New to the Showroom in February

  By: Andrea Schuch


We just received this fabulous Beacon Hill book, Boutique Velvets, with an amazing faux fur in it. It's called Rosario Velvet and it's hand is so soft and luxurious. Made up of 61% viscose, 32% cotton and 7% polyester, it only comes in two colors: Lambswool and Noir shown here. Even though Beacon Hill is calling this a velvet, it is really  more of a faux fur, it could be thought of as a velvet where they left the nap very long. You can find this book in the Beacon Hill book cabinet with a light blue NEW tag on it! Make sure you check it out!



Beacon Hill's Rosario Velvet - Lambswool



Beacon Hill's Rosario Velvet - Noir



Duralee's 36123 - 279 Jungle Green



Duralee's 36122 - 562 Platinum



Another great new book to check out is Duralee's Metallic Collection of Chenilles. The best part of the patterns in this book is that they all exceed 50,000 double rubs in the Cotton Duck Wyzenbeek Method, they should be very durable to stand the test of time. They have several patterns varying from animal print to a traditional damask - all finished off with a metallic sheen. The metallic sheen makes all of these look so magnificent that you just have to touch and feel it's soft texture.

Fabrics from Fabricut's new book
Carnivale, shown in a room setting.
The drapery panels are in fabric Trapeze

There's also this new book from Fabricut which has some amazing satin/silk look fabrics in it. It's called Carnivale. There are a few patterns shown in the photo to the right. Make sure you take a look when you are in the showroom next - it will be on the book wall near Vicki's desk. There are several different types of fabrics in it - ranging from drapery weight to multipurpose to upholstery, even sheers. The sheer that is in the book is great - it's just a solid but it has a wonderful, almost metallic sheen to it. Definately worth the look through the book!



Sarreid's Thin Books Box: 10253



We also received a few accessories in to the showroom like this set of leather books that is actually a box from Sarreid. You may not have seen it since it left the showroom within seconds of being out of it's shipping box.



Sarreid's Parchment Flat Box: 25403S



 There is also this parchement box which  has great details of iron forged trim and closure. It has lovely French caligraphy on the exterior. I was surprised by the weight when I picked it up because it is quite heavy but it comes fully lined with a natural leather parchment paper and ready to use!

Where Did Honeysuckle Come From?

By: Andrea Schuch



2011's color of the year:
Honeysuckle

 




2010's color of the year:
Turquoise

 I'm sure we've all received the emails or seen the promotions stating what the "2011 Color of the Year" is... Is it just me or does it sometimes seem far fetched until maybe October or November of that year when we see so many fabrics and finishes in that color? Pantone has decided that this year's color is Honeysuckle (18-2120) - a lovely pink hue. When "Googling" pink - you'll likely find a montage of the singer Pink's information along with a few purchasable items mixed in. Who know Pink was so in style this year that she has the color of the year? Pink this year, according to Pantone, is replacing 2010's Turquoise of which we did see a lot of. Blue just seems a little bit more soothing than this year's crazy, party color pink. Maybe that's what Pantone is getting at - in 2010 we needed some comfort from the economy and now we just need to get moving! Maybe I'm on to something as Ali from Pantone tells me just another reason for the great pink is to "ward" off the blues.

So where exactly does this color come from? The color of the year is chosen by about 10 professionals in various fields throughout the world. These globe trotters look at hot new artists, upcomning sports events that receive worldwide attention and the country that it is held in, films in production and technology. Maybe it's the sense of spring in the air this week but I am really feeling the honeysuckle vibe - this color is totally cheering me up as I'm writing this so I know they really know how to pick a color! Across the country, honeysuckle has received such an enthusiastic response, I can't wait to see all the great fabrics and finishes that are inspired by it!

I guess after 50 years, Pantone knows what they're talking about. We've already begun to see this color on the red carpet - like Julianne Hough, Hayley Williams of the band Paramore or in Nicki Minaj's lipstick from the Grammys last weekend. We have not seen quite as much incoming for the interiors sector, although it might take a little longer to get it out to the entir country's designers vs. one clothing designer for a red carpet? If you need inspiration for YOUR next client, stop by the memo room where our intern Lauren Kaplan made a Honeysuckle inspired display - it just might tickle you pink!

