefree weather environment is our county’s best feature and its residents ought to take advantage of it. An outdoor room can add 200, 300 or even 500 square feet or more of living area as a fantasy design or a natural extension of an indoor space, with features like built-in kitchens, fireplaces, bars and video screens. There are countless outdoor furniture collections available today, each creating an environment by design. Help your client define what environment would best serve them. Do they need more room?  A tranquil place? Or do they need to get away? Once you choose a destination, let the designing begin!

As you know there are hundreds of choices in outdoor furniture available, so no matter what the situation is outside your client’s abode—terrace or decking, pergola, gazebo, covered porch, courtyard, walled patio or simply the dappled shade of the big tree in their backyard—there is a collection to fit their needs.

Companies we like are:

Photo courtesy of Ratana.

Ratana for its iron clad, weatherproof, resin weave collections. Designs primarily in the wicker or rattan “look,” but made of resin and a lot of imagination. Their unique, clean, contemporary collections really stand out. Bottom line: Ratana’s product line is full of styles you simply don’t see everywhere!

Photo courtesy of Summer Classics.

Summer Classics: D.A.’s new favorite vendor! This beautiful, rich collection is versatile in the style and material mix, chosen to make each design statement sing. Using wicker, cane, rattan, teak wood, bamboo, cast iron and leather strapping for designs with spot on style. All pieces are made from weather resistant materials and look remarkably real. If you can’t find it, check out “Summer Classics.”

Photo courtesy of Lexington Home Brands.

Tommy Bahama Home: As a division of Lexington, a certain warmth and familiarity is evident throughout these exquisite designs from Tommy Bahama. The iconic styling of each collection shows a respect for the style’s integrity, right down to the indigenous natural materials used for table tops, chair legs and hand woven wicker. This collection is awesome. I’d be tempted to never let it outside—too pretty! But it’s made to withstand the elements in style.

Photo courtesy of Surya.

Outdoor Rugs we like for under the outdoor furniture collections: New to Design Alliance is Surya’s earthy, ethnic and interesting weaves. Coming soon, our new Surya display with 50+ new style samples! Another is Oriental Weavers’ large indoor/outdoor collection including some incredible Tommy Bahama patterns and the colorful, cool designs of Sphinx. Want to create your own? Try Creative Concepts from Capel—choose your field, choose your size and shape or specify your own custom dimensions, choose a border from over 100 fade-resistant fabric options or provide your own custom fabric and specify single, double or triple border—or no border at all.

Photo courtesy of Sunbrella.

Outdoor fabrics we like for the cushions and pillows: Sunbrella®. Duh…who doesn’t love a fabric that never fades! Check out the Sunbrella fabric lines from these vendors: Duralee: “Pavillon,” Kravet: “Soleil,” JF Fabrics: “Cabistyle,” Robert Allen: “Al Fresco” and Silver State. Plus, for rich traditional styling of quality indoor/outdoor fabric see Perennials “Uncorked.”

Okay Designers, what else do you need? You have access to the newest outdoor furniture, vibrant sunbrella fabrics, cool and stylish rugs and the PERFECT WEATHER CLIENT—a potential revenue stream you shouldn’t let pass you by. Outdoor living is the future.

Wait, I know what you need—some sales techniques for the big pitch on outdoor furniture!

How about a seat at our first D.A. "Lunch and Learn" Outdoor Furniture: The Next Design Frontier by the fun-to-watch Jim Warnock, sales rep for Summer Classics.

Thursday March 6, 2014 from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM

Click here to register

Hope to see you in class.

Leaving Las Vegas... Not Yet!

Okay, Designers. Before we go, let’s review what the D.A. crew learned on this big adventure to the Las Vegas Market. First, let me remind you of our mission. We cleaned house here at Design Alliance, tossing dozens of out-of-date, neglectful and uncooperative vendors from our library of catalogs. We have made room for new vendors with a fresh perspective and a state-of-the-art design inspiration. We want to help you stay ahead of your clients  by keeping you abreast of the cutting edge trends in the design business.

The following are the vendors we found most exciting, with products and styles missing from our current library. As you review, please note who sounds good to you and with whom you might place an order.

FURNITURE COLLECTIONS

Four Hands:  Young, hip and urban. Very creative use of “other” elements, mixed with the common. Lot’s of natural accents like a slice-of-wood coffee table or a tree stump stool. Best industrial-influenced design seen at the show! Nearly every display had a vintage nod to the 50s or 60s or 70s in some application and all the clever lighting was unique to Four Hands. Overall the feeling was imaginative, designed and hand crafted. I choose this for its special accent pieces.

