Full Interior Design Services

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. Generally, with todays economy, my main jobs seem to be additions to older homes. Most people have decided to stay put and remodel rather than buy large homes. They are putting any money they would spend on a move into the home they already have equity in, which is actually a good idea. Enlarging a home and having new space planning instilled basically creates a new home with all the monetary benefits. I would say that at least 85% of my work has to do with additions for new master bedroom/ baths or kitchens, and bedrooms. The remaining work is taken up by new kitchen and bathrooms needing serious work. A small percentage of my work has to do with renovation work of historically significant homes.

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. Be sure to understand the designer's abilities and compare several designer's work to determine the best fit for you. Everyone should compare, get quotes and know what to expect. Interview, interview interview is the best way to know if a designer is a good fit.

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. Most items are readily visible to clients but if I were a customer, I would really like to know how pricing is determined in all areas of design and build. Not many designers or contractors will give out this information, but just knowing how their pricing stucture is created would be a big help in budgeting or at least knowing what items are the biggest in driving the price of a job.

Q. What questions should a consumer ask to hire the right service professional?

A. What is the full extent of their abilities/ services. Most people don't reaize that the majority of designers can put together a beautiful house remodel, kitchen or bath design but cannot create the necessary documents for permitting and construction or even the basic shop drawings needed for cabinetry. Most can't do any architectural drawings either, so the client soon finds that they have several more people to pay for their remodel. A good designer should be able to handle all design/ build items excluding structural engineering. One stop shopping is always best!

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. I would suggest knowing all the specifications of your home, such as what zone it is located in, the F.A.R. numbers, city ordinances or H.O.A. requirements. Right from the beginning I need to know if we can even DO the work before investing any time into it. There have been times where I have witnessed designers doing work, charging the client their rates and then suddenly finding out that the home is as large as it can be for the zone or for the F.A.R.. This means there was a waste of thousands of dollars and time regarding design work. I personally have had to decline on jobs because the neighborhood H.O.A. limited the size of the house or setback. Before investing any design time on laying out an addition, I had to tell the client we could not even add on. So... before jumping in, check the waters first.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. I am able to do both the creative interior design and conceptual work on a project and then do all the necessary technical drawings necessary to get the job quoted, permitted and built. I am very detailed oriented and my work reflects every aspect of the complete project, where the finished product matches exactly what the design concept is. My clients appreciate my abilities, because they only need to deal with me and their contractor. Many typical interior designers have to hire on other designers to complete the job, such as draftsmen, architects and cabinetry designers. I guess that my work is truly considered "turn-key" and it certainly takes many headaches away from my clients.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. The infinite challenges of making a better space for my clients, whether it is a new kitchen that they love to spend time in or an entire house remodel which they find actually enhances their lifestyle. I love finding solid design solutions that make people actually feel good. I should have been a psycologist!... but then I love being a designer too much.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. The single most asked question I am asked about their project is how I am able to design a project that is what they were envisioning. When I do my first reveal of my concepts, I am blessed with usually nailing the design idea in general on the first try. The way I do this is a technique called "listening"! LOL! People give me so much information beyond just what finishes they want or what style they like etc., just by being friendly humans. They tell me about their families and what they enjoy in life and what food they like etc... just casual conversation. They don't realize that they are giving so many hints of who they are and what lifestyles they lead. With all this wealth of hidden information, I have a solid vision of what my clients would probably like and I run with it. This is my secret.

Q. Do you have a favorite story from your work?

A. One of the first kitchens that I designed was for a lady who grew up in a small town in Mexico. She has been living in San Francisco and Los Gatos most of her life after moving to the U.S.. She wanted a kitchen that reminded her of this unknown small village in Mexico. She was tormented trying to find photos, books, articles etc. to show me ideas of what the kitchen may look like but with no luck. She told me enough about the village that I could almost see it in my mind. I designed the kitchen based on my vision, then I put the drawings into realistic three-dimensional drawings of what the kitchen wouldl look like. The day I showed her, she started crying and said that it was exactly what she was wanting and that I had captured all the colors and textures etc. of her birthplace. There were no changes requested to the design and the kitchen came out beautifully with an explosion of color that I personally was even surprised over. The kitchen was an essence of memories, which I brought to life through my design work. It was the perfect blending of client and designer cooperation. This is what all design work should be like.

