Buying furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E) always involves difficult choices - and the first one is choosing the right designer. But exactly how do you know which design professional is right for your project?

I wish to offer some words of advice to those seeking to gain insight from my perspective as a Design Professional. Obviously, fee is important, but I want to concentrate on the untouchable which deserve a fair degree of subjectivity as follow:

1. Experience. The ability to design to a construction budget but delivers a product that is value added.
2. The level of innovation and creativity the design professionals bring to the project.
3. Personality: The degree of communication (verbal and written) skills that the team brings to the project.
4. The Process: Finally, the ability to deliver a quality oriented project within the schedule target.

1. Experience: Always remember that the initial cost of design and construction often are minor percentages of a project lifetime and often contribute to making the follow-up costs more efficient both from a capital as well as timeline perspective. Make it a major point to look at the project history of the firm in determining the ability to seek value oriented design prior to selection. Consider a designer who has done projects similar to yours - in size and scope as well as in brand and target audience. For example, familiarity with brand requirements and procedures will greatly facilitate the submission of your plans and paperwork, especially the process of making changes and compromises. While interior designers are familiar with fabrics, colors, lighting, and textures - the skills that are needed for "decorating" - they must also know about a wide variety of structural elements such as architecture, building codes, fire codes, plus electrical and HVAC systems. They're part artist and part engineer.

2. Innovation and creativity have unnecessarily become victims of standard detailing and traditional project design thinking, primarily due to the speed of project delivery/time to market conditions. What the client loses in this scenario is the impact of a project long term with respect to operating costs, minor and major change management over time and in some cases, their own ability to gain competitiveness in the marketplace where they compete. I have seen hundreds of systems designed in such a way as to be very ordinary instead of extraordinary. As a client, make it your business to select those firms which make extraordinary solutions their central work solution while integrating these creative alternatives within an efficient delivery process.Here is a shortcut guide to evaluating your designer methodologies which will ensure you pick the perfect fit for your next project

3. Personality, the ability of communication or written documentation: To properly define the process is critical to a successful outcome. Carefully research through references the ability of your preferred design team personnel’s background in their communication and presentation techniques

You're going to partner with your interior designer on an almost daily basis over a period of many months in making hundreds of decisions and thousands of dollars in purchases, so it's important that you can work closely and effectively together.

You want a designer that is firm yet flexible -- firm on issues such as accountability, responsiveness, attention to detail, and meeting bottom-line results, yet flexible on such issues as the ability to collaborate, to handle changing deadlines and priorities, and to go "the extra mile."

At the heart of this successful relationship is communication that is complete, candid, and continuous. While the communication must be two-way, it begins with an owner sharing three vital pieces of information: his or her (1) vision, (2) budget, and (3) expectations.

4. Design Process “A” teams from any size firm tend to be similar in capabilities so it is important to dig deep into references who have worked with the individuals to evaluate varying skills including designing optimally to budget and schedule compliance. Carefully assess a firm’s design quality management approach as well to assure a final constructed result. The discussion of expectations should be about more than just the physical results of the project - it should be about the design process, namely, what you expect the designer to provide to you, when, and in what format. By agreeing on procedures and on timelines - in other words, by managing expectations - the owner and the designer will eliminate stress and reduce miscommunication.

Mary works for  CAS (Comelite Architecture, Structure and Interior Design)

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