I had my second meeting with the consultation client and, after I gave her an assignment the first time, she came back with a plan of her apartment and showed me her different solutions. It was interesting to discuss her design process and to look at what solutions she had discovered. Still, my challenge was to try and infuse in her a free-er quality to her work. After discussing the process she went through, I showed her some other options, incorporating her ideas and the lightbulb went on!

I think the strongest point in talking to her was that the plans that she had brought were all furniture plans. I believe that one should really decide how one is going to reallocate the background before even starting to add furniture. What she was doing was to move a few walls so she could place the furniture, where my thinking is to really bring the background to a 100% and then the furniture sort of places itself in the space.

After her showing great insecurity about her creativity during our first session and wanting to know from me what good design was, it was such a great surprise to see pictures of a home she did for herself in the country as well as an apartment in NYC and just how wonderful it was. It wasn’t quite completed and I gave her some suggestions, but I think her fear overrode her style and her talent.

It’s so important that we trust what we do and are realistic when we look at our work without underselling ourselves. After all, if you don’t believe in your work, how do you expect the client to?