FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
I often am asked about my projects: How do I work & who are my clients? Here’s a helpful way to break down all the details.
Question 1: How does this work? I’ve never worked with a designer before.
Answer: If you have a space in your home that you really want to invest in and have a well thought out plan using textiles and sources that you may not have access to on your own, it’s great to have a professional in your corner to build a plan & give you ideas of things you wouldn’t be able to come up with on your own. In my opinion, you hire a designer because you love their style & trust them to put together a plan that you couldn’t do without their ideas, resources and network of talented professionals to execute their vision. My best clients are the ones that love interior design & have an appreciation for a lovely finished space but either don’t have the time or the interest to do the legwork on their own and are happy to hand it off to someone who does.
Question 2: How do you charge for your work? And do you have minimums?
Answer: Every designer is different and I am no exception. As a one person operation without an outside studio, I have low overhead so I charge hourly for design work & execution & on the sourcing of the items that I procure for you. As for a project minimum, I prefer to start with one full room design and from there can do the “bits and pieces” needed for other rooms but I’m not a “bits and pieces” type of designer. If you have at least one room that needs a complete overhaul or one empty space that needs a from scratch plan, that’s where I like to start.
Question 3: Can you work within my budget?
Answer: This can be tricky and is often an education process. There are rough formulas for how much each type of space costs to furnish from start to completion. The design fees tend to escalate when people are indecisive and want to see lots of options or change their minds often & start over. I try to be as honest and transparent as possible from the very beginning. But sometimes there are budgets that are not realistic and I do my best to manage expectations. Who doesn’t want a gourmet dinner for the cost of a hot dog? Often times you end up compromising or scaling back in order to remain true to your budget. A mix of high & low is always a great idea even when working with larger scale budgets. We do a lot of reupholstering of existing pieces - they’re great cost savers and perfect vehicles to add fun fabric to!
Question 4: How involved do you want me to be?
Answer: The best projects end up being the ones where I’m given some good information at the beginning about what you like but then you trust me to build your plan. It’s always tough when people are too hands on & ordering swatches and looking for things on their own. But if you like my style and trust me to create a beautiful space that works with your budget, it ends up being a lovely process.
Question 5: What are your references & credentials?
Answer: I do not have an interior design degree. I majored in Political Science and International Relations at Syracuse & completed half of a Suffolk University MBA before taking some time off when my children were born. When my youngest was in PreK, I jumped in & started “Farmhouse Fresh Interiors” in 2015. I’ve been plugging along on my own for 10 years but have also done some side gigs to gain more experience. I’ve worked for an antique renovation company in Norwell as a Project Manager. I worked on the first design team in Boston for Serena & Lily, gaining lots of insight into how furnishings are made & sourced. I briefly joined a very talented team as a full time designer with lots of travel & large scale projects and realized I couldn’t keep up that kind of pace at the stage of life that I’m in. I’ve done recent consulting for a design/build firm in Hingham helping with kitchen & bathroom design plans. I have 10 years of hands on experience working for families on the South Shore primarily but with some north of Boston & Metrowest clients sprinkled in. I love getting off the South Shore!
Question 6: What is your style of design? What are you known for?
Answer: This might be my favorite thing that I’m asked about. I’m really known for my passion of using lots of textiles - fabrics and wallpapers layered in. I tend to go simple & classic on the furniture and try my best to get the bigger staple pieces at a reasonable price so that an important part of your budget can go to the fun stuff - the pretty fabrics and wallpapers. I tend to shy away from projects where the homeowner has no interest in incorporating textiles but if you have an appreciation for that and feel like it will help add lots of charm, character and coziness to your space, we might be a great fit!
Question 7: Can you give me an example of a recent project that has gone really well?
Answer: I have spent the past 6 months working on a project in Duxbury for a family of four that moved from the city into a new home that needed some renovation and all new furnishings. Their house in the city was much smaller & they weren’t planning on moving much furniture with them from the old house. The new house was dated and not their style and it needed an overall design overhaul. My clients gave me some colors and although neither is on social media, there was one designer that they were a fan of & understanding that helped me get started. We worked on an overall furniture plan for the entire downstairs, a new Kitchen & Powder Room plan, lighting throughout, paint colors and flooring. From the very beginning, we were incorporating lots of fabric swatches, some wallpaper, rugs - but making sure everything flowed & felt cohesive together. We added custom window treatments for their Family Room & Living Room along with their Powder Room & Mudroom. And lots of custom upholstery to really warm things up.
Question 8: I don’t think I’m ready for a designer. What is some good advice you can give me?
Answer: One of the main rules that I try to follow is don’t order a single thing until you have a full plan in place! Think it all through, have a mood board so you can see how all the pieces work together & make lots of changes along the way. And pick out things that make you really happy!