Page 9 – Claire Jefford

Finding the Right Business Coach

No matter how long you’ve been an interior designer or interior decorator, it’s likely that at some point throughout your career you will think about hiring a coach to get your business to the next level.

You’ve probably noticed that there are so many coaches out there now which means taking the time and careful consideration to find the right business coach is more crucial than ever before.

Let me help with some of the overwhelm as I share 4 of the most important things to consider when looking to hire a business coach.

I myself am a business coach, but I may not be the right one for you and that’s ok!

There are lots of important considerations before you make this investment in your interior design business. To see what you need to know before you splash out, watch the video!

What should you be looking for when trying to find the right business coach?

Think about this process in a similar way to how a homeowner would search for the best interior design professional to hire.

4 Steps for Finding the Right Business Coach

1. Figure out your needs

It will be difficult to find the right coach if you don’t know what you want to achieve by hiring one.

You need to know where you are struggling the most. What areas of your business are causing you the most stress? What tasks do you put off and enjoy the least? The answers to these questions will help you to determine what you need help with most.

Go through your biggest pain points, these could be anything from how to get clients, understanding your processes – if you even have any!! -, to what services should you offer, and then see which coach will meet those needs the best.

2. Do your research

You wouldn’t expect a homeowner to hire the first interior designer they stumbled across. And you should not hire a coach either, without properly vetting them first.

You need to find a coach that resonates with you, someone who inspires you and will help you achieve your goals.

Doing your due diligence and finding a coach who has similar values and runs their business in a way that emulates how you want to run yours, will be a much better fit.

https://clairejefford.com/services-and-pricing/

Here are the main design services that I offer in my business. The FREE download with walk through video will give you an idea if I could be the right coach for you.

3. Find a coach in the industry

While researching you should focus on coaches who are themselves interior designers or decorators or have been at some stage of their career.

You need someone who understands this industry and all of its’ (crazy) nuances. It is a complicated business and my advice is to hire someone who is there in the trenches with you, who will be able to offer you concrete ideas and guidance on how to best navigate through your struggles that you identified in step 1.

Even coaches hire coaches! Yes, I hired Amy Landino to assist me in getting my Coaching business up and running.

Amy is a big YouTuber and she’s all about ‘Going After the Life You Want’. That really resonated with me, plus she had experience in running a private Facebook group which I also wanted to implement in my Coaching business.

Join my FREE FB group of more than 5000 members

Having her insights and experience to guide me was invaluable and well worth the investment. To have someone who is credible that you can have by your side as an accountability partner helps to get you where you want to go and FASTER than if you were doing it all on your own.

4. Investment amount

Hiring a coach is an important investment you will be making in your business. Just how much you are able or willing to invest is something you need to consider when deciding who is the best business coach for you to hire.

Are you looking for ongoing personal coaching or a one- off 1-on-1 video coaching session to get you on the right track?

I call this a ‘Pick My Brain’ video coaching call session.

There’s also a group membership style of coaching to contemplate. This is typically more of an ongoing type of coaching or specified amount of time where you are with other interior designers. It can be more cost effective than one on one coaching with the costs spread out over a longer length of time.

I don’t believe there is ever a time when we can’t be learning, expanding, and building up our business.

Remember, if you are considering hiring a business coach, maybe we are well suited to work together? Learn more here about my one-off, 90-minute zoom coaching calls.

If you want to better understand how I can help, I offer a free 15-minute Discovery Call so that we can see how best to proceed. And while I do offer ongoing coaching, it’s not something I typically advertise.

If you want an accountability partner and longer-term coaching to achieve your business goals, email us to inquire: info@clairejefford.com

Providing extremely valuable and helpful coaching advice is a top priority to me. See what other designers have to say about their experience in working with me as their business coach.

Ready to take your business up a level? Hire me for a coaching session!

Pin for Easy Reference!

How to Organize Client Folders

Today I am sharing How to Organize Client Folders.

Yes, that’s right, the old-fashioned, hold in your hand, physical folders.

Perhaps you have everything stored digitally and think I’m very old – I mean, ‘old school’. 😉

Well, I am a little ‘old school’. I still love something tangible that I can touch and carry with me. I know many of you feel the same way too.

In addition to physical folders, we use online programs to store and organize different aspects of our interior design client project files. This way, my entire team can easily access everything as needed.

In this video, I show you exactly how I organize a client’s folder and what goes in them.

How to Organize Client Folders

I want to go through my interior design client folders with you and share how we organize them. We have different files within the main file folder and I will explain what I keep in each of those.

