Around 8:00 am I received a call from the trucking company. Last week they had lost one out of 6 boxes delivered to me with a shipment of Light Fixtures ordered for a Dentist Office I am completing. I had notified my customer and asked if they wanted to take possession of what I had so far until I knew more information but I didn’t get a reply. I had already placed a couple of phones calls trying to find out where the box was and if it had been lost, how to place a claim so I could get a replacement.  The trucking company’s Manager tells me the last box has been found and nicely offers to bring it to me personally. Great customer service, I love it!  Within the hour he was delivering it to me. What a great start

Before I headed out for my first appointment, I checked my email and I get one from a client letting me know that yesterday she had received the drapery order she placed with me “only” 2 weeks ago! I was thrilled and so was she. She had hoped to get them installed before the end of the month and since I know better, I had told her that I didn’t think it was going to happen. Usually workrooms take 4-6 weeks to complete an order, but hers was done so quickly that before I had a chance to get an UPS tracking number, she receives the drapes. Needless to say, we scheduled the installation right away. I love it when everything works out.

While on the road, the architect in charge of the Dentist Office coincidentally calls me to check on the light fixtures since he had the electrician on site finishing up before tomorrow’s inspection. I was able to notify him that I had, in fact, received the last box and that I could now bring them over. He had the electrician call me and we set up the time for me to bring the boxes.

So my first appointment today was at my Plumbing Supplier. I had to place an order for all the products needed for the Bathroom renovation I am currently working on. Yesterday I had asked the girl who helped me with the quote, to find out the availability of the items to be ordered so she could let me know this morning. She was not only extremely helpful but very knowledgeable about the products, and her prices were much better so I can pass along the savings. Even better, she informs me that the availability of all the Kholer items is about 2 1/2 weeks versus the original 45 days. Joy! I will be able to start demolition sooner than I anticipated.

I head back to load my car with all the boxes and when I get to the site, the electrician tells me that he thinks the chandeliers chosen are too long. Immediately I start worrying and second guessing myself. He measures and as I originally calculated, the drop was just perfect. I should know by now that I do take into consideration almost every single detail and not to panic right away. As a friend of mine told me once, or twice, don’t Hispanic Panic .

In days like today I feel unstoppable. I can’t help but feeling such great energy and it fuels me to continue doing what I love, Interior Design. I wish there were more days like today.

I will be posting pictures when the Dentist Office is fully completed and the draperies are installed. I will also be blogging the progress of the Master Bedroom Renovation from demolition to completion including pictures. Keep checking in and thanks for reading :)

Graciela

In my career as an Interior Designer I always hear “I wish I knew in advance how long this process takes”. So, allow this post to become your friendly reminder for the upcoming Holidays. Depending on what the project entails, the process from concept to completion usually takes up to 12 weeks. So do yourself a favor and start looking around your home and plan accordingly. You will be glad you did.

Once you start looking, it could just be an empty wall needing a piece of artwork, or changing the wall color altogether. Maybe its time to re-do the LR Window Treatments, or to finally dress that DR window that hasn’t been done in years.  Is it the finishing touches like crown molding, or accessorizing the wall unit or ledges? This is the time to start making plans.

Perhaps you are having out of town guests for the Holidays. Are you making arrangements for it? The majority of us who live in South Florida are accustomed to have guests coming from other states or even other countries to visit us, since we are so fortunate to live here. Most of my clients want to make sure their visitors feel as comfortable and welcomed as they can.  Maybe you need to re-arrange a room to accommodate a new sofa bed or a new dresser, or just an area rug to pull the room together. Did you just remember that the blind in the Guest room is broken and it needs to be replaced before your 5 year old nephew pulls it down and hurts himself?

When it comes to Window Treatments, workrooms usually announce a cut-off date in which they can’t promise completion and delivery of the product. They usually get busier around this time of the year and it becomes harder to accommodate everyone with a deadline. We also need to allow time in case fabrics and/or trims selected are backordered. In fact, even installers have to work on overload because of the demand around these days.

If you need to order one or several pieces of furniture, often times the availability is between 4 to 8 weeks from the time the order is placed, but we first have to look for that perfect piece before we can order it. The delivery time also varies depending upon where the product ships from. Companies such as K&K Transfer will also inform us of their cut-off date for in-home deliveries.

We all want to have our homes as presentable, comfortable and functional as possible for the festivities, right? So, don’t delay it and schedule your appointment with us today. Let’s get you ready for a wonderful season to enjoy with your loved ones, and to showcase your home the way it’s meant to be.

Where I was born and raised (Venezuela), families tend to keep the furniture for decades and eventually pass it along to children and grandchildren. That was the case in my family too. I grew up in my grandma’s house and when she passed; my mom inherited the couch, a wing chair and the dining room table. Since then, she has had the sofa and the wing chair re-upholstered more times than I can remember, and the furniture has remained with her to the next two places she lived in. She recently moved to an island and passed these pieces to my sister and my cousin.

Fortunately the sofa has very classy and timeless lines, loose back pillows with self welt, a tailored skirt, straight arms and 3 seat cushions. And every time it was recovered, it would look different and brand new all over again. The labor in South America is definitely more affordable than in the US, so even if the fabric used was purchased abroad, keeping the sofa was a much more reasonable option than discarding it for new. This being true, reupholstering in this area is comparable to buying new.

Besides doing it for the sentimental value, another two valid and worthwhile reasons to consider re-upholstering an existing piece of furniture are the scale and comfort level of the piece. If a chair fits the space in which it is placed in a room because of its specific size, it may be harder to find the same scale in a new chair. This is especially true these days, when homes are being designed with larger areas and higher ceilings. The furniture industry has had to adjust to the new scale and design furniture pieces that are larger and bulkier. But they have also tried to keep the small scale upholstery for condominiums and smaller places. Keeping the same chair, bench or settee you always loved in the place you have become accustomed to or the only place it makes sense, makes it worth keeping and re-upholstering.