Gabby:  Transitional elegance, chic and slightly formal. Graceful lines in a pale palette, would describe the quiet Gabby showroom. A strong period furniture influence was seen in all of their designs as well as an extensive collection of antique “bench-made” case goods. Their seating collection shows lots of modern inspired silhouettes, the popular Italian arm on many chairs/sofas and classics like the Bergere chair. A handsome, stylized armoire, secretary or breakfront anchored every display. Overall the feeling was one of quality, class and tranquility. I choose this for its “on trend” transitional look.

Dovetail: Feminine, repurposed chic and new cottage. Dovetail had an atmosphere so distinct you could not imagine this furniture with any other. Every display was an effective, new, eclectic mix of styles that were spot on! Their artisans have mastered the art of “aging” woods, metals and fabrics to appear natural. In the weathered painted cabinet or the rough distressed tabletop you believed there was a history that got them here. Although they had some edgy, industrial pieces, I saw their strong suit in upholstery and dining sets. Overall the feeling was romantic, barefoot, gauze dress, lover, wine and strawberries. I choose this for all of the above.

Noir: Eclectic, intellectual, career city dweller. The NOIR showroom is misleading at first glance. You think contemporary, hip… but on closer examination you see the quintessential eclectic blend of choices in furniture, lighting and accessories. A large inventory of classic chests and cabinets, way-traditional bed frames and stylized, period sofas and chairs.  A unique group of transitional dining tables with raw trestle bases and hammered zinc tops coupled with antique period dining chairs like Chippendale, Emperor, British Colonial and ladder-back. An array of very contemporary bookcases and modern light fixtures like the “sputnik” or the alchemy chandelier, offered the eclectic twist. Overall the feeling was smart, confident and interesting. I choose this for the iconoclastic bend.

ACCESSORIES, ACCENT FURNITURE

Gold Leaf:  An embellishment source, for your display. Just full of yummy elements that were natural, textural, graphic, 3-D and ethnic. Woven papers, by the foot, would be fabulous framed. Cool sculptures to hang as 3-D artwork, beautiful woven baskets, unique bleached branches, and so on. Not a typical accessory vendor, but at times we need that special, unique element that could seal the deal on your coolness factor. Overall the feeling was “arty” one-of-a-kind. I choose this for the promise of uniqueness.

Global View:  Colorful, sculptural, ethnic design. Everybody’s favorite, it was just fun to walk in the showroom! A space divided into color collections with a sub category…series of shiny lime green ceramics paired with polished aluminum trays or shiny orange ceramics paired with monkey pod. Blown glass bowls, vases, sculpture and varied size balls glued to the wall as art. A large inventory of accent chests and consoles almost all reflecting some vintage design, as well as whimsical mirrors and wall hangings. An extensive collection of ethnic artifacts and useful elements. Overall the feeling was clean, new and creative. I choose this for its variety.

Worlds Away:  Elegant accents, gold leaf, mid-century. It’s Palm Springs 1963, it’s a white shag rug, it’s beehive hair with “Orange whip” lipstick. Worlds Away is feminine, shiny and carefree like;  a gloss teal lacquer entry chest with gold leaf legs,  or a gold and glass bar cart, parked under a silver leaf metal drum shade with Greek key cut-outs, or a pearly, Capiz shell hanging ball fixture. OR maybe one of their many gold, silver, metal or mirrored accent tables. Accent tables everywhere, clearly a trend! Overall the feeling was 1963, Pan Am Stew’s apartment. I choose this for the divorcee project.

LIGHTING

Jamie Young Lighting:  Creative, and sorta quirky. Lamps in every shape… balls, bells, barrels, jugs, jars and urns, made of clear colored or mercury lined glass, ceramic, wicker, wood, industrial metal or a stack of sliced horn.  Once you have selected a base, you pick your own shade, choosing from 38 shade shapes and 53 fabric choices, making your lamp truly one-of-a-kind.

Robert Abbey Inc:  A Designer’s lighting source. It appears they had handpicked the best from each of a wide range of lighting categories. In an effort to stay “on trend” they continue to work with icon designers, bringing to you a chic, strictly modern collection by Jonathan Adler, the elegant, classic, designs of Mary McDonald or Rico Espinet’s Stylish industrial creations. Overall, Robert Abbey lighting is a promise of quality.