Living with St. Valentine

By: Andrea Schuch

 This blog posts seems like it should scream love due to its proximity to Valentine’s Day. So I thought we would dig in to exactly what it would be like living in St. Valentine’s era. But first, let’s divulge into exactly who is St. Valentine. This seems much more obscure than I thought. Apparently, according to such sources as Wikipedia and the History Channel, there were several guys in the early AD times all named Valentine, all who were killed for their Christian beliefs. The main Valentine (thought to be beheaded or buried on February 14th, 278 AD, was supposedly jailed for marrying young couples secretly after Roman Emperor Claudius banned marriage for the young. Valentine supposedly fell in love with his jailer’s daughter and wrote her a farewell card (the first Valentine’s Day card?) and signed it ‘from your Valentine.’ Valentine’s Day was officially removed from the Catholic calendar in 1969 due to the lack of information on how many Valentine’s there were or which one was the right one to be celebrating. There are more theories linking the Catholic Church to Valentine’s Day but I think we get the gist of it.

Now, on with the fun stuff! What would St. Valentine have seen during his days?

Crushed madder dye and
yarns produced from it

Mostly likely, fabrics would have been primarily wool due to it having an easier weaving process than cotton, hemp, linen or silk – although these may have been used as well. The main colors of dyes available would have been blue from indigo (see our previous post on how blue dye is made), various reds from Haustellum brandaris or madder and yellow from saffron – clearly many fewer colors than we have today due to synthetic dyes that we have perfected.

An apartment type building
as seen today from this time period

Buildings were primarily made out of stone as shown in this current photo of an apartment building dated back to the third century and picture of the Colosseum from the first century. Stone was readily available, and thus artwork was often crafted out of stone in the form of statues or busts. Artwork generally showcased limited furnishings, focusing on people and still lifes instead. Upholstered furniture was reserved for the wealthy, who often also owned large villas in the countryside along with all the servants to work in them. Homes of the wealthy generally were built out of stone, similar to a brick house today except their would be an atrium in the center and the only windows would be facing the atrium. Glass was used in the window which has paved the way for modern civilization’s use of glass in homes. Romans during this time had murals of still lifes or mythological figures painted on their walls and mosaics unlike the commoner. Although much of what remains of this time period is glassware like this one, stone pieces and metal formed for coins or jewelry 

A typical house layout showing the center atrium.

As for this current Valentine's Day, I'll be picking up some chocolate covered strawberries from my favorite local chocolate shop Morke's Chocolates in Palatine. But - shhhh! Don't tell my husband, just in case they're all gone before I get home!

Sources:

Wikipedia

http://www.localhistories.org/rome.html

http://www.roman-empire.net/society/society.html

Follow Up With Lisa Bonneville of Bonneville Design

Photo credit: Janice Fulman
Courtesy of Bonneville Design

By: Andrea Schuch

  We read the article yesterday that Lisa Bonneville of Bonneville Design had written for the July/August issue of ASID publication ASID Professional Designer in 1997. I have been talking to Lisa this week and wondering, how has this changed her company over the years and what else has she done to improve her business? Lisa now has 30 years under her belt as business owner and is very accomplished in the Boston area, having been inducted into the New England Design Hall of Fame which is reserved for only those who have distinguished themselves in their profession and reached the pinnacle of their career. Lisa’s business is currently 80% residential and 20% commercial due to her focus on designing for safety for in the home. She consults with people who are building retirement homes or remodeling to continue to live in their homes as long as possible. Read on to hear more about Lisa and what she has been up to lately and her new business goals.

AS: In the years since working with this business consultant, what else have you tweaked in regards to your relationship with your clients?

