Name: Alice B
City: phoenix
State: az
Country: usa

Comment:
Dear Vicente,
I greatly admire your work as a designer and as a mentor to emerging designers. The fact that you have this blog and are so willing to assist others and offer advice is truly gracious and very appreciated.

I recently branched away from the firm I had been working with for the past few years and have started my own business. All of the fabrics and furnishings are selected and I am just about ready to start placing orders for a specific job. Most of the showrooms/vendors require a 50% deposit to place the order. My question to you is this: What percentage of the total cost do you have your client pay you in advance of placing an order and making that deposit?

If I only invoice my client for that 50% deposit, what’s to say they will pay me the remaining 50% later? I can’t imagine my clients doing that, but I don’t want to run on good faith alone. I can’t afford to pay the 50% balance if a client does default, and I don’t want my reputation or credit tarnished because of that. Would you (and your readers) consider it normal or outrageous if a designer asked for a 100% payment from the client in advance? Is there a better percentage than 100% that you’d recommend using?

Many thanks,
Alice

Vicente Responds:

Alice, I bill 50% deposit on long lead items plus 50% of my commission. That’s payable prior to delivery. Items that are for immediate delivery I bill in full like fixtures, fabrics and things that are going to be immediately available. I don’t think that most people in general will default on the balance, but if you feel that the person you’re dealing with may (due to personality or finances) bill in full. I find that most persons don’t like to give up the full amount and then wait 10 weeks for an item. However, if you do manage to get the full price at the beginning, it’s up to you and your bookkeeping to not touch that money if you’re holding it until delivery.

Name: Cindy LeBlanc
City: Vermilion
State: OH
Country: US
Comment:

Vincente,
I am relatively new to the design field. I am always struggling with what is a reasonable amount of time to come up with a design plan. Sometimes, depending on the client, decisions are made very quickly.

My creative and conceptual time frame varies from client to client as well based on them and the space. I struggle with the idea, that if I were more seasoned it would take me less time, and is it reasonable or fair to charge my client for this learning curve time. I would really appreciate your thoughts about this.

Thank you
Cindy

Vicente Responds:

I think different people create at different speeds. Lucky for me I can do it very quickly, but one has always got to go with your gut and not questioning your decisions. I think that the more you think, the longer it takes. When I feel that I’ve come up with the right solution, I move onto the next thing. I think a lot of people don’t trust their gut and my experience has told me that the first charge is usually the right one. The fact is, clients usually make decisions very quickly so I design everything and present it all at once. To involve the client during the process of creativity is watering down your project and drawing out the process. Try to design the project completely and then present it to the client. You’ll see it go much faster. I know a lot of people who are very seasoned and still take a long time to design a project. And regarding the learning curve? I am still on one and I think anybody who is able to maintain their creativity at a high level will always learn. The day you die is the day you stop learning. It’s not the learning curve they’re paying for, it’s what you produce. If you’re charging by the hour it still takes you what it takes you to create. Try coming up with a flat fee that eliminates the question in your mind.

Name: Roberta Davis
City: Seattle
State: WA
Country: USA

Comment:
Hi, Vicente. I am an admirer of your work and an interior design student- starting at the “end” of my business career. I am reading your book “Learning to See” right now and I just wonder, if you didn’t go to school, how did you learn about furniture styles and history?

Vicente Responds:
Roberta, when you’re dyslexic you develop different ways of learning – in my case I had to for pure survival! Most of what I know about design I learnt from trusting my gut, by going to museums and keeping my eyes open and being aware of what is around me. And don’t discount the value in looking at countless design books and reading a lot. You just have to be a sponge.

Name: Touran latham
City: Richmond
State: VA
Country: USA
Comment:
My question is about lighting art works. I have a collection of paintings and works on paper. Some are on one large wall lined gallery-like on one line, Others by themselves on separate walls. My existing lighting is combination of track lighting for the large wall and eye-lid can lighting for the larger paintings hanging by themselves. Smaller ones are without any. What is the best solution to give them al proper lighting and making the total collection look unified?

I would be concerned about light damage as well. I was just looking at your beautiful teal room posted June 30th with the Miro and Lichtenstein paintings and I would be extremely concerned for the paintings the way they were exposed to light. I would hesitate to hang paintings on outside walls of the house as well because temperature changes do effect paintings. Were there precautions taken here to protect them? How?

Vicente Responds:

Touran, we have all art work framed with a UV protective coating – ask your framer for glass options that contains UV protection.  Concerning lighting, I often use  Techligthing for their great variation of wire lighting that could be used to unify everything while still allowing you to adjust, if you move your artwork around. (I always move mine to keep it fresh and keep your eye engaged).

Name: Meera
City: Boulder
State: CO
Country: USA

Comment:

Hi Vicente,

I came across the NY Times article on the makeover of a room based on India. The article said that you designed the room based on “The sense of India should be something you don’t see but maybe perceive.” I was wondering if you could explain what it meant to you. I am an Indian and love design. So I am curious as to what India means to you as a designer. Is it color, patterns, people, the food, art, architecture, the religion etc.

How would you have designed it if you were designing it for an Indian living in Manhattan?

Thanks,
Meera

Vicente Responds:
Meera, I would say it’s a mixture of all of the above. But you certainly can’t shove every item into one little room, so I went for the emotion, which to me is a sense of richness, an all-engulfing sense of a lushness of color and a extravagant sense of expression. This I achieved by using fuschia and pinks with touches of apple green which sort of embraces the room.