To Start:

We start with the main file folder. The ones that we use I’ve had forever. Sadly the original style folders I loved so much are no longer available!

The folder with a sleeve and a pocket has worked beautifully for organizing our interior design project files for years. Within the main folder, I have 4 colour-coded individual pockets that I slot into the sleeve side.

In the pocket side I keep all my samples for that project such as fabric swatches, wallpaper samples, paint chips, etc.

I use coloured Project Pockets similar to these to keep my client documents separate and organized.

Each Colour Project Pocket has a purpose:

Project Pocket #1

The first project pocket contains product specifications.

This includes any relevant product information for the interior design project such as materials or furnishings. Along with those specs are any quotes we have received from fabulous trades we work with regularly, such as our contractor, cabinet maker, drapery workroom, wallpaper installer, etc.

If we do 3D Design Plans for a project or any mood boards, the printed copies will also go within this folder.

Project Pocket #2

Next comes a pocket for any measurements and drawings. This can include the floor plans done on graph paper, original house plans a client may have given us that they have from the builder, any CAD drawings, elevation documents and 3D renderings.

Project Pocket #3

Pocket 3 is for keeping all our client information neatly organized. We add our completed Discovery Call form and New Client Checklist that you can find in my ROCK the Initial Consultation Processes Package to this folder. We also add any important correspondence such as emails that we think are necessary to have easily at hand, as well as a copy of the signed contract.

Example of our colour coded project ‘pocket’ folders

Project Pocket #4

This is the green one so it makes sense to house all of the invoices we’ve issued to the clients in this folder.

Project Pocket #5

Here’s where we change it up a bit. The final of the project pockets is not kept in the main client folder. This last pocket is kept separate as it contains our invoices from vendors, suppliers, and the trades for items or services that we paid for on the client’s behalf for the project.

As this is confidential and not shared with our clients, we always keep this information in our interior design studio.

On the Pocket side I put:

In my current folder, there is a large clear plastic pocket that has a flap so that everything can stay nicely contained. It’s an ideal spot for storing fabric swatches, plus samples of perhaps flooring, tile, and maybe even a countertop piece or two.

Depending on the size of the project this built-in pocket may not be nearly big enough to hold everything you need.

In this case, we use a larger tray or container. You may even need multiples of these, depending on the size of the project and how many different rooms you are doing within a home. For a commercial project, I imagine you would need a larger-sized container.

I also have an acrylic JF Fabrics tray that we sometimes use for samples

There’s nothing I like more than being super organized in my business!

What do you do to stay organized in your interior design business? Do you use only digital storage for each client project or are you more like me, a bit old school with file folders as well?

Pin for Easy Reference!

Forget Discounts, Focus on Value

Anyone else tired of hearing references to ‘designer discounts’ and people worrying about how to be more ‘transparent’ with clients about the costs of furnishings?

Running a profitable business means making money on the items you sell. Period.

In this industry, why do so many people feel the need to overshare this information with their clients?

Turning the Tables

When you go to your mechanic to have them fix an issue with your car, do you expect them to disclose their costs for parts and ask what percentage of their trade pricing they are passing on to you?

As they explain the anticipated fees for labour and provide you with an estimate for parts to fix your car, do you ask if they mark up those parts and then accuse them of ‘double dipping’?

Once your car is ready for pick up and they hand you the final invoice, do you ask to see the receipts issued to them by their suppliers for parts?

OMG, could you imagine?

I just want my car fixed and have peace of mind knowing that it’s been done right so that my family and I will be safe. End of story!

Please, please please, flip the switch on your mindset to Forget the Discounts and Focus on Value.

This is BLACK AND WHITE. You run a business, you have margins on the items you sell.

Sure, you offer competitive pricing, but more importantly, you offer an incredibly valuable service that involves making HUGE decisions on a homeowner’s BIGGEST investment.

Newsflash!

Your ideal client is not hiring you because of the discount you can get them on a sofa.

I never get reviews from interior design or decorating clients raving about how much they saved on their furniture through my discounts. NEVER!

Client reviews talk about the amazing service we provided and the immense value we brought to their project.

They rave about the final result and how they never imagined that their home could look so well put together!

They tell us how they loved our reliable team of trades who did an outstanding job and the peace of mind they had throughout the project knowing that we were taking care of every detail.

You see where I’m going with this, right? VALUE. VALUE. VALUE!

Here if you need it

If you aren’t sure how to do this effectively, I have a detailed service outline included with each of my contracts that will help you confidently go through with your client the value you bring to the table if they hire you for that service.

In the video, I read the full page from my Custom Design and Project Management Service Outlines on how I address the ‘discount’ discussion right off the bat.

