The Order of Things when Planning a Room's Design

This may be a lengthy post but I’m going to do my best to cover all the bases without being too lengthy.

Do you know the biggest mistake people make when designing a new space in their home? It’s failure to plan. Unless you have a great eye and clear vision for your new room, the last thing you should do is start randomly buying pieces without knowing what the overall goal/feel/design style you’re working toward is.

There is more than one process that can be used to create a design for your space, but today I’m going to share my process with you.

Step 1: Sketch out the footprint of your room and measure each wall’s width and height. You’ll also want to note any architectural features such as windows, doors, mantels, etc. Tip: Using graph paper to sketch out your room’s footprint will make it easy to stay on track. Typically, each square on your graph paper represents 1 square foot.

If you’re incorporating existing furniture into the design of your new room, measure each of those pieces too.

Step 2: Create your furniture layout. Start with the existing pieces you’re reusing and place them to scale in your room’s footprint. Then you can begin filling in with furniture you need to add that is properly scaled for your space. Tip: Make sure you leave adequately sized walkways between furniture pieces. Ideally you’d like 30” -36” walk space.

Step 3: Determine the style goals for your room. This can be a specific design style, such as Grand Millennial (my personal favorite), Eclectic, Cottage, etc. Or your style goals can be more of a mood. (Vibrant and happy, quiet and restful, collected and cozy).

It’s helpful to create a mood board or look book for your space with images that reflect your color palette, style or mood. You can also add textural elements you love such as velvet, bamboo, linen, or shells. Your mood board can be a bulletin board, photos and materials gathered up into a tray, or on a Pinterest board, Houzz look book, or a file of Instagram photos.

Example of a physical mood board

Added bonus: Mood boards are a great way to flex your creative muscles with little to no risk. You can try out design elements and easily eliminate them.

Step 4: Let the shopping begin! If you’ve gone through steps 1-3 as described above, you will be able to confidently select furnishings that will properly fit your space and be in line with the look or mood you’re trying to create.

If you’re shopping locally, be sure and bring your measurements with you so you’re sure everything will fit as expected.

Step 5: Putting it all together. If you’ve measured properly and stayed true to your big picture for your new room, you should be in a very good place with the design of your room.

All that remains are those personalized finishing touches. This is where the room really begins to take on your personality. Display your favorite collections, family heirlooms and artifacts of your travels. Add in some favorite vintage pieces and your room should be a true reflection of your life and your style!

Ready to fall in love with your home? The Green Room Interiors is accepting new clients for late summer 2022. Email us at thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com and tell us about your project!

Design Process - Who Orders the Furniture?

Today I want to dive a little deeper into our Design Process and address the procurement of furnishings.

A Signal Mountain, TN living room Designed by The Green Room Interiors in 2018.

There is no hard and fast rule about who orders furnishings when working with a design professional, so today I will address how I work.

Custom items and most large furniture pieces are ordered by The Green Room Interiors for our White Glove Decorating by the Room Service option. There are several reasons for this:

1. In an effort to deliver a client-centered design experience, this is a big time and sanity saver! It takes more time than you would imagine to contact each vendor for all of the design elements and go over the specifics of your order.

2. We order furnishings on the regular, so we know the ins and outs of construction, quality, fabric content and scale. You can rest assured that whatever we order for your space has been vetted and approved for suitability for your particular project.

3. My responsibility to your order does not end once the your orders are placed. The unexpected can and does happen. Lost orders, wrong orders, back orders, and damages happen, and I will be your advocate to resolve any such issues along the way.

4. In most cases, your furnishings are sent directly by the manufacturer to our local receiver. Once the furnishings arrive the receiver uncrates them, inspects them for damages, and lets me know what has been received and in what condition. The receiver will house your furnishings in their secure and climate controlled location until everything we need for our room makeover has arrived. When installation day arrives, the receiver will deliver your goods and place each piece under my supervision to ensure that our Design vision is realized. They will also remove and discard all packing materials - and that’s a pretty big deal.

5. The resources I use to order your furnishings are , in some cases, custom pieces that are available exclusively to the design industry. They didn’t exist until we dreamed them up. This elevates your entire room and takes the design well beyond what you could order from Pottery Barn.

In this image of a Chattanooga living room, the custom sofa includes inset box trim, the framed chinoiserie panels are custom sized and framed, and the wool flatweave rug was custom made for the room..

So to summarize, furnishings are ordered, managed, received, inspected, stored, delivered and placed by us. It’s the ultimate luxury and also makes for a most memorable and joyful installation day.

The Green Room Interiors is accepting new client work for Winter 2020. Please email us at thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com and tell us about your project!

