The Story of a Room: The Initial Consult

I've been trying to think of a way to give my readers a more in-depth view of how my design process works. Every project is so vastly different that it's hard to pinpoint an exact science or equation that I use every time. Nevertheless there is one thing that is almost guaranteed. With each and every process I face challenges. There are ups and there are downs. In the end it is amazing to see how someone's space can be transformed and it always make the challenging parts worth it. 

In the Fall of 2010 I started helping a client with her Living Room. It took almost a year to finish and the process proved to be a great learning experience for me. Together my client and I started with one idea of how the room should turn out and ended with a very different plan. 

This week I am excited to share that process with you through this week long series, The Story of a Room. Each day I'll take you through a part of the process. Today we are starting with the initial consult and by Friday you'll get to see the finished room! 

When I went out to meet my client for the first time I was pleasantly surprised with the progress she had already made. I felt like saying, "What do you need me for?" I could tell that not only was this client incredibly nice but she also had excellent taste. She had picked out a great deal of pieces on her own. Here is what I had to work with. 

The sofa, chair and ottoman had already been purchased from Lee Industries.  She also fell in love with this lamp and purchased it. The armoire is from Pottery Barn. She also had gotten a couple of pillows in a pretty floral fabric. She was contemplating a coffee table from Alice Lane Home Collection that is pictured below. So when I first came out to see her the room looked something like this:

Not so bad right? The room had fantastic potential and the pieces that she had picked were amazing so I was immediately excited about the prospect of helping her finish up the room. 

When I left her house that day I had a small list of things she needed my help with that included:

So after that initial meeting I was pretty pumped about this project. I knew it was going to be something different from what I'd usually done and I loved what she had picked so far. I had great items to work with. In my mind this room was going to be a piece of cake to put together. But the room had other plans.. 

Stay tuned tomorrow for The Story of a Room: Change of Plans.