Reasons Not To Skip The Designer - Part 4
Michelle had been looking for the better part of a year for her perfect sofa. She’d read literally hundreds of online reviews, and visited several showrooms, determined not to make a bad investment. After relocating with her family to a larger home, it had been a challenging transition, and finally she was able to focus on getting the family room furnished before her in-laws came to visit for the holidays.
Excited to have finally found a sofa that she liked, Michelle placed her order and waited what seemed like an eternity (but was only 4 weeks) for delivery. The day finally arrived, and Michelle had taken off work to receive the delivery, since apparently the company couldn’t give any smaller than an 8 hour time window. It was a small price to pay she thought, until the team brought in her sofa, and she realized the room didn’t look anywhere close to complete. Something was…off.
Concerned, Michelle ran a quick prompt with Chat GPT to try and assess what could be missing, and what to do. Chat GPT responded with a cool rendering that featured tables, accent chairs, a rug, lamps, and window treatments. It even provided a list of suggestions, but with all that she’d endured searching and vetting her perfect sofa, Michelle was a bit burnt out.
Confused but desperate to get her family room looking finished before the holidays, Michelle reached out to a local designer she found online.
The next week, Michelle met with her designer Roxana, who stopped short upon entering the family room.
Oh dear, thought Michelle. What’s wrong?
Quickly, Roxana composed herself, and explained that the sofa was attractive and well built, but not an ideal size and configuration for the space.
Michelle had been worried about that when she’d ordered, but was afraid to overcrowd her family room. She had to admit that the sofa did look a bit small, but that was not anything she could really fix at this point.
“What do you suggest?” Michelle asked.
“I think that with some carefully selected supplemental seating, some tables, a large rug, and accessories, you should be able to work with this sofa,” offered Roxana.
“Oh good,” gushed Michelle. “Can you make some suggestions?”
“Certainly,” replied Roxana. “But you should know that most of the pieces I source have lead times of 12+ weeks. If you need this done by the holidays, you’ll need to source from some lesser quality retailers.”
Hmm. Michelle had taken great pains to avoid bad quality furniture. Now she was in a time crunch, and while she wanted good quality, she really didn’t want to show a half-furnished room to her mother-in-law at Thanksgiving.
“Okay,” Michelle replied hesitantly. “Is there any way we can ensure a good quality level within my timeline?”
“There are some workarounds I’ve used in the past,” explained Roxana. “But they usually either take some additional legwork on my end, or a higher price-point retailer…either way you spend more than you would have with a flexible timeline.”
Michelle and Roxana talked and agreed to source some inexpensive “place holders” for the sake of completing her family room on schedule, but Michelle was irritated that she had spent good money on a piece that was too small, and also now was spending more money on pieces that were going to be of lesser quality. Had she called Roxana a year ago, she could have had a beautifully finished space for the holidays, done at the quality level she expected, without wasting a penny.
The family room turned out nicely, and received many compliments over Thanksgiving, but Michelle could tell that the placeholder pieces would only last a couple years with her large family.
Don’t set yourself up to make poor investments. Call the designer first. Many are intimidated by the idea of a designer, simply because they have no idea what to expect cost-wise. This is why we have introduced a new flat rate all-inclusive furnishings program for families. Check out our Fresh Start Family package and inquire for your home today.
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