What Goes Into Those Design Fees? Part 3 - Installation

For those clients who have allowed themselves the luxury (necessity?) of engaging our services for a Full Service Design project, the big payoff comes on Installation Day.

In most cases, we try to install an entire room in a single day (aside from drapery, wallpaper, paint or any other type of physical alteration to the space itself).

We respectfully request that our customers leave their homes in our capable hands on installation day, so we can work our magic and they can return home to an entirely new and much improved look!

Here is a classic blue and white dining room on Signal Mountain we implemented several years ago. The white ironstone and silver pieces are family heirlooms we used to style the antique sideboard. A classic Southern vignette!

Here are some of the tasks that happen on installation day.

• Rugs are placed to perfectly anchor your furniture

• Furniture arrives via our white glove delivery and installation service providers. If needed, the white glove delivery service will put together any furniture that requires assembly.

• Your much anticipated furniture is placed under our supervision to ensure that the flow is right and that our vision is realized.

• Stylish accessories are strategically placed around the room to add the final layer of personality, interest and warmth. It’s truly this final layer of accessories that make your house feel like a home. We love to incorporate souvenirs, family heirlooms, and any items of interest that reflect your personal style and tell your story.

• With the help of professional installers where needed, we hang your art and mirrors so everything is level and safely anchored to the walls.

The installation and styling of a room is never formulaic. Each room is a blank canvas and how we approach the finishing touches is dictated by your room’s architecture, the abundance of or lack of natural light, and how we want the room to “feel” when it’s all said and done. Each room is unique to the client we are working with.

This level of attention to detail requires a little experimentation. Arrangements are tried, reconfigured and retweaked until we leave you with a space you can be proud to share with family and friends or savor all by yourself.

Here is a Full Service Design project we did in the Black Creek development in Chattanooga. Majolica plates create a happy and simple display. We incorporated our client’s marble lamp and glassware to finish off the styling. Antique books are a favorite design element - they always lend an aged and collected feel to any space.

When we are ready to turn the room back over to you, our goal is to leave you with a space that exceeds anything you could have imagined or executed on your own, yet feels completely “you” down to the last detail!

If you’re ready to transform a space in your home, send us an email via our “Contact” tab on the top right corner of our web page. We’d love to exceed your expectations!!

What Goes Into Those Design Fees? Phase 2 - Implementation

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:

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. Troubleshooting. See #5.

7. 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!!

What Goes Into Those Design Fees? Phase 1 - Design Planning

Design Fees. They can be so confusing because there is no industry standard for designer billing. One charges hourly. One charges a percentage. One charges a Flat Fee for the project (this is my favorite because you know up front exactly what you’ll pay and can budget the fee in from the very beginning.) There can also be a combination of billing methods for different phases of your project. This means you might pay a flat fee for the Design Concept and go to hourly billing for implementation.

You also may be experiencing a bit of sticker shock after inquiring about Design Fees. Interior Design and Decoration is considered a luxury service, so one would normally to hire a professional when a certain income level is reached - much like trading up the Chevy for a Mercedes when the time is right.

Today we’ll peel back the curtain and have a look at what goes into Design Fees so you’ll feel comfortable about the whole process and what is actually happening behind the scenes.

There are three basic stages to a Full Service Design project, and each phase has a series of tasks that must be completed to keep your project moving forward as efficiently as possible.

Phase I - Design Planning

Phase 2 - Implementation

Phase 3 - Installation

Today, we’ll talk about Phase I - the Design Planning.

Successful rooms require equal parts Creativity and Planning. If you end up with a room that looks good but doesn’t function for your particular needs, your money is not well spent. On the other hand, if your room works well enough but lacks that “wow” factor, your room will fail to delight. Now add in your budget requirements and your personal preferences and we’ve got a fairly complex road to navigate!

It’s imperative to get the functionality and flow down first. We can always make it pretty once we get the space properly laid out.

So we start with measuring your room. Each wall. Each window. Each door. Ceiling height. Fireplace dimensions.

Next, we’ll need photos and measurements for any pieces you already own that you’d like to retain in the new design.

Once we have these measurements, we go about laying out the space for proper functionality.

Once a good workable layout has been established, we begin sourcing specific furnishings for your space. Sounds like fun, right? Sure it is, but it’s also time consuming because product specifications must be researched to ensure that they’ll fit your space. And fit your personal style. And work within the budget. So yes, sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince!

Great - we’ve found our perfect sofa! Now we’ll just need to select things like leg style and finish (or skirt), arm style, cushion fill, whether or not we want casters, nailheads, cording and if we do want any of those things , in what finish? Oh, and we’ll need to make a fabric selection. (We’ll carefully check the specs on the fabric selection too, as we’ll need something durable and stain resistant.)

