“Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”  - Lewis Carroll

Welcome back guys! Last week was crazy busy; client presentations, traveling and celebrating my birthday (Yay!), so I missed you guys last week but now I’m back. 😊

You know what’s better than new business? Clients who loved your work so much that they hire you again. The real estate investor that I partnered with for Project Gem Charlotte reached out to me about working with them on a new rehab that they have just outside of Charlotte. Of course, I had to agree and this week we got to work. Yay for repeat clients! Like with Project Gem, I’m taking more of a hands-on approach with this project so that means I get to be involved from inception to completion. I’m excited.

Ultimately, I have two goals with this project: learn from the mistakes made on Project Gem and to have some fun! Let’s get started… Phase 1.

Phase 1: Programming

This is how I begin every project. It looks a little different with my e-design clients, but the end goal is the same; gather as much information as possible. For my e-design projects this phase is comprised of the in-depth client questionnaire and 90-minute video consultation where I ask as many questions as possible to learn about my clients and their vision for their space. For this project, this phase is more immersive so in addition to asking my client questions about their vision, I’m also onsite identifying ways to improve not only the aesthetics but the flow and functionality of the home. Another factor that needs to be considered is that since there isn’t a specific client/end user I need to make sure that my selections will appeal to a broad audience and are consistent with market trends. This is also where I get pictures or videos of the current state of the property and detailed measurements of the space that I can use when planning flow and functionality improvements.

Just from my initial visit and observations I identify small changes that can be made to the kitchen and bathrooms to improve their functionality and appearance. I also recognize that although I want the house to feel modern and fresh once complete, I’ll probably need to incorporate some modern farmhouse/ modern rustic touches to appeal to potential buyers shopping in this area which is just outside of Charlotte’s metropolitan area. Maybe a warm neutral color palette? Who knows, we’ll see where the design takes. Once I discuss these ideas and suggestions with my client, we’ll narrow down the scope and budget of the project so that I don’t get carried away with a design that the market won’t support and most importantly that won’t pay for. (Expensive tastes remember? Ha!)

That’s all for now (can’t give away all of my secrets). I’ll periodically I’ll give you guys updates as this project progresses through the various stages of the design process so stay tuned! Up Next: Conceptual Design.

Check out these before pictures and prepare to be blown away once I’m done working my magic.