It Takes a Village: A Designer’s Toolkit of Experts, Partners, and Teammates

 

In my experience, there’s a common misconception that interior designers spend their days choosing pretty colors and patterns, testing out couches, then calling it a day. In some ways, I don’t mind the misconception — we make our jobs look easy, and it’s a great success to not let clients see the chaos beauty beneath the surface. But on the other hand, there’s a lot that goes into each and every project we take on, and there are countless partners, creators, craftspeople, and artisans that are involved in bringing dream spaces to life. Today, I’m shedding light on “the village” and the many moving parts, essentially laying out why hiring a designer is an invaluable investment.

 

 

The Many Pieces of a Project

When you step into a beautiful home, you might notice the furnishings first. It goes without saying that the pieces in a room have a huge impact on how you experience the space, but what about the elements that blur into the background? Elements like tile selections, art curation, space plans, window treatments, lighting plans, plumbing updates, landscape architecture, and even weatherproofing are all pieces of the puzzle. The measuring and re-measuring alone could be a full-time job! Thankfully for you, though, you CAN forget about those things… Because I never will.

 

 

Now, Let’s Talk About Everyone Involved…

My team and I are experts at analyzing a space to decide how to best utilize it and make it shine. We love to reimagine sitting areas as music rooms, to add a unique texture to an unexpected wall, and to add elements and touches that make clients go, “I would have never thought of that!” As multitalented as we are, though, we are not contractors, developers, electricians, plumbers, or landscapers. A major part of the project is to know the right people to tap to work their own magic, then to keep everyone informed and happy. This is how we get a finished project to look so cohesive!

We are so lucky to have some of the best partnerships and people in our corner here at AKD. We have cultivated relationships with painters, millworkers, stone fabricators, custom furniture makers, drapery workrooms, tile installers, ironworkers, wallpaper installers, and roofers, and the list goes on and on. We value and respect every partnership and appreciate their beautiful and hard work (they truly make us look good in front of our clients). Our relationships and connections are truly everything to us, and I feel blessed to work with some of the very best in the biz.

 

 

Designers: Project Managers With Really Good Taste

So how do we keep all those parts moving and wheels turning? With a lot of hard work, obsessive lists and spreadsheets, and foolproof processes we’ve spent years developing.

The project management side is very time-consuming, but it’s so crucial to the outcome of the project. We take this on for the clients to make sure everything runs smoothly — it’s one of the many benefits of working with a designer, and that’s not something we take lightly. In short, we know how to speak the language of design and craftsmanship with all the above partners, and we’re constantly learning from them to make each decision and next step a seamless part of the process.

 

 

And Finally… An Ode to the Home Team

I’m not exaggerating when I say that my amazing team, the most valuable asset of AKD, runs this company. My job is to make sure that our team knows how invaluable they are to AKD, so it’s crucial for me to have open dialogue, share wins together, and listen to their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. Every single member of our (growing!) team is a leader in their position, and none of us is too big or small to listen to feedback. Without them, AKD wouldn’t be what it is today, and for that, I’m forever grateful.

Now let’s go make some more magic!