After Frank and I moved to Colorado we lived at an apartment complex named ‘The Sugarcube’ – it was as sweet as the name. I lived here for almost three years before I found the perfect home. That is where my townhouse comes in. The home was beautiful but had been very much let go (though still livable). There were three connected homes and at the time only 1 had been purchased. The townhomes were massive with over 7000 sq ft ( 650 sq mt.) of living space on six floors with a garage and garage apartment. The house also had an elevator which was needed as we had an older dog. The elevator helped get all the dogs around the home actually. It turned out to be their way of saying “its bed time!” lol. The dogs would walk in the elevator and wait for us.
When Frank and I purchased the home, I knew I would have work to do but did not plan to start anytime soon. After about 6 months of living in the townhome I was planning to leave and drive to the mountains for a weekend stay with my dogs. I had a showing come up last minute, as I was a real estate agent, so I left my dogs at home, completed the showing, then came back to pick the dogs up. As I was getting my dogs I heard water running and couldn’t figure out what I had left on. Then I see it… Water pouring out of light sockets and electrical switches. Water building up over my perfect hardwood floors and you could visually see them start to buckle. This still haunts me to this day. I was panicked and texting my husband as he was in a plane on his way home. Honestly, looking back, I should have just grabbed the dogs and walked out of the home to return after the vacation. Financially (for insurance purposes) it would have been a better decision. But no…of course I spent the next 20 minutes trying to find a water shutoff valve for the home as a pipe had burst on the 4th floor destroying everything underneath.
Skip forward over the next few weeks and a long hotel stay at the 4 Seasons in Denver, (yes I know – woo is me) we have to move back in to the home as our insurance, though it did cover the damage, did not cover us moving out of the property as it was still considered livable. This is why I should have walked away. The kitchen and electrical were still functioning. I could not even believe I had to deal with that response… but we did have to move back in. Over the next year and a half battling contractors, sub contractors, insurance companies, even neighbors (yes a lot of the neighbors were shitty people)… We finally got the home back to a place to start designing. By this point I was exhausted by the place. I even tried to get my husband to leave it and go back to the apartment. I was done with this house, hatred had truly taken over. I wanted some help so that I could focus on my other projects and find some joy again. This is how I ended up hiring my first interior designer.
I remember working with her vividly. I hired this person because I had to make a quick decision on restoring the homes finishes. I had too many other projects going and trying to work. She apparently came up with a plan, though it was in her mind and I couldn’t read it. The designer did take me to a few stores to see some options but they were very limited and more towards decorative items. In one of those stores, I of course, found a piece that I liked. That piece was an antique rug in a store named Matt Cameron. They had (at the time) a one hundred and ten (110) year old afghan rug that was oddly long and narrow. Just like our living room. I snapped a picture and took it back to my place to envision it in the space. Then we had the rug brought in for a test in the space. As it was being placed we get the price that includes our “designers discount” and I am thinking “we are certainly sending this back. No fucking way are we buying this” … but it’s in my head. I do not say this out loud. I am literally dying at this point and want to return it, but no… my husband loves it and he confirms we will purchase. The rug still has to go back to the store as the home is not ready for decorative items. I think to myself “I have time to talk him out of this“. We do not live in a museum, though the idea is nice, it does not really fit our life. It is just not practical. As for this rug, literally nothing in my home is more expensive than this rug. nothing. Not even my jewelry. I quickly received a glimpse of what this project was turning into as my husband spent our entire planned decorating budget on one piece… and it was going to sit on the living room floor!
Now it is time for the paint colors. We had to choose tile for the basement, wood floor colors, and even fabrics before placing decorative items. It took about a month for all of this to occur. During the process of choosing the paint color the designer was at the house with her assistant and we were having a meeting. This is when she asked “Can you handle all your other projects outside and let me make these decisions quickly” – I gave an emphatic ‘NO!’ (like bitch – are you even serious right now…). Apparently she was and so was I. I hired her to help make decisions not to be the sole decision maker. A designer is there to help ‘you’ process through design decisions. To give ideas of what to do. This helps the homeowner think about and visually see what the plan is. This step is needed to approve or deny items so the owner can decide how they want their home.
As someone passionate about design myself, she needed to show me what her plan was. Give me some idea on what she was trying to achieve that fits my lifestyle. The only thing I ended up with was that she hated my living room couch and wanted to throw it out. lol. I loved my couch so that was not going to happen. After the rug disaster, the problems with the paint colors and then not understanding my style and the way I lived life… I realized that even though she had amazing taste and style – because you would NEVER hire a designer that had bad style – this working relationship would cause more headaches for me than I had time for. She was not grasping my style or the way we lived. She was not assisting with helping me make the decision – she wanted to make my decision for me and without my approval.
The meeting over my paint and couch was the last week we worked together. I also ended up losing the battle on the rug. Though I did not fight that hard, as it was perfect for my space. It is rare to find perfection for an odd shaped room without having the item custom made. After the floors were put in and walls painted we had the rug brought back into the home.
Moving forward there can only be one vision and finale say in my homes… it will always belong to me. Every now and then I will let my husband chime in but only when it comes to the kitchen. He is the chef and if I want to eat (and I like to eat) I must not battle him on his turf. Now, I may sneak a bit of my layout and color choices in to his plans and hope he thinks they are his idea by the time a decision must be made.. haha
When you hire a designer learn from my mistakes. Hire someone that understands what lifestyle you live. They should know how your space is going to be used for special occasions and on a day to day basis. The designer should present ideas to you, for your approval. Not force decisions on you. Take their advice as they are, in general, the expert on design. But, do not ever let someone make a final decision in your home and you not be at least made aware of and ‘OK’ that decision. We may have lived in a nice home but you can have a beautiful home and well laid out design without spending a fortune and living in a museum. There was no reason to have a rug like this and I let the designer take my vision of a comfortable home and try to turn it into a museum. Now that rug is being used as my dogs daybed…
Our museum rug with its highest and best use.
Follow @AlmostAlbinoOlive on instagram for more dog pics.
Needless to say, I probably will not ever hire a designer for myself again. Next time I will just hirer an assistant. Though if you need design assistance and do not want to live in a museum, make sure to direct message us on Instagram at Scatena Creativita. We would be happy to assist.
Ciao tutti!