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. The majority of work in a project is never actually seen by the client. Designers don't just have design concepts pop out of their grey matter and jump onto their computer screens or drafting tables. There are years of education, learning and experience bringing the ideas and thoughts to light and these are not things that can be shown physically. The printed materials of the job are the tip of the iceberg and about the only real physical connect to a true designers work.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. I was in advertising when I first started working professionally out of college. My boss was friends with the late Mrs. Frank Loyd Wright and we were involved with the Frank Loyd Wright Foundation in Oak Park Illinois. I was so enraptured with Mr. Wrights beautiful designs and architecture that I had to explore this more. I soon got involved in projects for Disneyland, Disneyworld, United Artists, Kellogg's, NASA and even King Abdulaziz University Hospital in Saudi Arabia. I was hooked after that and soon became an architectural interior designer.

Q. Tell us about a recent job you did that you are particularly proud of.

A. I am actually in process on this job; it is a fairly involved project but it is moving ahead nicely. I was asked by a couple who are designers to turn their simple Eichler home into a home that resembled a container home. They are both designers... he designs cars for Volkswagen and Nissan and she has her on line of designer backpacks, laptop cases, messenger bags etc.. Out of all the potential designers, architects etc., I was the only one who came up with a concept that was exactly what they had in mind the first time around. No changes outside of where their garage was to be located were needed. The design converts a simple one story, three bedroom one bath into a two story 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath which resembles a container style home or more so a Henry Hill design. The house is pretty much going to be gutted and rebuilt and will be a beautiful addition to the neighborhood. If anyone is interested in this project, I would be glad to send a .pdf of the drawings and photos.

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

A. I have to do some occasional education but mainly in just keeping up with building codes, such as the new Title 24 items. I work seven days a week practically on all types of jobs and actually get more and better information working with all the contractors, custom builders, engineers and the occasional architects. This doesn't even include all the city agencies such as the planning and building departments, architectural reviews, inspectors and others. I typically have all the latest information out there running like a stream across my desk daily, so I may be more up to date than professors in the same fields. I believe actually working in the trade is more informative than sitting in a classroom. This may not sound too good, but things change daily and I don't believe that educational materials can keep up with that pace.

Q. What are the latest developments in your field? Are there any exciting things coming in the next few years or decade that will change your line of business?

A. Technology. I envision our abilities as designers to work virtually around the world is coming soon. We won't have to physically be at a location to be a designer for someone. With instant video abilities and cameras which show spaces in real time with laser accurate dimensions and even convert this info into an accurate CAD drawing for us, we soon will be able to design for people we may never even meet in person. In my opinion, there will grow an exciting movement of designers expanding their businesses.

Q. Describe your most recent project, what it involved, how much it cost, and how long it took.

A. I did an upstairs remodel of a private residence. It included new space planning, adding twin bathrooms for the son and daughter, remodel of the master bedroom/ bathroom, addition of an upstairs laundry closet and the addition of a front porch to front entry, new roofing, new flooring and miscellaneous items such as custom storage cabinets. Design work took about four months, the construction took about nine months and the final cost was about $290,000 in total.

Q. If you have a complicated pricing system for your service, please give all the details here.

A. My pricing system used to be very complex, taking so much time to explain to my clients. It always seemed sort of scary to them not knowing what category certain items fell into for cost. For my budget minded clients, it was a real headache, so I have made it simple and now charge a flat hourly fee and give specific time/hours on my quotes. Occasionally on the larger jobs, I have to go to the more complex pricing since it actually saves my clients money in the long run.

Q. If you were advising someone who wanted to get into your profession, what would you suggest?

A. Specialize and become good at one aspect of design which will set you apart from all the other designer wannabes out there. Anyone can envision a beautiful space and draw up the floor plan, but can they create the perfectly proportioned, useable space that a family really needs? I specialize in space planning and pride myself on finding the perfect layout even in the smallest spaces, so I am hired by companies all over northern california as a sub contracted designer just to ensure their project is viable. My specialty of space planning has given me the edge of many many designers in my own business and this has led to many referral jobs.

Q. What is your greatest strength?

A. I am often hired just for my ability to solve tough design and build issues and creating the best space plans to utilize square footage while keeping the design vision intact. I have proven myself many times in finding just the right layout and now I am even hired on occasion by my competitors on larger jobs to ensure that their projects are built to the best parameters possible.

Q. What are you currently working on improving?

A. I am presently involved with several projects. They include a complete home renovation in Los Altos, with the addition of a master suite, a total two story house reconfiguration and addition of a master bath on the second story and kitchen remodel on Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz. a house remodel with new kitchen, hall bath and master bath in Willow Glen and finally the design and build of custom cabinetry and antique style desk.