Are you arguing with your designer?

If you are, don’t be surprised—the two of you bring very different mindsets to any design discussion.

Designers have spent a lot of time thinking about design (no surprise there).  Even if you’ve been trying to figure out what do with your home’s look for a very long time, it’s almost definite that any designer you’re working with has still spent more time considering design opportunities and issues than you have.

All that considering means that they’ve developed the skill set to notice conditions that are lost on you.  They  know about 10 different shades of white you could use on the moulding at the top of your walls that are absolutely indistinguishable one-from-another to you, and they can identify each from tiny chips yards away.  They can match those same whites at the home supply store without a swatch.  They’ve learned to really, really look at colour in ways you have just not had to.  And colour is only part of what they’ve been thinking about.

Designers have also been trained to know how things are supposed to look and to notice other differences.  They will know if a mitred corner has all its bits coming together at the right angles and if a metal finish is right.

While you’ve been learning to be a tax accountant or a lawyer or a teacher or something else, designers have been learning how to design and how to carefully look at the designed world.

What can seem OK to you, may not to them, because you have not been trained to notice what they have—they, in short, have different standards than you do—so it is likely time for a truce.

Did you know we do consultations too? For your home and workplace. Space Doctor, Dr Sally Augustin is a leading environmental psychologist who consults for people just like you, families, large corporates, small businesses, research institutes and more. If you’re looking to improve your space, drop us a line or book your consultation with us online here.