How To Impress The Best With Home Furnishings

They say that home is where the heart is, and as an interior design expert I understand that being able to design, decorate and furnish a house so that it is a home for a client is no walk in the park. Everyone has their own taste in home furnishings and wall colour, and despite an expert like myself telling a client that 'rattan is so in right now' until blue in the face, and there is very little that can overcome it. For show homes and photo shoots, blending the perfect lamp seamlessly with the ideal rug is a decadent display of design pomp; the true skill comes in being able to produce a swatch of ideas that will win over even the most design phobic client.

Before starting any job, I ensure that I meet the clients in neutral territory, which gives me an idea of their personality, likes and dislikes without being influenced by any bad taste they might have lurking in their living room. I let them choose the place, and have a little chat about why they chose that location. Often, it is an underlying indicator of the type of style they wished they had. Choosing an old fashioned hotel lounge with chintzy furnishings tells me that the client likes comfort, tradition and solidity. Wood, linen and other natural materials come to mind, with an ornate sense of style.

If a client meets me in a cafe bar with chrome rimmed leather seats, laminate flooring and backlit plastic walls I assume that their taste is highly stylized and that their taste in home furnishings and decor is going to be equally as slick and as clean. Never be fooled into thinking that their preferred style is going to be an indicator of what their home is actually going to be like. In fact, their preferred style is usually the complete opposite of their current abode. The hotel lounge loving client's home is likely to be stark, bare and in need of some depth; whereas the client that meets you in a minimalist environment is likely to be running away from a disorganised hovel, therefore yearning for clarity and organisation. Their lives are likely to be so hectic that they have no time to create the fully functioning environment needed for a sense of homeliness.

The next step is to actually visit the home in question and assess what the client desires against what your instinct tells you they want. Of course, there is a world of difference between creating the perfect bathroom and the ideal family living room. Just reminiscing about the old TV favourite Changing Rooms brings me back with a sharp slap and I am mindful of the mistake of trying to force an outsider's version of someone's taste in their own home. The designers job is to listen to what the client has to say, ask a few key questions then draw up a plan or concept design.

Home furnishings are a key element for setting a theme in any room of the house. Once the preferred style has been chosen, whether it is a dining table and chairs, sofa, chaise longue or stools for a breakfast bar, the rest of the room can be decorated to bring the styles together. Wall colour can be easily changed, curtains and blinds replaced easily, but large items of furniture are generally there for the duration. A new sofa is purchased on average every 20 years by home owners, so the style that is chosen is indicative of a fundamental taste preference that no designer should try and mess with. To do so will only result in an upset client and withheld payment. At the end of the day, agreeing with the client on the home furnishings will give you the creative freedom that most designers would die for.