All three of the above contracts are available in my Contract Bundle package. They also come with walk-through videos.

Don’t minimize the value you bring to a project, be confident and be prepared. Have the hard conversations up front and after a while, they aren’t hard because you believe it yourself.

Perfect for Pinning

Stiffkey Blue Colour Palette Designs

Three Beautiful Palettes for Stiffkey Blue

My most recent colour review was for Stiffkey Blue by Farrow & Ball. Today I have pulled together three gorgeous Stiffkey Blue colour palette designs to inspire you with some ideas on how to use this gorgeous rich blue to put together a complete look for your home.

In this video, I demonstrate how to use the colours from my Stiffkey Blue Perfect Colour Palette as inspiration for creating beautiful interior design palettes with fabrics, wallpaper, hardwood, countertops and more, for your home.

All the colours I use are included in my Stiffkey Blue palette. I have come up with three exquisite combinations for you, but there are many more ways that you could mix and match to create a design palette that is perfect for your home.

Stiffkey Blue is just one of the colours in my Farrow & Ball Classic Collection which showcases 10 popular Farrow & Ball paints. Just think of the inspiration waiting to be tapped.

Stiffkey Blue Colour Palette Designs

1st Fabulous Colour Combination

Talk about a fabulous paint palette! This combination of colours with the featured Stiffkey Blue by Farrow & Ball would make for quite a dramatic look. Bold, and beautiful.

These three colour tones look stunning together, a real rich, luxe feel.

You can easily use the colour combinations I put together in my Perfect Colour Palette digital download s to find inspiration for fabrics and other home décor finishes.

Am I suggesting you need to use all three of these paint colours in one space? Not necessarily. The idea is to use them to guide and inspire you for pulling together an entire interior design palette.

Here are two lovely fabrics that tie into our colour combination wonderfully. The one on the left is from JF Fabrics – pattern Parlor – and would look so great as drapery.

The second fabric on the right is also a JF Fabric, pattern code AW-ZINIO, from the Ashley Wilde designs collection. It has a beautiful purple tone and a lovely greeny-yellow that is very similar to the Churlish Green. An accent pillow in this fabric would look so great on a dark gray sofa or chair.

If we bring the colour combination into a kitchen design for the same home, I found a Cambria counter called Newport that would tie in nicely and keep the flow going from the living room. You aren’t limited to using the fabrics only in the living room, but you could incorporate them into your kitchen space as well on a bench seat or a window valence.

To top off the look I found this striking pull from Richelieu that looks amazing with the colours and materials in this palette. Imagine kitchen cabinetry painted in Stiffkey Blue with these pulls…absolutely gorgeous!

Make sure to watch the video to see a few more elements I selected for this palette, including a white picket tile that I used in my own bathroom remodel.

2nd Palette, Upping the Elegance

The second palette has slightly more muted tones and I found a fabric I adored that looks striking against this combination.

This paisley fabric is called Turnout and is part of the Color Concepts Coral Sky Collection from JF Fabrics. Are the two purples an exact match? No. And they don’t have to be, yet they complement each other beautifully.

The second fabric shown would look fantastic on a couple of occasional chairs. The Cambria quartz shown above in the bottom right corner is Bellingham. Notice how it picks up a couple of colours from our palette, which would allow you to repeat the colours as you move through to the kitchen.

Your home should always flow from room to room. It should be obvious that your design choices are purposeful. To do this successfully, repeat the same tones into other areas of your home.

Fresh with Blues and Greens for the 3rd Colour Combination

For the final Stiffkey Blue colour palette design, I went with slightly fresher shades of blue and green.

It is such a great feeling when that perfect fabric jumps right out at you. That’s how I found the jumping-off fabric for this 3rd colour combination. Seriously, it looks like it was made with these colours in mind. Jackpot!!!

This JF patterned fabric is called Leaflet and it’s from the Morning Glory Inside Out collection.

I worked off this one fabric to build my palette and when I was done I had fabrics that could potentially be used for pillows, drapery, and furniture. They all tied in so well and were all inspired by my Stiffkey Blue Perfect Colour Palette.

Not only did I find amazing fabrics to colour match with my palette, but I came across a fabulous grasscloth wallpaper that you see in the video.

Grasscloth wallpaper 52063, upper left

As an example, a main floor powder room could be papered in this paper which would flow nicely from the front room where two occasional chairs might be covered in one of the coordinated fabrics. Cohesiveness throughout the living space demonstrates that all your design choices have been deliberate.

Putting together palettes combining colour, textures, patterns and materials was made easier using the colour combinations from my Perfect Colour Palette.