Now we’ll go through this entire process all over again for every piece of furniture for your room. Every chair. Ottomans? Cocktail and end tables.

And pillows. We’ll want to go custom on a few of those. So we’ll need to research and then spec dimensions, fabrics, trims, edge finishes, and fill. But first, swatches and/or fabric memos may need to be ordered to ensure we’re going to end up with a cohesive color story.

Next we’ll look at window treatments. Are we doing drapes, shades, blinds or shutters? Maybe just a top treatment? Again we’ll source and edit down fabric and trim selections, window treatment styles, lining, pleat styles, drapery hardware styles and finishes. Going off of our measurements, we’ll get with our local drapery workroom to get an estimate for your window treatments that works with your budget. Again, we’ll order fabric swatches/memos before your Design Plan is presented to be sure we’ve made the best possible selection for your budget and for your style.

Rinse and repeat this process for your lighting (overhead, sconces, table lamps, and floor lamps), rugs, and accessories.

While all of the above is going on, we’re developing a personalized color palette that will reflect the mood you’re trying to create in your room. So we’ll look at paint colors with our fabric selections and other design elements. And we’ll be mindful of creating a proper balance of color in your room too!

After some rethinking, trial and error, and second (third?) looks at other options, we finalize the Design Plan that was created especially for you!

Next, we’ll gather all of our materials and swatches, run the numbers, and put together a Design presentation that we will personally deliver to you so we can go over all of the fine details and answer your questions.

If you see a few items you don’t like, we provide up to 3 single item revisions at no additional cost to you!

All we’ll need is your approval and we can go on to the next phase of your project - the Implementation phase!

All of my research, creativity and planning for the Design Planning phase of the project is covered by my all inclusive Full Service Decorating by the Room flat Design Fee! The Flat Fee also covers the Implementation and Installation Phases, which we’ll go over in my next blog posts.

I hope you’ll check back to learn more about what the Implementation and then the Installation/ Styling phases of a Design project look like!

The Green Room Interiors is currently accepting new projects for Spring of 2020. Fill out our Contact form and tell us how we can best serve you!

The Design Consultation - What's It All About?

I get inquiries from people who’ve never worked with a Decorator before, and the purpose of this post is to try and take some of the mystery out of what it’s like and what to expect when working with a design professional.

I think what’s most important is to have an understanding of what your main goal is for the Consultation so you can get the most value out of our time together.

Every Consultation is different because everybody’s project is unique and not everyone needs the same level of help.

So, I might get a “Help! I just moved into this new house and I have no idea where to start!”

Exciting opportunity or completely intimidating?

In this scenario, a Design Consultation can be helpful for off-the-cuff recommendations about where to start and getting general parameters for furniture purchases. If you’re looking for a higher level of service, the Consultation can be used to learn more about your goals and to begin the process of discovering your personal design style through an interview process.

I also get Consultation requests from people who are pretty confident with their design chops, but just want a second opinion on a few ideas they’re kicking around. In these cases, I can wholeheartedly approve and encourage them to stay the course, or I can offer up suggestions that they haven’t considered that would elevate their project to the next level. How fun is that?

Looks good to me!

But, far and away, the most prolific struggles involve paint color selection.

The right paint color is so hard - and so important. Those pesky undertones can be tricky! And as a card carrying member of the color lover’s club, there’s nothing I love more than selecting that just-right shade of ____________ that will set the mood and bring out the very best in your furniture and art.

I have to say, we hit it out of the park with this color selection!

So, what I’m saying here is that the Design Consultation can be used in a number of different ways. My advice before booking the appointment is to give some thought to what you’d like to accomplish during our time together. Make a list of questions. Gather up any materials you’re considering, show me photos that inspire the direction you’d like to take in your space, and be open to suggestions that may be a little out of your comfort zone.

The Green Room Interiors is accepting new clients for late winter 2020. Fill out our contact page and tell me about your project!

Speaking of the Holidays...

Image from Maria Killam

Ok you probably weren’t really speaking of the holidays - much less planning for them at this point. But if a room refresh is something you want to consider before your guests arrive, it actually IS the right time to be speaking of the Holidays.

Decorating takes time people! There’s all the measuring, the creative development (my favorite part), the planning, the ordering, and the installation.

Custom sofa? Of course it’s a great idea, but custom upholstery can take 6-12 weeks from time of order to delivery. You might have to order fabrics and trimmings before you can even place the order. And you won’t get in the manufacturer’s production queue until they receive all of your materials. Tick. Tock.

Custom velvet sofa with tape trim on the back cushions from a recent project. The gorgeous backdrop is custom gold leaf framed wallpaper panels.