LB: I have, over the years, added more focus to my business. I find that 80% of my business comes from 20% of my clients: big projects and repeat customers. These clients also give the best referrals. I have increased marketing geared towards these clients. I no longer do show houses but do still work with local organizations and museums to support programs that are meaningful to me through displays and lectures centered on creating livable living spaces. It is very easy to work with people on a repeating basis because you have already established a level of trust and good working relationship. My established client base has pulled me through these difficult economic times. Projects are smaller and require more of what my client’s have come to expect from me – turn key service, design and implementation. Residential design is an ongoing process – very few people complete their entire house all at once; but even if they do – it ages just like we do and it needs to be attended to over time. A homeowner establishes a team to maintain their home and that includes their interior designer.

AS: Do you still continue to do follow up surveys? How have they changed in this economy?

LB: My follow up surveys are no longer being conducted as I did originally in this article. It was a strictly written survey. What I do now is nurture my best clients through communication; I have honed my communication skills to where I am more attuned with my clients. I have fostered their deep trust in my professional expertise and personal touch. At the same time, I have continued to communicate with all my clients, business associates and vendors the progression of my business – the awards I have won (like the kitchen design award from Southern Accents Magazine and lifetime achievement in the New England Design Hall of Fame), my induction into the Fellowship of the American Society of Interior Design (ASID), my projects and articles on design have been published with a number of additional periodicals, I have written a book The Safe Home: Designing for Safety in the Home, I lecture and I teach other designers how to design for safety in the home. The continuing education course I teach for ASID is based on my book. Over 30 years, I have made a name for myself in the design community of Boston and that is very fortunate for me. Marketing my firm and my projects to clients and the media is what has resulted in my most successful exposure. For the last two holiday seasons, I gathered up donated materials from the Boston Design Center showrooms and invited the public into my office to make decorations for the troops overseas. They thought this was great and a lot of fun. There are unending relationship building opportunities for things like this.

AS: In this economy, what are you business goals geared towards?

LB: My business goals are centered on working with my clients and helping them achieve their design goals – any size project. I think the mantra for today’s design projects is “I can help you with ANY size project.” People still have design needs in the home even though they aren’t remodeling or building. People still have ongoing projects. For instance, I have one client with a rental property they wanted to remodel before putting it on the "market" so they hired me to walk through, tell them what was needed, design changes, select replacement fixtures, price the work, schedule the contractors and manage the implementation. They knew they could hire me to take care of it from start to finish. That’s very valuable for people who don’t know how to do it or would rather spend their time doing something else. Interior design requires a lot of teamwork, attention to detail and completing it on time and in budget. These are things interior designers do very well. I have always felt that the residential designer is in a very unique position because they are usually the first person in on a project and the last person out so they have a great amount of influence. My goal is mainly communicating to my client’s that I understand that their projects maybe a different size than in the past but they are no less important to me. Other than that, my own desire to serve clients in ways that they might not even know they will benefit from like designing safety in the home inspires me. Most people equate interior design with efficiency and beauty and not necessarily safety. My practice goals center around making environments that preserve good health, reduce the likelihood of injury and providing safety.

AS: What steps are you taking to achieve these goals?

LB: I have always kept my clients up-to-date on what I'm doing through direct mail and email. If I’m doing a lecture about design, I send clients and vendors an invitation and let them know. I let them know where and how I’m progressing, reinforcing the fact that I’m still here – learning and improving and ready and willing to work with them at any time. I’m speaking to the public also, which reinforces their trust and respect in the vitality of my firm. I often hear back from them, thanking me for sending the invitations. I even have vendors attend my lectures and that is heartwarming – a drapery workroom seamstress I have known for over 20 years took time out of her busy schedule to come hear me speak. Achieving goals is simply staying visible, active and vital and making sure my clientele sees me in that way.

AS: What goals have been inspired by client feed back?

LB: All the goals I have are influenced by client’s feedback – maybe not just feedback from my own clients but by things that I read in other articles or about other projects and what is going on in the profession, keeping up with the expectations of current day clients and how the demographics change.