AF Lighting: Lots of designer partnerships give AF a refined feeling, through thoughtful, edited lighting designs. Plus, the handy “series” groups, where they have gathered coordinated fixture styles of all types, into a collection. Great for a new home construction! AF has a strong transitional product line and a designer friendly attitude! Overall a first class staple source.

AREA RUGS

Feizy Rugs: (Pronounced Fay-Z).
The Feizy rug selection looks like quality, from the hand knotted silk and wool to the machine loomed PET, they look and feel rich. Their extensive traditional Indian rug designs are gorgeous and pricy. The transitional and contemporary collections are colorful and trendy in their designs. Overall some designs were so sublime that they were more suitable for framing than walking on!

Loloi: Their traditional rugs appeared to be ignored, as the LOLOI designers were busy creating their very hip and design friendly transitional and contemporary rug collections. The distressed “Nyla and Mirage” collection, the ethnic “Xavier” and the sophisticated “Sahara” designs all forgave the forgettable, traditional India classics. Overall, LOLOI may only be half useful?

Surya Rugs:  Made in Surya, India, all rugs are hand knotted, tufted or loomed. Colorful, tactile, cheerful and affordable, we love Surya! Also the home of poufs, ottomans, pillows, throws, lighting and artwork, plus… Design Alliance is the exclusive distributor in North County!

Viva World Market!

We are back from Las Vegas World Market and all abuzz at Design Alliance after five days of roaming the halls with a bag on wheels. We all hit the trail with one mission in mind—to find NEW, quality, versatile, forward-thinking vendors to bring home to our fabulous designers. It was my first time to the Las Vegas Market and for those of you who have never been, it is sensory overload! You are met by the stylish “A-B-C” buildings of the World Market Center. They circle around an outdoor gathering quad, dotted with seating areas, fire pits, an ice skating rink and a fully equipped stage, from which music fills the air all day long. It’s all very exciting. 

Once we narrowed our focus and mapped a course we spilt up to explore inside this “global” environment. There was a strong organic feeling across the board. The fabrics were natural and tactile—linens, burlap, leather, mohair, velvet—all in a subtle array of neutrals. Yet sprinkled across this quiet, muted ground were accents of bold, pure color—colors like all the hues of a peacock feather or every shade of orange and saffron yellow. Plus, as noted at the “First Look” seminar, navy and gold are back as a trend for 2014. Meanwhile, gold and warm silver-leaf finishes were found in lighting, accessories and metal-based case goods.

The shape of things was eclectically unique, fabrics were still strong with geometric and ethnic prints and rugs were everywhere in big, bold, colorful graphics that could steal a room. Twenties-era glamour was still an important reference point. For the average bear, vintage glamour, as in a mirrored chest or velvet lounge… but for the truly glamorous, see “Christopher Guy,” period. And of course the Mid-Century form. From a suggestion in a leg or silhouette, to a flat-out exact re-creation of the dresser in my bedroom in 1959, the modern mid-century design influenced collections throughout the market. Another strong modern inspiration was the classic Chesterfield, with its low profile and high sides, seen on sofas and chairs. Plus tufting was everywhere on everything—chairs, ottomans, sofas, benches and headboards—oh and nail heads, for an upholstery update, tuft and nail. 

Anything eco-friendly, recycled or sustainable, stuck on the face of a chest or as a table top was popular. The base of a dining table with weathered, turned legs or a raw, rough-cut pedestal base was seen with a top of distressed, unfinished wood or covered in a sheet of galvanized metal—sorta like if “Shabby Chic” and “vintage metal office furniture” had a child. This unique table would then be surrounded by metal industrial stools or a stylized, classic chair like the oval-back Louis XVI, with bleached wood frame and leather upholstery. For the 20- to 30-something urban dwellers, think vintage industrial. A metal, multi-drawer card file as an end table/chest, metal lockers for storage or any kind of steel or pot metal contraption as an accessory is very “now.”  Also seen more than once: the bicycle wheel—as a stool, lamp base, table base and chandelier—and, at the “Phillips Collection,” an entire wall of bicycle wheels created a charming, circle and spoke artwork. 