From: Augusto Andres
Subject: Design advice for a dining room

Dear Mr. Wolf,

I have enjoyed your work and draw a lot of design inspiration from your books, blog, as well as features about you in magazines and on TV. I’m writing for some design advice. I recently moved into a suburban tract home and I’m trying to infuse the interior with some contemporary design elements on a budget. I like the way my living room turned out (the photo display was inspired by a bedroom of yours featured on HGTV!) but I’m stuck with what direction to go with the dining room.

I’ve attached a floor plan of the space. My layout is actually opposite of the diagram (living room is on the left, dining on the right). The dining room is 11 x 10 with 9′ ceilings. I heard a designer once say that tension between disparate elements is one aspect that makes a space interesting, so the I used a drum shade and pedestal table to play off the square windows and shape of the room. The circular theme is echoed in the artwork (a graphic print of circles, a photograph of a bowl of cherries). I wanted to create a sense of separation from the living room, so I painted the walls a warm gray rather than painting the whole living-dining space the same color. Further evidence of my feeble design attempts are in the corners– I placed a basket in one and stacked wine boxes and bottles in the other (a nod to nearby Napa Valley). I’m at a loss as to what to do with the main wall of the room. I’ve been going back and forth between either a sideboard or art work but haven’t been able to figure out an appropriate size or scale given the awkward placement of 3 small windows along that wall.

I’d like the room to be vibrant yet inviting, the kind of place where family and friends can linger over a long meal. At the same time, I’d like it to be visually impactful since it is directly across from the living room. I’m not wedded to anything but I do have to keep the table and chairs–there’s no budget for a new set. So I know you’ve got a busy schedule but if you have any suggestions, I’d greatly appreciate hearing your ideas.

Sincerely,

Gus Andres

Vicente Responds:

I know it’s not inexpensive – and I know I do it all the time – but have you thought of a large-scale mirror leaning against that wall? It would certainly reflect the living room and increase the space. Maybe do it the width of the windows and to the top of the window boxes. It would change the space completely as it would reflect the larger window on either side of the fireplace, cover the three small windows and add drama to the space. Aside from the mirror, keep it clean – I would remove the wine cases in the corner, it makes it look like a storage area.

Name: melissa lee
City: lamy
State: new mexico
Country: usa

Comment:

Vicente,

I have since found a few spots to look for furniture in Santa Fe and am pleased with my finds… Thank you for the advice on how to decorate living in a town with few options…

My next questions is this: I found these wonderful fold up chairs that sit low to the ground and have either jute or rope on the bottoms and back woven…I really do not know furniture designers, but I have a great eye for finding treasures.

The name of the designer is: Hans Wegner.

The price of each chair is $995.00 retail at a consignment store… They are in good condition. Can you tell me if this designer is well known and what gives it such a high price in a consignment gallery???

Thank you so much for your time..

Always,
Melissa Lee

Vicente Responds:

Melissa, Hans Wegner is one of the mid-century masters. His most famous chair is the Papa Bear and they are certainly classics. If the condition is good and you like the chairs (and you can afford it), it will always hold its value. In fact, I have a Papa Bear in my bedroom and every time I look at it, I appreciate it a little more.

Name: Derek T
City: Toronto
State: Ont
Country: Canada
Comment:

Have you ever used convex mirrors in a design? I am thinking of putting one over my bed, no, above the headboard. What do you think?

Thanks

Derek

Vicente Responds:

If you look at Vermeer’s paintings you’ll see that he uses convex mirrors a lot. They have a wonderful way of distorting a room. Just be sure that the scale is right. You don’t want a small mirror above a king sized bed. If you have a small one, look for two or three more so you can create a composition.

Name: Sonya
City: Los Angeles
State: CA
Country: USA
Comment:

This comment was left by one of your blog readers, and I think it would make a very interesting blog topic.
as posted on:
#15 by becky on April 23, 2010 – 3:04 am
“I agree, great topic and discussion, Vicente.
Whether you select commission based, flat fee based or hourly, I am interested from Vicente, and all the designers reading this as to how much time on average it takes you to complete a room design from concept through installation? I am aware of the endless variables involved, but am curious how long it takes other designers to work on or complete an entire room like a living room or a bathroom?”

I too, have always been curious how my timing compares to other designers.

Love your blog, and your work,
Best regards.

Vicente Responds:

Hi Sonya (and Becky) – yes, that is a good question and I too would be interested in the answer from other designers. For me, to do a job from time of approval of design, it takes between sixteen and twenty weeks if there’s no major construction. The design process takes about a month to a month and a half. Sometimes less.

Please let us know how long it takes you!

Name: Matthew Andras
City: Braselton
State: Georgia
Country: USA
Comment:

I have loved and followed your work for many years now and have heard your talks several times. But one thing I was wondering if you could comment on; as a designer, do you design for what the client needs, or do you design for what the client thinks they need- Are you designing for what their actual lifestyle is and requires, or for what they aspire to?
Thanks, and I appreciate the time you take to communicate on your site.
-Matt

Vicente Responds:

Matt, I think that meeting with the clients and seeing how they live gives me a good insight into what their lifestyle is and what their needs are. I think one has to listen, but use your instinct to seperate the dream from the reality, which is something that comes with time. I find with my clients that their lifestyle is not about pretence and that most of them are really real and down to earth. But, that said, when a client says “I need a dining room to seat 26 for that once-a year family dinner”, I must understand that I have to provide a place where that amount can sit, but I’m not designing the dining room for that permanently. It’s about using ones common sense and expertise.