In the article, you will remember that I learned that some of my client’s were made uncomfortable by my billing structure and how and when I charged for what service. Now, I outline the stages of the project and how my services will be invoiced in each stage. I think the repetition of including that in the proposal (which I send out no matter how many times I work with a client because it gives a map of the project goals and deadlines) and the contract. I have not heard of any concerns about how my fees are invoices since then. I worked with a business writer who helped me put these documents together and make them very user friendly. When I invoice my clients, I reference which phase of the project the services pertains to and this actually reinforces the previous documents. I continually invite them to ask me any questions or concerns and never hesitate to talk to me – this is actually written on my proposal. Open communication is very important to me and is what builds trust in our relationship.

Another major element in business today is technology. It's influence has changed so much since I wrote this article 14 years ago. It is primary in everyone’s practice. It is really important to communicate that the expertise and knowledge that an interior designer brings to a project cannot possibly be replaced by the availability of product research on the web. The internet has brought a lot of opportunity for product acquisition but that’s not what a designer is selling. A designer is selling knowledge and expertise in applying finishes, fixtures and furnishings to achieve all the elements of good design – that’s not something you can download from the internet. My clients sometimes become team members with me if they want to surf the web to find items and we look at those items together, much like I would with an associate designer, to see if those items may or may not work as a solution in the space. Engaging in this is activity and encouraging participation is part of getting to know your client. They have hired you to make sure they don’t make mistakes, I often tell them they are part of our team.

AS: What’s up next for you?

LB: I’m evolving into what I’m going to be doing next. I’ve been involved more in studying nature, seeing nature and drawing patterns from nature. I would like to create patterns inspired by nature that can be applied somehow to the betterment of living environments and also focus on all things sustainable and green.
Lisa Bonneville, FASID can be found at http://www.bonnevilledesign.com/

She bases her practice out of Manchester-by-the-sea, MA

What I Learned From My Clients

By: Andrea Schuch


 This week, being the first week of the month, it’s time for another business article. So get out your thinking caps and read on – be sure to think about how you can apply these ideas to your own business as well as come up with some new great ideas! This article is coming out of the archives from an ASID publication Professional Designer - Strategic Mapping, similar to today's Know Your Client. It is a multi part article but the part we are reading today is from designer Lisa C. Bonneville of Bonneville Design in Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA. Tune in tomorrow to hear more from Lisa, including her feedback and new business goals.

What I Learned From My Clients
One Designer’s Experience with Marketing Research
By: Lisa C. Bonneville, ASID

A year and a half ago, I hired a facilitator to help me set forth a strategic plan for my own firm because, after 15 years, I felt a need to do some re-visioning. While I was outlining my strengths and weaknesses, the question came up: “Would my clients agree?” In other words, do my clients see me as I do? Do they know what I do best? Are they the right clients, considering what I do best – am I selling my professional services to the right market? What market is best for my unique skills?

I decided to survey my clients of the past three years – whose projects were still fresh on their minds – and ask them for specific input to determine the answers to my questions. This exercise would confirm my clients’ perceptions of me as well as to help me to understand what actually is important to them.

Answers – and Questions

I worked with my facilitator to establish the answers I wanted and from there we determined what questions to ask and how to ask them. It was very important to make the survey unintimidating and easy to complete and return so the length was limited to one page and the questions were to the point. We included a mix of yes/no, fill in the blank, value rated and open answer questions.

The format of the mailing was very carefully thought out. This piece needed to accomplish three things:

1. To demonstrate to my clients my interest in their satisfaction, their input and their honesty;

2. To reinforce my image as a true professional concerned with my process methods and their total satisfaction; and

3. To thank them for their participation, their friendship and their business.

Three elements became important to include: a brief personalized greeting including a reminder of the project we had recently completed together and an explanation of the purpose of the survey; the survey itself; and a gift that communicated my appreciation for their time in completing it. I wanted this piece to also serve as a public relations piece for my firm so the design and language of the correspondence were of utmost importance.

