SUPPLIED
Before Lynn Fenwick's makeover of this living room space the large, bare wall made it seem much emptier.
Building a new home? Planning a reno? Staying put... but would love to give your living space a creative new look tailored to you?
Then you’ll likely be as happy as I was to learn of this terrific and affordable service.
For the very wise investment of $150 per hour (plus travel time), you can have an interior designer in your home, giving you the benefit of their years of education, training and experience, offering a professional perspective on the direction of the look and feel you want for your living space.
I always thought hiring an interior designer was a luxury reserved, mainly, for the hoity-toity. However, because one of my Facebook friends is Lynn Fenwick, of Fenwick & Company Interior Design, I decided a more in depth look at the biz might not only be fair, but perhaps even save me some time and money.
I was delighted to find out I was wrong about the hoity-toity part, and very pleased to find out that consulting an interior designer can be one of the smartest pre-build/reno/renew steps any home or business owner can take.
As with every aspect of life, effective communication between client and designer is essential.
Fenwick says "designer/client malfunctions come about when the designer doesn’t listen enough, or explain enough.
"The Fenwick philosophy on all of the projects we undertake, is to base the design on your lifestyle, not ours. We encourage all clients to make as thorough an idea or want list as possible for discussion during the early consultation phase, including bringing pictures to the meetings that best show the ideas/needs they have in mind."
Fenwick also recommends that clients bring a list of concerns for discussion at the early meeting(s) so both sides can go into the project as informed as possible, greatly reducing the risk of unwelcome, and sometimes very costly, surprises rearing their ugly heads.
Yes, Fenwick will come to your home for the very reasonable fee of just $150 per hour of expert advice, ($130 for a staff member) which may prevent you from say, spending $1,400 painting an area a colour you realize you hate the moment it’s finished, or perhaps save you from making other disastrous costly errors.
All they ask is that you answer the door fully clothed, unlike a home Lynn arrived at one day to be greeted by a man wearing only a towel.
Meeting postponed, thank you very much.
Interior designers see the true potential a space offers, resulting in achieving the maximum enjoyment and use from it, and sometimes, before the actual work begins, spot a possible change that may result in a more functional and efficient use of either developed or undeveloped areas.
Reversing the direction of the basement stairs prior to completing an unfinished basement radically improved the layout and final product in one of Fenwick’s residential projects.
In another home, converting a solid living room wall to one that is mainly windows brought a lot more natural light into the space, and created a much more open-concept feel to the room. Sometimes, it takes a designer’s eye to step outside the status quo and totally change the feel of a home.
If, perhaps, you’re on the verge of putting your house on the market, that $150 per hour consult (plus travel time) may translate into a much quicker and more lucrative sale.
Interior designers are totally up to speed with the look that is selling at any particular time, the cosmetics needed to achieve that look, including, of course, which colours are in and which aren’t.
For example, I didn’t know that presently, colour is in comeback mode, and that one of those colours, primary category, is Mustard Yellow! Of course it is!!!
Learn more, lots more, at fenwickinteriordesign.ca.
Comments or feedback, love to hear from you at lmustard1948@gmail.com.
