- First Part of the Meeting
Introduction
This report covers a short explanation on the areas of discussion when the first meeting takes place between an in house designer and its clients. It aims to clarify the objective of the first meeting, its relevance and the strategies to be implemented to get a contract. Statements to be given on the areas of skills for an interior designer, the different kind of observations to be made and questions to be asked.
Purpose of the first meeting
The first meeting between the client and the intra house designer is subjected to know about each other and finding scopes to sign a formal deal through the making of a formal discussion. A common saying is such that first stage impression takes good care for the impressions at all other levels and in an accordance, the designer must provide the client with enough causes behind why he or she should be chosen for a particular construction project.
Relevance of first meeting with the client
An interior designer would find it convenient to sit with the clients at their home to hold a precise discussion and then grooming up the entire home space where construction is required. Partial success of the deal depends on the ability of the designer to convince the clients about the attractiveness of the proposed structures, appearances and design. It is natural for a beginning designer to hold a little bit nervousness during the conducting of the first client meeting but he should be trained enough to control negative emotions and nervousness sufficiently and conclude the discussion happily. The client may also seem to be a little bit unconscious about the reactions to be made on behalf of the designers on their house and whether choosing a particular designer is going to be a right decision or not. Unless the interior designer is able to show a required level of sincerity and confidence supported by professionalism during the phases of the interaction, it is unlikely for a contract to be signed.
First level strategies behind signing a contact
According to the expert and experienced designers, it is significant to get deep insights on how clients feel about the construction place, new designs and most importantly about the company or designer in contract. The designer should place importance on the announced as well as hidden desires of the client, for example, no fees at the very first consultation or meeting, showing the going to be clients positively reviewed testimonials from the previously served clients and sharing their contact information in special cases. The client should be requested to give a full house grooming, even when a partial construction is required.
The foremost duty of any in house designer is to ask the clients about their preferences and non-preferences, what issues can be compromised and what not. Also to be asked about the likely to be performed activities at the spaces of the house. A better idea is to bring some magazines and books alongside and from them open a bunch of designs before the clients and let them prioritize between different ones. The inside house designer should seek for permission to click some photos of the existing conditions to check them later at office while working with and finalizing the new design. The house owners must of course be convinced at last that the designer is not being excessively interfering rather than establishing the foundation of evolving a newly customized design.
Must having skills for an interior designer
While moving around the parts of the house, the designer must be able to exercise strong observational skills and take notes on important issues. Strong note making skill is positively correlated with the generation of a structured and attractive design proposal. Claire Prescott emphasized that good designers are good listeners, why because they need to value the client’s thoughts before putting own idea before them. The designer must be a good and precise expresser of the understood issues without getting nervous and missing any important point.He or she should belong powerful negotiation skills to keep moving with consistency at different communication phases. To be kept in mind from the beginning to the ending, that the project is initiated for the happiness of the client, rather than the designer.
Kind of observations during the house visit
All minor and major things kept as an asset of the house should be brought under keen observation; for example, the condition of the ceiling, floor, wall, windows, doors, kitchen and paining. An approximate measurement is to be made on the regions and corners of the house and finally the client is to be proposed the basic idea of the most suitable design possible.
Relevant areas of making questions
Some queries should be clear before the designer and to do so the designer must come forward with some soft questions. He has a duty to ask for the number of the members (elderly, young ones, child to be specified) living in the house, the possibility of getting new ones in coming future. Questions can be knocked on the hobbies of the family members, whether they dine together or separately, there is any need for extra rooms for guests or part time visitorsand all rooms are going to be equal in size or not.
Information that would come in the response of above queries will help the designer to make a customized and master house plan for its clients.
Conclusion
Looking at the parts of the report make it evident for any reader to understand the approaches, an intra house designer must take into count to conduct a successful first meet-up with the potential clients. One by one, the report discovered the pursuing aim behind the first meeting, strategies of holding the meeting and the must having expertise to become an appropriate designer. The final segment showed that good designers must make in depth observations on the areas of the house and ask relevant questions before moving with concept building and designing process.
- Scope of Work
Scope of work for a designing project is the most vital part in the whole project. It includes the required materials, their costing and availability in the market. For example, if a project is chosen by the client and the required tool or elements presented to the client, it will be an embarrassing moment and a disappointment for the both parties.
The quote made for the contractors or the tradespeople is known as the scope of work. This is important to clarify each of the required elements perfectly. Otherwise, the company may have to pay the extra cost by their own.
Terms of Using the Scope of Work in a Designing Project
The first rule of quoting off is adding all the values for projecting the overall cost of the designing process. Sometimes, it becomes necessary to hire different contractors for different jobs. Each of them needs to be highly engaged with the building project. The cost, issue and descriptions have to be added in four columns.
Also, it is very important reminder that an extra quote will not be paid by the client once it is presented. In this assessment, we are going to prepare a quotation for the tradespeople, not for the client. It will be important for practicing the way of dealing with a tradesperson while completing a project.
