The Glamour of Interior Design

I think it's sort of a common stereotype that the job of a decorator or interior designer is a glamorous one:  Meeting with clients in beautiful homes, looking at pretty fabrics & swatches & tiles in a perfectly organized office, Shopping all the time, presenting beautiful design plans, networking at parties, doing magazine shoots, creating inspiration boards, showhouses...  all of that.

{Doesn't my office just look lovely?!...  This is the office made to look pretty for our Piccola Magazine photoshoot.  Photo by Maya Wechsler}

Well, yes, these things do happen, but they are done between the many days & hours spent doing paperwork, billing, emails, FILING, driving from showroom to showroom in search of a parking place, running out the door like a crazy person, meeting deadlines, backordered items, talking on the phone to try to get damaged items repaired or making returns, coordinating shipping & delivery, chasing down & coordinating contractors, creating quotes and preparing budgets, trying to fit waaaay too much stuff in your car, making timelines, scheduling meetings & jobs, and generally just always needing to do more than you could possibly do in one day.

{The carting tons of stuff around part}

Lots of days, I wear my "work sweats."  (This is my fancy term for sweats... I always say that in a Nacho Libre voice:  "I need some sweats!")  I've told my assistant that she too can wear work sweats, but she rarely takes me up on it.  (So I'm guessing maybe this is not as normal as I wish it was...  A client stopped by a couple of weeks ago unannounced & I definitely regretted my choice of work sweats & no makeup that day.) 

{Nacho/ me on the work-from-home days}

I always feel a bit like I'm the only one who has it this unglamorous, but in talking to friends in the business, I don't think I am.  (I do think I take the glamour down a few notches more with the work sweats though ;) 

I'm always analyzing my business & how we can get things to run more smoothly, make the experience better for our clients and for us, and to make the most of our time.  I'd love to find more ways for my assistant & I to spend more time doing the fun stuff and less time doing the business side of it, but the unglam stuff is typically even more important than the fun, creative part in this business and only having the one side of it just isn't reality. 

I recently just found some new interior design project management software & I think it's going to cut out a lot of our "business" time. I'm so excited but want to wait to share with you until I can be sure. (I'm doing a free trial right now & will keep you posted.)


So I'd love to know- If you have your own business (any business)- How do you maximize the creative part of the process and reduce the drudgery?  Got any tips?  Programs? Systems?  Schedules?  Would love to know!  If we get enough comments, I'll be sure to compile them all together in a post later on in the week.  Thanks!! 




If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.