The other day I fell within the frustrating memories of a year ago when my master bath was in an obvious state of disrepair.
Why I wanted to revisit a design problem of the past, I’m not real sure, but I did.
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I remember there was peeling wallpaper, faucets were broken, a shower door didn’t close, three kinds of floor materials were in one small space (vinyl, tile, and carpet – yuck!), and stains from my daughter’s last hair dye experiment were all over the place.
Even my husband was begging me to spend the money needed to bring life back to our bathroom. And, if you knew my husband, you'd know how out of character a request like that is.
Winging It
I had been planning and dreaming about this project for over a year. I would constantly think about it the back of my head, yet I’d never take action on anything. If you’re an interior designer who has to balance your personal projects with those of your clients,, I’m willing to bet you can relate...
While shopping for my clients’ projects, I’d randomly stumble upon products I'd want to use in my own bathroom; but, because these moments were so sporadic, I was never able to bring them together into one cohesive plan I could easily take action on. All my thoughts about what I’d want to buy or do would end up just sitting there in the back of my mind, unbought and undone, constantly leaving my personal project in a scattered state.
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This problem could have been easily solved if I would have simply implemented a defined design plan, much like the ones I use for my client’s projects. Why I wouldn’t do this, I don’t know. It’s as if there was some strange psychological barrier that was stubbornly preventing me from using the structured approach that would give my bathroom what I wanted so badly: some pretty!
Well, I finally got my act together and remodeled my bathroom, and I've been enjoying it ever since. It makes me wish I would have straightened-up and done it a long time ago.
Lesson Learned?
Now I have a new personal project that’s continuously being postponed: My kitchen!
It really needs to be redone, badly. Even my husband is -- yet again -- impatiently tapping his foot with money in hand, ready for me to make that all-important first move. I can’t stress to you enough how this NEVER happens with him.
We've already gone as far as ordering new appliances, yet my tendency to wing it has struck again. No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to completely focus on the project’s design. And, of course, it has to be right, or -- well -- I'm just not going to do it at all.
Focus, Carla . . . Focus!
After years and years of trying to practice what I preach, I still have trouble following my own advice:
Sit down, develop a program, establish your goals, and focus on the design!
Instead, I continue to randomly pick up miscellaneous samples, sketch out ideas when I have a free moment during the weekend, bookmark a link to beautiful floor tile that I’ll ultimately forget about, and -- all in all -- just remain in an unfocused state, further delaying my remodel and my life, and making my husband just a little bit cranky!
Tomorrow...
In another edition of Admired & Analyzed, I’ll be taking a look at interior designer, Athena Calderone’s, spectacular home that she designed herself. It was so remarkable that Elle Decor prominently featured it in their July/August issue. How she was able to juggle the responsibilities of her personal project with all those that come along with the ones she’s working on for her clients, I have yet to figure out.
How do you do it?
If you're an interior designer, how are you able to design for yourself while, at the same time, taking good, quality care of your clients' projects?
Leave your response in the comments section below. I'd love to feature some of your responses later this week, along with credit to the website or social profile of whoever wrote it, so make sure to leave links in your reply!