And how about wallpaper? If you’re considering using wallpaper somewhere (and if you are please call me!), there’s a lead time on getting the paper, prepping the walls and scheduling the installation. It is not uncommon these things to be out of stock, so you really have to plan ahead.

How gorgeous is this dining room? It’s a project from about 8 years ago that’s just as beautiful today as the day it was completed. Wouldn’t you be proud to host a holiday dinner for friends and family in a space like this? Total disclosure: the walls are actually hand stenciled - over several weeks’ time.

Also in this dining room a set of 10 antique chairs were sourced online. We had them lacquered in white and the seats reupholstered in a faux ostrich vinyl for chic durability. Bringing a room together is a multi-step process, so the more time you leave yourself the more choices and less stress you’ll have. Just sayin.

Maybe you have a guest bathroom that’s due for an upgrade before welcoming your guests for the holidays? We can help with that!

Here’s an amazing makeover we completed a few years ago. What was once a totally 80’s bathroom is now a fresh and charming bathroom for overnight guests. We kept the original footprint of the space and changed out all of the finishes. I don’t mind saying that the results are incredible! I do wish we had waited to take this photo until after the the door handle got changed out though. In any case, this project took 2-3 weeks to plan, another few weeks to receive materials, and about 4 weeks to implement.

A word to the wise - (that’s you) - if you have guests coming for the holidays and you’d like to wow them with your gorgeous cozy home, give me a call. Soon!

The Green Room Interiors is accepting new clients for mid fall 2019. Contact us at thegreenroominteriors@gmail.com and tell us about your project!

What I'm Working on Now - Lake House Living Room

Right now I’m working on a project I’m pretty excited about. It’s complete design project for a wonderful couple I’ve worked with on multiple occasions in their primary home on Signal Mountain. A few years ago they built a house on Watts Bar Lake for a weekend getaway for their active family and friends. I had the pleasure of working with them to select all of the finishes in the lake house during the construction phase, and now that the dust has settled on construction, we’re moving forward with getting the living room decorated.

Here is a list of priorities they gave me that guided our selections.

1. Since my clients will be hosting multiple families with children, easy-care selections were imperative. After all, they didn’t want to be slaves to cleaning the upholstery nor did they want to be stressed out when kids with ice cream cones were in the house.

2. My clients will host multiple families at the same throughout the warmer months, so they wanted to incorporate as much seating as would comfortably fit in the living room and dining areas.

3. Since the house is surrounded by nature and gorgeous lake views, they wanted to keep the decor simple to allow the lake and the property to be the main focus.

4. Their primary home is a brick Georgian style traditional home with very classic furnishings, and the lake house has a cottage vibe, so we decided that clean lines and natural elements would dominate the interiors. We also plan to mix in some classic design elements to give the room some longevity. #timelessovertrendy

In all projects I work on, form follows function, so I wanted to get the layout right before sourcing furniture pieces. The living room is a nice size, but not oversized, so it was important to pay attention to the scale of the furniture so we could incorporate as much seating as possible.

For the aesthetic, it’s natural/neutral with plenty of texture and high contrast.

Yum. Leather, wood, stone, and nubby textiles provide plenty of interest. Dark and light bring the contrast to keep the look crisp rather than frumpy. Fresh green stuff adds softness and life.

I love this direction!!!

Okay, here is our sofa selection. YES we’re going with the caramel leather!!! No, we’re not adding the nail heads. This sofa has such simple lines we decided to keep it pure and leave off the additional ornamentation.

Proposed additional seating in the images below - all smallish in scale but comfy and so so handsome. PLUS - easy to maintain!!

This chic rocker definitely fits the direction we’re taking, no?. Natural wood finish and that fabulous woven seat and back remind me I’m in a very special place and it puts me in a very mellow frame of mind.

ALSO

Leather woven occasional chairs. Easy care + comfy + so good looking!

We’re going to add in some metallic finishes, baskets, greenery and place it all on a fabulous vintage persian rug.

Here’s where we hope to end up:

Easy care finishes: Check

Seating for a crowd: Check

Simple,organic style with some contrast: Check

Almost forgot - the dining area of this open floor plan will tie in with the living room perfectly. They’ll share the clean lines, natural finishes, high contrast, and a touch of nature. Added bonus - the host chairs in the dining room can easily be transported to the living room and used for comfy seating as needed for super large crowds.

Do you see how important it is to plan your room’s design?

Currently we’re sourcing and ordering all of the pieces. Once we receive everything and I get it photographed I’ll post pictures.

Super excited to see this one come to life!

If you’re in the Chattanooga area and ready to live each day in easy elegance, call Kim at 423.653.3186 to discuss your project! We’re currently taking new projects for late summer 2019.