The survey was designed as a triple-fold, double sided, self-mailer. The questions comprised one full side and the upper third of the back. The remaining two-thirds of the back, where were the two exposed sides when folded for return mailing, included a block of copy for a short version of my firm profile and an block for the mailing label and return address and pre-attached postage stamp.

I wanted to make it attractive to my clients to complete the survey so I included a small “gift.” I know for myself, it I receive the “thank you” before I actually do something to deserve it – I am more inclined to perform as asked (a guilt thing!). So, I cut “details” from photos of my clients’ projects and attached them to business card-size magnets purchased at an office supply store. For those projects in process, I chose photos of the very worst “before” shots to remind the client of the welcome change my services had brought about for them. These magnets were a big hit – even in offices.

I wanted to give them something useful, and, at the same time, favorably remind them of my firm and the work we did together. Since a few of my clients have relocated since our lsat project, these reminders of their previous achievements were especially heartwarming for them.

The mailing was produced entirely in-house. My former education in graphic design and my office assistant’s expertise with the simple graphic options available on our word processing software, WordPerfect, have proven to be very valuable in producing all manner of office mailings and forms.

I mailed a total of 38 surveys and received 17 responses. I was very pleased with this remarkable 44.74% response rate. I learned that 70% of my business comes from referrals, 12% from newspaper advertising, 6% from show house work, 6% from the phone book yellow pages and 6% from my volunteer work in my community.

My clients were honest. I believe this was due, in part, to the “optional” signature requested, but then 14 of the 17 respondents signed their surveys! I learned that although I conduct post-occupancy evaluations at the time of completion of all projects, they were more willing to share more of what they were not completely satisfied with in this survey format. I think this may have been due to the non-threatening, not face-to-face nature of my survey. Also, the advantage of hindsight is invaluable and it takes a little distancing to achieve that.

Lessons Learned

One of the most important lessons learned from my survey was that I need to improve my communication skills. A couple of my clients commented that they experienced some discomfort in asking questions about my fees. Specifically, they were unclear at certain times during the project about how I had estimated and organized my billable time throughout the duration of their projects. They indicated that, at times, they were uncertain whether an unplanned meeting or a consultation that strayed beyond the original project outline would result in additional fees or would be included in what was already agreed upon. This lack of clarity made them feel uncomfortable on these occasions. This was very valuable input and I appreciated their honesty. I immediately took stock in my demeanor, reviewed when, how and how often I discuss my fees with my clients, and revised my communication procedures to create more opportunities for clarification throughout the entire process of a project.

A few clients confided that I gave them too much detail regarding net expenses on services invoices. I had always believed that the client really wanted to know where every dollar went – this is simply not true. As a result of this input, I decided to acquaint each client, at the start of the project, with the detailed records I keep and give them the option of whether or not to see the breakdown of their invoices. I also now consider burying my net costs in my hourly fee when preparing an estimate for my services.

One client informed me that I was overloading her with too many decisions at each meeting. This made me realize that my perception of what was considered efficient use of meeting time did not take into consideration the limits certain clients may have regarding large project presentations (certain clients who hire us because they can’t or choose not to deal with the confusion and details of the process). With each client it is very important to appreciate from the start their unique needs and preferences for process – separate from content. Learning how to work with each client is an acquaired ability which can mean more to the project than being the very best interior designer in town.

I have determined that the value of this survey goes far beyond the first mailing I made last fall. It has become integrated into my design process and will be included in my written follow up contact with each client six months after the completion of each project. It has also become a vehicle through which I can gain ongoing input resulting in ongoing improvement. In addition, I have received wonderful testimonials through some of the written responses that I plan to incorporate into the profile pages of my firm’s presentation packet.

I do plan to send surveys out on an ongoing basis; they will be edited and revised a bit over time as my own services continuum changes, new services are added and others revised for optimum effectiveness. I may also need to design another one for my repeat clients so that I can measure my performance over time. The content and format for this could be designed with the help of these faithful and trusted clients.

Lisa Bonneville, ASID is principal of Bonneville Design in Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA. At the time of print, her design business was about 75% residential and 25% commercial.

For more information on ASID, click here.