Welcome to the second installment of “What Goes Into Those Design Fees?”. It’s such a mystery, isn’t it? Today we’ll have a realistic look at Phase 2 of a Full Service Design Project, the Implementation Phase.
This is where we take the (approved by you) Design Plan we created just for you and begin the multi-layered task of making our Design Plan your new reality!
It sounds so exciting, doesn’t it? Well, it truly is exciting, but you have to be patient because this phase takes a while. Here’ s why:
Orders are placed for every piece of furniture we have selected for your room. Sounds simple enough, but since we source from a wide range of vendors, it’s a lengthy process. And all of the details for your selected pieces must be communicated to each and every vendor. In most cases, you’re looking at an 8-12 week lead time. And that’s assuming that what we selected is in stock once we place our orders.
Custom soft furnishings. All of the components of your custom window treatments must be ordered. This includes fabrics, linings, trims, and hardware. Once we’ve received all materials, we’ll deliver them to our design trade only workroom where we go over all of the details of your order and they’ll be made just for you with the finest attention to detail. Allow at least 4 weeks depending on how many orders are in the queue before us.
Trades - if we’re doing wallpaper, painting, changing out light fixtures, adding moldings, or anything that involves outside trades, we’ll communicate all of the details of your custom design element, order materials and get the trades scheduled to do the work. These are not jobs we hand out to just anyone. We have a tight network of trusted tradespeople who are professional and know what they’re doing. And we have ongoing working relationships with them, so we’re all on the same page and everyone is clear on the level of conduct and quality that is expected.
Personal shopping - we might do a little or a lot of local shopping, depending on your particular needs and style. This could be antique mall shopping for that one of a kind vintage lamp, art gallery shopping for a unique piece of statement art, or shopping for plants and accessories for your mantel, tabletops, bookshelves and walls.
Receiving and inspecting - we prefer to ship your furnishings to a local receiver who will accept delivery and inspect for damages. Truth. It happens. No one likes it, but if something arrives damaged or wrong, we personally contact the vendor and get started on a resolution. Once we inform you of our “situation”, you go about your busy life and don’t worry about it - much - because we’ll get it handled for you. Consider the alternative: You order everything yourself . They deliver it to your front porch. And leave it there. In the rain. It’s heavy. You have to get it through the door and up the stairs and unpack it. Sometimes it’s crated. You have to remove the crating yourself and clean up the packing materials yourself. Then you discover it’s damaged. Now you have to play phone tag with the vendor and jump through all the hoops to get a replacement. That they’ll leave on the front porch. In the rain.
Troubleshooting. See #5.
Communication - we’ll update you weekly with the status of orders, any hiccups incurred, and provide encouragement and general hand-holding.
The thing about the implementation phase is that in most cases it takes longer than expected. This is the part of the project where you’re mostly paying for stuff and waiting. It can be hard, especially if this process is all new to you and you’re looking at a new house full of empty rooms and wondering where all the furniture is.
It requires some patience and faith. But try and remember why you hired us. You wanted to curate a home that is beyond anything you could have created on your own, with a level of detail and selection that just isn’t available from Pottery Barn. And that takes time. Time for thoughtful consideration of all aspects of the project and time for the makers to make the goods exactly how we wanted them. And ship them here. Via freight. Which takes time.
Oh, and don’t forget, all of the items above, and all of the Design Planning items discussed in Phase 1 AND the Installation and Styling to be discussed in Phase 3 are covered in our all inclusive Full Service Design by the Room Fee. Yay!
Hang in there, because we’re getting to the big payoff. AKA Phase 3. Installation Day. It’s when all of our dreaming, listening, creating, planning and buying will all come together in a most magical way!!