The project will be described as a proposal from Mr. Smith after meeting him for the redecoration of his bedroom. He wants to redesign his bedroom interior and make it a better bedroom cum living room. According to our first meeting, the SafeHouse Interior Limited, an interior designing provider of Yorkshire has inspected the place. According to the observation, I have created a plan in which, the following tools and parts will be necessary.
However, delivering the following service, ingredients and elements by the contractors will be mandatory. For each of the services included in the list, the client has to pay a particular rate. This will be included in the service fee of SafeHouse Interior Limited. Now, Let’s take a look at the Scope of Work for the bedroom cum living room designing project of Mr. Smith.
Client: Mr. Downy Smith
Address: 54, Cookridge Street, Leeds, UK
Contractor: Mr. Jasbindar Singh from Punjab Limited
Issue Description Contractor Cost
1 Bedroom Renovate Builder
1.1 Removing Old Window Builder €20
1.2 Removing Old Carpet Carpenter €15
1.3 Adding New Window Frame Builder €48
1.4 Wiring the room Electrician €70
1.5 Adding New Window Builder €35
1.5 Adding New Carpet Carpenter €100
1.6 Painting Room Walls Painter €175
2 Adding Living Room Feature
2.1 Adding shelves Carpenter €80
2.2 Adding armchair Carpenter €50
2.3 Painting the shelves Painter €25
2.4 Adding Computer socket for Pc Electrician €15
2.5 Adding music system Electrician €30
2.6 Merging the paint Painter €75
2.7 Adding Partition Boards Builder €20
2.8 Installing new lights Electrician €55
2.9 Adding Table and bookstand Builder €110
The above quotation will be presented to the contractor for the bedroom cum living room project.
- Letter of Acceptance
Name: SafeHouse Interior Limited
Address: 22/A, Rose Street, Yorkshire, UK
30-04-2018
Dear Mr. Smith,
We are thankful to you that you have selected SafeHouse Interior Limited for taking over the design project of your home at 54 Cookridge Street, Leeds, UK. It will be an extraordinary experience for us while decorating the house.
For this design project, SafeHouse Interior Limited has come up with the services described in the following. We hope each of the items will be clarified for your maximum engagement of decorating your own house.
• Design the bedroom cum living room.
• Creating a total designing plan for the bedroom cum living room.
• Specifying the required ingredients, products and tools for the designing purpose.
• Choosing the most prominent tradespeople for the project. As you have already given us the liberty to select the contractors by the company, it will be much easier for us now.
• Managing the total designing project from the site. To avail this on-place-management service, the SafeHouse Interior Limited will take 18% of the total cost of the project.
• SafeHouse Interior Limited is going to send you invoices for the project in four phases of this decorating project. The phases are as follow: - €320 at the beginning of the project. (The second meeting and consultation purpose)
- €210 after the finalization of the design and approval by Mr. Smith.
- €510 when the building of the site starts.
- €100 while handing over the completed site to Mr. Smith
These are the finalized services, costs and fees for your designing project of a bedroom cum living room. If you have any query, kindly contact me at my office or email me your special requirements.
Yours Sincerely,
“Student’s Name”
SafeHouse Interior Limited
- Mood Board with Supporting Information
Mood board is the fundamental design material. It represents a view to the client about the project. The mood board includes all the upcoming designs and project materials. In order to make a place more decorative and living-friendly, the interior designer puts all effort for making a perfect mood board. There are several ways of representing a mood board to the client.
As we are discussing a project related to the bedroom cum living room for Mr. Smith, the mood board should be a collaboration of both ideas. The purpose of a mood board depends on how it is going to win the client and how everything described in the design is implemented.
Mood Board for Mr. Smith’s Bedroom cum Living Room Designing
From the observation taken place in Mr. Smith’s house, we have seen that he has a large bedroom with less furniture. Instead of having a different living room, he wants to add a living room inside the bedroom. But it is important that the place should not be congested in any order. The purpose of the design and the objective of mood board for the project are:
I) Keeping the bedroom environment same and majestic
II) Adding the flavor of a living room inside the bedroom without making it congested
III) Placement of every furniture has to be perfect
IV) The lighting should be sufficient for reading books as well as sleeping well
V) Using a computer in the living room or the sound coming from the music in the living room should not disturb a sleeping person, as for now, Mrs. Smith.
VI) The natural lighting and ventilation should not be disturbed. A proper flow of natural light is mandatory.
VII) Installing a television in the living room is optional. But the sound and light must not bother the environment of the bedroom at night.
VIII) Instead of installing a sofa, the living room needs to be added armchairs.
IX) A table has to be added for ensuring maximum comfort
X) The bookstand for reading books in comfort must be added.
XI) The wiring system of the bedroom cum living room should be merged
XII) The painting of the bedroom cum living room should be matched but not collided.
XIII) A good use of wood and fabric is recommended.
Holding all the above discussed objectives, the mood board requires to be used. And, for doing so, a collaborative design of two different house parts has to be brought up.
