People hire a Designer because they feel they need help. They are tackling a project to do with their personal living spaces and are unsure of something about it. It may be as simple a thing as that they don’t have access to the resources they need; so sometimes, in fact, the Clients knows exactly what they want. This is about the only time a Designer is an order taker. It is a very rare occurrence.

This picture is part of a portfolio of window treatments Ms. SpoolTeacher assisted her Client with throughout their entire home.

This one treatment represents many many questions the client had to answer before proceeding, for this window alone:

1. Do you want to completely block the view or just obscure it or both? (light-filtering/room-darkening)
2. Will the thermal value play a factor? (heat/cold transference)
3. Do you want it to traverse or will it be stationary?
4. Which way should it move on the rod? Is the door opening used?

Those are functional questions. Then come the aesthetic issues:

1. Casual, elegant, modern, vintage, historic?
2. Vertical or horizontal emphasis?
3. Decorative rods or a top treatment or neither/both?
4. To the ceiling, above the opening? Wall to wall? Stack off the wall?

This client chose a top treatment over traversing semi-opaque sheers. Then the question is, “Do you want the swags to all stack over each other one way or the other or ….

The questions go on and on.

The love of all things fabric, sewing and interior spaces drove Ms. SpoolTeacher into the world of window fashions.

There are many questions the Designer doesn’t even ask the client or share with them unless the client asks. Before the Designer brings in sample books to show the client she will already have summed up the clients best interests and which fabrics will behave the best in that particular design. It isn’t an exact science but there is a need for transparency  (openness, communication, and accountability)  from both the Designer and  the Client.

Understanding the nature of fabrics is learned over time and by handling them and using them.

A client must develop a trust with the Designer to believe that such disparate choices of fabrics will end up looking exceptional overall. To see them all as individual swatches in a book full of other choices; at some point, the Client must just believe in the Designer.

This particular Client had a great sense of what she wanted. The Designer was more of a Director; but the trick was to read the Client’s mind and then find all of those elements from among hundreds and thousands of choices.

Ms. SpoolTeacher in a class, learning her trade. (just a few short years ago!)

And a lot of fun they all had. The girl third from the left was the highest achiever later, but she said almost nothing in the class, she giggled demurely at everything and charmed us all.

We all had a great time as intense as the learning was.