For many, the realization that design of the house controls how you use it largely comes when you move into it writes George WASHINGTON, stressing the need of controlling the design than the design controlling you.
Think about the last time you moved. Your former house was emptied and cleaned, and all your possessions stacked randomly in your new space. It was time to start setting up the new house. You took a deep breath, and started arranging your furniture.
Outlet locations dictated where you placed your furniture so you can plug in the lamps, and determined where you put your television. Your dresser only fits on one wall and your bed only fits one way if you want to be able to walk through the room.
Cutting corners
Most people think they are being clever by not hiring an architect alone to actualize what would be their home. They cut corners, which regrettably come back to bite them. It usually costs them in either time or money or both.
The most successful projects are when you have a team of professionals involved from the beginning. I say it is a three-legged stool — great architect, talented interior designer and an experienced contractor. “Add an open-minded client and you have awesome results.” With a collaborative design approach, the time to build the team is at the beginning of the project. It is the idea of having multiple sets of professional eyes. Many people have the misconception that hiring an interior designer means they are going to suggest you buy all new furniture and scrap everything you own.
Measuring the keeps
This is not true. In fact, you should fire anyone who works for you who suggests that. An interior designer should take an inventory of all your furniture and consult with you as to what you want to keep for the new or remodeled house. They will also measure the pieces you are going to keep. It is important to know how big your nightstands are before you build your new master suite.
On the plans you will just see boxes representing a queen size bed and the basic 25-by-25 nightstands, but you have 36-by-18 nightstands and a king bed. That will change what you need for your room. When you understand the problem at this early stage, you can decide whether to adjust the size of the room or replace the furniture.
Knowledge is power, indeed, when you plan the end from the beginning. In the beginning stages of schematic design, it is our practice, as the architect and interior designers, to add furniture symbols into the plans to help provide a sense of scale. For instance, we can easily see that a certain dining area comfortably fits a table for six. This can be valuable information if what you really want is a table that seats eight, and this is the time to discover this, as opposed to the day you move in to your finished project.
Part of our job as architects and interior designers is to make sure that reality is dealt with and upheld rather than thrive on wishes or hopes. As they synthesize the schematic plans and zero in on master plan, in collaboration, we can begin to replace the generic furniture symbols with the true measurements of any critical furniture pieces.
Since you would be paying a significant amount of money for a new home or a substantial remodel, you don’t want to be frustrated about the little things.
Hiring both an architect and an interior designer provides the best possibility of a seamless result for your project. Interior design is more than arranging furniture and plumping throw pillows. Choosing paint colors, finishes, light fixtures, flooring, knobs and trim are all choices that need to be made in a home construction or remodel. In addition to all of these issues, an interior designer will help design the new space to accommodate everything you want to include in your new space. Ultimately, the goal is to control the design and not have the design control how you live in your home.
George Washington is the CEO Invision Concepts Limited, President Interior Designers Association of Kenya, Lecturer, Technical University of Kenya.