Inclusion of a Mood Board in the Bedroom-cum-Living Room
In the primary part, the SafeHouse Interior Limited offers whole redecoration of the current bedroom. The mood board for the redecoration purpose includes,
i) Modern window frame with glasses for the bedroom
ii) A color combination of white and violet that makes nearly a pinkish color for the bedroom.
iii) Change of the carpet in order to create a whole new feeling about the room.
iv) Addition of new wiring system. The wiring will be concealed.
v) The lighting system of the bedroom portion should have two types. One is lamping and second is shading. The hanging lights are created in a manner that the person on the bed can read anything easily. And, the bedside lamps have to be enough for lightening up the room.
vi) A little placement of the bed will provide more place in the room.
This is the preliminary requirement for the mood board of the bedroom portion is stated above. Now, we will move to the design of a mood board of the living room portion.
i) The armchairs should have good fabric and perfect design to sit for a long time.
ii) The bookshelves are kept in a small height to reach from the chair easily
iii) Walls of the living room portion of the project must include concealed lighting. The room should be lightened, but not disturbing for the other part of the room.
iv) To make reading books convenient, two small directional lights are needed to be added on the ceiling. They work like torches.
v) The bookstand should be foldable and good looking to give a better look to the room.
vi) The floor must have heavy carpet in order to keep the place calm.
vii) Designed and crafted partition boards are to be added between the bedroom and living room.
viii) The sound system will be hidden in corners. The direction of the sound must be opposite of the bedroom.
ix) Two foam pads are added on the walls to absorb the sound and let it be in the living room.
x) The computer table has to match with the environment of the living room.
xi) The painting should be creative and should provide the living room a comfortable look.
Fabric swatches are to be added while creating cushions for the armchairs. As the wall color is pinkish, the curtain of the window and cushions must be dark. Violet color curtain and cushion will match the environment.
Once the mood board is completed, the second part is adding a floor plan.
Floor Plan for the Project
Floor plan is a two-dimensional plan of furniture placement and lighting purpose. It includes all the changes that the designer is going to bring while completion of the project.
As for the project of Mr. Smith, the floor plan will be about adding ceiling lights and replacing the bed and other existed furniture. However, the addition of a completely new part, living room needs to be added on the plan.
For making the floor plan, we will use some lines indicating the previous look and the future look. These lines represent a situation in which the floor becomes comfortable for moving as well as sleeping and entering into the living room.
Floor plan is nothing but a future view of the room from the above. To create a perfect floor plan, it requires some unavoidable characteristics.
i) The whole plan has to be scale to scale. For this project of Mr. Smith, the bedroom is a 20’X30’. So, it can fit two different rooms easily without creating any hassle of movement. To make sure of the comfort, the placement of partition board should be exact.
ii) The second characteristic of the floor plan is adding the placement of window and doors. As we are replacing old window with a new one and adding a completely new one to the living room portion, this has to be included in the plan.
iii) The flow of light and air has to be drawn in the floor plan. The client must get an idea before proceeding for the plan that how the ventilation system will look like.
iv) Each part of the floor plan has to be trivial. A little mistake in the measurement can ruin the whole design.
3D Drawing For the Project
As the technology has improved, 3D drawing has gained more popularity. It includes a view of the room from the 3rd dimensional perspective. The inertial reference frame of each of the object needs to be identified properly in the drawing.
The design of the lights, the design of the window, chair and finally the painting have to be included in the drawing.
The client should get the feeling on how it will look after completing the designing.
Product Sourcing and Specification for this Project
SafeHouse Interior Limited will hire builder, painter, carpenter and electrician for the project. The builder is going to supply all the building materials and window replacement criteria. The carpenter is going to look after the carpets and the flooring. The foam pads in the living room are also the responsibility of the carpenter.
The contracted electrician will take care of the wiring and powering sources. He needs to install the sockets, switches, concealed lighting, and music system. The painter must bring and combine two different colors for the bedroom cum living room project.
The products supplied by the contractors have to be of good quality. Each of the products will needs to be sustainable.
The design of the materials and ingredients will be settled after the final meeting with Mr. Smith. SafeHouse Interior Limited takes liability of all the product sources.
For specifying, the quotation described in the scope of work listing will be included. According to the measurement and the requirement, contractors will bring their tools. The creatively designed light shades and armchairs will be provided from the SafeHouse Interior Limited.
Conclusion
Interior designing is an art. It provides a chance to deal with the client’s requirement. The tools, costs, design, and the construction of the project must be specified in a project properly. To avoid any miscommunication, the designer should give liberty to the client for selecting each sample. From the catalogue or a completely unique design, the client selects. Then, the designer contracts with the expert contractors for getting the project done with the best effort. When the project is handed over to the client, collecting the feedback from the client becomes the most valuable part for a designer. A positive feedback inspires the designer to work better in the future. On the other hand, a negative feedback energizes the designer to find a solution of the problem. This is how interior design is done.