 

Speaking of artwork, paintings and graphics notwithstanding, wall space was being invaded by just about anything mounted in groups or waves or clusters or polka dots. Colorful blown glass bottles, balls, platters and bowls, mod ceramic flowers, balls of gold wire, random sticks of driftwood, coral and shells, baskets, woven paper… anything, artfully displayed and enhancing the surroundings became interesting and whimsical wall art.

For accessories, the old world artisans come to the city. Think hand crafted and global, nestled among bright, slick colorful ceramics.  A shiny orange vase complements a colorful hand woven Indian basket, or a 2-foot weathered wooden head of a Hindu God sits on a contemporary console in aqua blue lacquer.  It’s “One World” in the ultimate eclectic blend of esthetics. From China, Tibet, Peru, Brazil, India and Africa we see elegant, exotic, primitive works of art displayed with Vegas in the background. Amazing!

In lighting, the fixtures were like artwork suspended in air.  Metal hanging fixtures from clean machined geometrics to raw cut-outs on barrel shades, lights made of chains, random balled wire, hanging silver balls and lots of 60s inspired starbursts. Lest I forget the Christopher Guy blown glass explosion!   One great new style seen over and over were pendant clusters, groups of 3-4-5 same or very different pendant lights grouped over a surface, artfully spread out or falling from the ceiling—charming and fun.

Needless to say there is so much more to talk about, and I will in my next blog. I’ll also share the vendors we found at market and would like to partner with.  All of this will only happen with your buy-in. Look for a “Show n’ Tell” in early March of all the vendors under consideration. We want to know what you think, and we want to know what you want!

 Check the events calendar on our web site for the “Show n’ Tell” date and time. 

FINALLY, DON’T MISS OUR GRAND REOPENING EVENT FEBRUARY 13, FROM 11 AM TO 4 PM. Eight vendors to meet n’ greet, tasty food, and fabulous prizes—including an iPad Mini—with a drawing every hour! So please join us and come see our new look!

The Future Looks Fabulous

Hello Designers. Welcome to my blog! My name is Joy Crowe and my partner Jo Ellen Collins and I are the new owners of Design Alliance in Vista, California. If you are here, then you have visited our web site and have a basic idea of who we are and what we do…. however, if you came straight to my blog, if you read nothing else, well, you wouldn’t know what is going on, so just to be safe, I’d better explain…

Design Alliance is this incredible designers’ resource hidden away in an industrial business park in Vista of North County. This operation is TO THE TRADE ONLY, so all you freelancers, independent designers, part-time decorators, small studio owners—this is a service just for you. It is a showroom full of samples of every possible element you would need for a project, with tons of catalogs and the all-knowing Design Alliance team, at the ready, to get you what you want. When I think of the shoe leather and gas I could have saved…. this is a brilliant find!

I spent 29 laborious years as a freelance designer, 70% residential 30% contract and healthcare design. Everyday I’d craft my multi-task list of the people I needed to see, the places I needed to go and the things I still needed. When I came home I’d do paperwork, then lay in bed and review what was pending… I was always working. Being a lone designer is hard. It’s tedious, demanding, high pressure work. Your days are diverse and any crazy, emotional, disappointing, angry or joyous moment could alter the outcome of a well laid plan. The stress can be intense, yet we still love it. We create from a unique set of circumstances. We see the big picture and juggle the details. We, in a superficial way, make a difference in peoples’ lives, while leaving a tasteful, stylish, color coordinated mark on the planet.

You, me, WE as independent designers, is what my weekly blog is about. The challenges and solutions, ideas and applications, the business of design, clients you love to hate and of course, anything really cool some vendor brings in, that may inspire! I welcome your input on subjects you want to talk about or even be a guest blogger, if you have something to share. Simply email me at joyatdesignallianceresource.com and I’ll set you up.

Lastly, I want to send a big THANK YOU to Joy Solleder, the original owner and creator of Design Alliance. This beautiful, talented and handy “can-do” designer had an idea and she went for it. She built this extraordinary sample inventory—AND the cabinets they are housed in—from nothing. She negotiated with countless vendors for the trade discounts we pass on to you and maintained the business between you, her and them ‘til the day she left. Joy is everywhere at D.A. Her classic good taste in design and her tenacity to follow through and make it happen is evident everywhere.

Thank you, Joy, for all that you did and for the opportunity to be part of keeping your dream alive. We are thrilled to be here. Now relax, enjoy your life in Washington and your Allegro Bus on the road. Best of luck to you and “Happy Motoring!”

Talk soon.