If you get stuck on how to come up with a colour palette for your own projects, learn more about my carefully curated paint palettes and how they can help. Their purpose is to make it less daunting to choose paint colours for your home.

Which palette was your favourite? Comment below to share your thoughts on which one you found resonates the most with your interior design style.

Get Inspired – Perfect for Pinning!

Convenience At Your Fingertips

My Perfect Colour Palette library now has 40 paint colours to select from. Click here to see them all.

Remember, it only takes one mistake to take your home decorating project from divine to disaster. Don’t let the paint be what stresses you out!

Terms to Include in Your Contract

I’ve discussed the importance of having a signed contract before you start a new design or decorating project but you might be unsure of what that contract should contain in it. Today I outline key terms to include in your contract.

During my 10 years as a professional, award-winning interior decorator, I have created and changed the services I offer and the contracts that go along with those services.

Instead of starting from scratch as I did, I have created contract templates so you can hit the ground running in your Interior Design Business. You can edit these interior design contracts and use them when signing up new clients.

Watch the video and see what’s included in my Bundle

Each template comes with a service outline to assist you in explaining the specific service that the contract relates to. There is also a walk-through video showing you how to use the template.

A contract is a must to have at the consultation. It gives you an opportunity to review it with the client and get it signed before embarking on any type of new project.

So, it’s imperative to have a contract with you at the consultation but what’s in it? Watch the video to learn about the must-have elements to include in your contract.

This is an overview of just some of the terms you need in a contract for your interior design business. A contract is often quite a lengthy and detailed legal document. Some of my contracts are 4-5 pages long depending on which service they are referring to.

Whether you create your interior design contracts on your own or invest in my templates that are already done for you, you must consult with a lawyer in your local area and get them to review them very carefully. Also, make sure you go into greater detail for each of the terms that you include so that you properly cover yourself. I’m sharing an overview only in this post.

Terms to Include in Your Contract

1. Deliverables

What exactly can a client expect from you? Deliverables are what you are providing the client with in terms of tangible services. This means floor plans, a list of product selections, mood boards, etc.

Let them know exactly what you’re going to be including in your presentation and in the service that they are hiring you for. The more detailed you are here, the less possibility of issues arising as the project progresses.

2. Scope of project

It is critical that the areas of the house or if it’s a commercial project, the spaces that you are responsible for, are very clearly defined. If you’re hired solely for a kitchen renovation, all things pertaining to that room should be outlined in the contract.

You’re familiar with the term ‘scope creep’, right? This is when additional requests are added by the client that were not listed in the initial scope of work. Before you know it, you could be designing and sourcing for areas of the home that were not identified at the start of the project.

Any space that you are working on needs to be covered in the contract.

3. Timelines

A third crucial element to include in your contract is timelines. Are you taking the project to the finish line? To that big exciting reveal? Or, are you working with a client for a limited number of specified hours?

Our Custom Design and Project Management service would have a much different timeline compared to our Designer by Your Side or Designer For a Day services.

The Custom Management service is a full service where we will do the design, order all products, oversee the trades, and arrange installations. For the other services, we work in specified blocks of time. These differing timelines must be clearly defined in your contract.

4. Fees & Fee Schedule

If you know me, you know that I never shy away from talking about money. So, of course, your fees and your fee schedule need to be clearly laid out in the contract.

What are the fees for your services? What is the frequency of your billing? When are payments due?

We never chase our clients for outstanding invoices, we always take payment before any interior design or decorating work begins.

Unfortunately, so often in my private Facebook group for interior design professionals, we hear stories about designers who are chasing clients for money. It’s a terrible feeling and is unnecessary when you have set your business up with organized processes.

This is NEVER AN ISSUE when you get paid upfront before you start working on a new project. More advice on this all-important topic can be found in a recent blog I posted about 5 Mistakes to Avoid at the Consultation.

Claire-ity Tip: Get a signed contract, even when working with friends and family!
If your friends and family respect what you do, this will not be an issue. Don’t stray because you know someone well. Stick to your processes.

5. Terms for Non-Payment

Continuing from #4 you need to make sure your contract stipulates terms for non-payment. These terms should also include what happens if payments are late.

We don’t move forward with purchases of any products unless we have been paid 100%. This is clearly stated in our contracts so our clients are completely aware of the consequences of late or non-payments.

Ideally, you avoid this unpleasantness by being completely transparent with your payment terms at the consultation and reviewing details of how you work up-front with your clients. We bring our contracts and more to our initial consultations so that we can have these open dialogues at the very beginning of the process.