As I mentioned before, comfort level is a must when it comes to deciding if re-upholstering is worth the investment. Times have changed and furniture makers have improved the way they build furniture with more choices and options to accommodate the customer’s preferences. However, someone who is used to the specific firmness or softness of a seat cushion might not like a new one since the existing one is already molded to the user of the piece. Comfort level is directly proportional to the scale of the upholstered piece. If the seat cushion is too deep, it may not be as comfortable for someone who is shorter than average. If the back cushion is too short, it may not give enough head support to someone who wants to lay back, relax and cuddle with a book.

The last but certainly not least determining factor is the endless choices of materials available in the market from different vendors. Often times when a client looks for a new upholstered piece, the manufacturer has a selection of fabrics in which to choose from. A few manufacturers will allow you to pick a material from a different vendor and use it on their frame, but often you only have that luxury when working with an Interior Designer and not from a retail furniture store. We do the homework for you, and out of thousands of choices, we select just a few based on your preferences. We make sure the new pattern introduced will work cohesively with other patterns used in the room, such as draperies, bedding or another upholstered piece.

When it comes to fabrics, there are also some factors to be considered. You may love a particular pattern and color, but the fabric is not suitable for residential upholstery. If the upholstered piece will have a substantial amount of use, then it’s recommended to use either a commercial grade fabric or a residential one that has passed testing for a certain amount of double rubs (Weizenbeek Abrasion Test for example). The higher the amount, the more durable and wearable the material is. Other tests are NFPA 701 and UFAC/NFPA 260 Class.

In conclusion, the three factors to take into consideration are sentimental value, scale and comfort level. I hope this article will help you evaluate and decide next time you consider parting from your favorite reading chair, grandma’s couch or any upholstered piece you have in your home or office before you venture into the option of getting something new.

Although the article’s emphasis is on the budget, it doesn’t make any mention of the homeowner’s expertise, or lack thereof, to tackle such a task. It appears as if the homeowner was very skilled or lucky enough to have an honest contractor who guided her in every step of the project while providing the labor and suggestions in order to avoid unnecessary expenses.

The project in the article seemed easy to tackle, again, as long as one has good contracted labor involved. In this homeowner’s case, she also had a pre-conceived idea of what she wanted to do. She worked with what is available in the market like the cabinet, vanity top, faucet, shower door and tile selections. Stores like Home Depot & Lowes will sell products that are quite affordable and mostly targeted to the DIY type of client. Most of the residential bathrooms are similar in sizes and sometimes even in layout (unless it is a custom built home) to accommodate standard size vanities, showers and/or tubs. The fact that the new floor tile was installed on top of the old one proves to be a great saving. Another suggestion for the shower could have been to eliminate the door altogether and install a nice shower curtain. This option would bring softness to the room as well as a pattern and color to compliment the artwork piece.

If a homeowner has the desire to remodel a bathroom, there is a definite benefit in hiring someone with experience in the matter. An Interior Designer not only will help you with the selection of the materials but will also have an eye for what works best to meet the clients’ needs. We also orchestrate the project with all the hired labor required to get the job done, eliminating the stress that the client might experience dealing with all details and decision making involved. If a problem arises, our job is to handle it and to find the solution so the client doesn’t have to suffer from it.

When the homeowner mentions the mirror application by having one big piece installed wall to wall, the first thought that came to mind was “How did they get that large mirror inside the bathroom?” It’s hard to see the space from the pictures but if the size of the room, door and angles are not taken into consideration beforehand, a costly mistake could easily have been made if the mirror was too big to fit through the door. With the help of an Interior Designer details like this are always considered beforehand.

There are good points made in the article, but some others of equal importance are not mentioned. This homeowner had her inspiration from My Home Ideas and allowed her to have a starting point. This is not usually the case and often the trained eye of an Interior Designer will help put a design scheme that is not only beautiful but functional and practical at the same time. Choosing the right materials is key when it comes to space functionality. The wrong material for a shower could become a health hazard in a near future. A glass tile not installed properly will end up being too sharp to the touch. A polished marble floor is too slippery to be used in high humidity areas like a shower.

There are a good amount of TV shows and published articles that make projects of this caliber look like anyone could accomplish them without any difficulty. They would not get a lot of viewers if the projects seemed too complicated to achieve. TV shows nearly always hire skilled labor such as carpenters, plumbers, electricians, tile setters, painters, etc., to provide the labor for the show, not to mention their liability insurance coverage. In a real case scenario, if one of those trades is not met accordingly, it can throw off your entire project. It will not matter if the wall tile selected is absolutely beautiful if the installation is poorly done, then the effort is ruined and what should have been a beautiful end result tainted. When an Interior Designer is hired they most likely already work with a team of subcontractors to handle the specific trade needed for the job. Having each trade performed by an expert in the skill will achieve a more professional and desired result. A subcontractor who specializes in painting will do a better job painting than hanging wall paper. The expression “A jack of all trades, master of none” certainly applies. Your home will be yours for a good while. Do you want the job done satisfactorily, with flaws you’ll learn to live with, or virtually perfect?

There is a preconceived notion that Interior Designers are a luxury more than a necessity, but the experience and knowledge of an Interior Designer proves to be of unmeasured value when it comes to remodeling. Do your homework and ask for references when you decide to hire an Interior Designer. It will pay off at the end and provide you peace of mind.

I am currently in the process of creating my new website in which you will be able to learn about my services and see my portfolio.

Enjoy it!

Graciela