The Love of Design Creating the Perfect Home Environment

by Jamie Sams

For the last twelve years, I have been part of the house building process. It all started out as the simple first home that my husband and I decided to build. We were just starting out after buying our first house and knew that with our growing family we needed something a bit bigger.

One house grew into another, and we found ourselves building and moving every few years. All of the sudden, we started helping others build and design their homes. We really enjoyed the process, the creativity, and the result, and always took pride in what we did.

Over the course of those twelve years, I realized that as much as I liked to build, (with the help of the best contractors), what I really liked the most was the interior design aspect. I love to be creative and not spend a lot of money doing it.

I really think that building can be fun and exciting; however, at the same time, it can be challenging and overwhelming. There are so many things you have to think about and put into place before you start. With so many questions you have to answer when building, it can become incredibly stressful.

Some important items to list and prioritize before you build:

• What important things do you need and which can you go without?

• Will your family be expanding or will your children be leaving home?

• Do you entertain often or host overnight guests regularly?

• Have you put a realistic budget into place?

Aside from answering those questions, you have to pick out all the small design elements as well. You will need to consider what style you want to incorporate, the types of flooring, trims, kitchen layout, paint colors, etc. The list can go on and on.

Working with a Designer

My experience with being so involved in the building process for my own homes and doing my own interior designing got me to thinking that I could do this as a business. With the help of Heather Hiner, who I do a lot of design work with, I got really excited about helping people build and take the stress out of the process. I also thought that it would be great to help clients find ways to save money while making their homes beautiful.

Good designers will:

• Sit down with their clients to find out first what they love.

• Put aside their own initial thoughts of what they think clients should do and just listen to what they like and don’t like.

• Set aside their own style, making that always secondary to the client’s lifestyle.

• Use a new set of criteria every time they meet with a client for the first time.

• Do more listening than talking.

• Keep it fun and exciting by trying fresh and inventive forms of design.

• Think outside the box and give each client a unique style.

One of the biggest accomplishments in a project is helping create a sense of warmth and safety in the home of every client. Each project should help create a space that is somewhere the homeowners want to be and not somewhere they want to escape from at the end of the day.

No matter the space, whether old or new, there are always ways to make it beautiful. A good designer’s expertise can help to make that happen. D