6. Intellectual Property

In your design business if you state that your designs are your intellectual property and that your designs cannot be implemented without you, then you need to ensure this is outlined clearly in your contract. You also need to consider what legal action you will take and if you will actually enforce it, should you find out a client has taken your plans and implemented them on their own.

7. Backorders and Discontinued Products

As professional interior designers and decorators who work in this industry daily, we are well aware of back orders or items being discontinued.

This can be a real issue! You need to have a clause in your legal agreement pertaining to how you handle this, should it arise during the design process. We let clients know that the swifter they are at making decisions and giving us approvals for product purchases, the more chance we have at minimizing delays.

If products become back-ordered or discontinued, will you re-source products at no charge? If you charge, what are your rates for doing so?

It is crucial that these scenarios are communicated with your client in the contract ahead of time.

8. Damaged Products

If a product that you have specified arrives and is damaged or is the wrong item altogether, who is responsible for rectifying this? This is not uncommon and happens way more often than it should as far as I’m concerned.

This is why you need your contract to cover details on how this situation will be handled and by whom.

It’s possible that your terms for damaged products will differ depending on the type of service the client hired you for. For example, with our Designer For Day service, we are not responsible for products and we clearly state this in the contract.

However, for Custom Design projects, we typically oversee all deliveries, and our role is detailed in this type of contract should problems occur with any item that we have ordered and received.

9. Managing the Trades

It is fairly likely when providing any type of interior design or decorating service that a tradesperson will be required to be on-site at some point during the project. Therefore, how you work with the trades, whether they are hired by you or by your client, needs to be one of the key elements that you include in your contract.

The way in which you establish the relationship with contractors and trades is key to how you include this clause in your interior design contract.

I have only touched on some of the key clauses that you need to include in your legal agreements. My contract templates are much more comprehensive and each one includes a walk-through video and editable PowerPoint to help you confidently market and sell your valuable interior design services.

Don’t underestimate the importance of having solid contracts to protect both you and your clients. I highly recommend you review any agreement with your clients in person and collect a deposit for services at the same time. Good clients appreciate when you present yourself as a business owner as confident and organized.

Need Contracts?

CONTRACT TEMPLATES WITH SERVICE OUTLINES

Be prepared at the consultation to get your client ready to sign your contract

Don’t need the bundle? Pick one:

Custom Design and Project Management Contract Template

Custom Design Contract template here

Designer by Your Side Contract Template

Designer by Your Side

Designer For a Day Contract Template

Designer For A Day

Pin for Easy Reference!

Farrow and Ball Stiffkey Blue

Stiffkey Blue No.281

A rich blue, Farrow & Ball’s Stiffkey Blue can be used in traditional spaces or to give a more dramatic look to a contemporary design.

If you’re new here, welcome! Below you will see what I cover in every colour review post.

In this colour review video, I share:

The undertone of my featured colour
Colour comparisons in order to easily see the different colour tones
Best white paint colours for the trim and ceilings
Beautiful colour combinations to inspire you for your decorating project

If you prefer to have all these palettes conveniently to hand, plus see all 10 colour combinations to use with Stiffkey Blue, I’ve got that ready for you here in my Perfect Colour Palette.

Stiffkey Blue Paint Palette to Inspire your next home project

Stiffkey Blue Colour Review Video

Undertone: Inky Navy

This rich depth of this ‘inky navy’ may appear more or less blue, depending on the lighting and what other decorative elements you pair with it in your interior decorating project.

As you can see below when we look at comparisons to other paint colours, that fact becomes more eye-opening.

Bedroom Walls in Stiffkey Blue by Farrow & Ball

Colour Comparisons

Hague Blue No.30 & Pitch Blue No.220

It’s only when we compare colours that we can truly understand the tones and whether they lean more one way or another on the colour spectrum.

When I do Colour Consultations in a client’s home, I am always comparing colours so they too can easily see the differences.

When I hold my large paint boards up to decorative elements such as fabrics, wallpaper or subway tile and then swap out one board with another board, it becomes much more evident as to which colour will work best.

Best Whites To Pair With Stiffkey Blue

All White No.2005

James White No.2010

Wevet No.273

I can assure you that the best colour for your project already exists, you just need to know the 5 Steps on how to choose the right paint colour the first time.

Fabulous Colour Combinations

Stiffkey Blue with Churlish Green, De Nimes & Skylight

Churlish Green No.251 – MY FAVOURITE OF ALL THESE PAIRINGS!

De Nimes No.299

Skylight No.205

Where would you use this striking paint tone? I would love to use Stiffkey Blue by Farrow and Ball for kitchen or bathroom cabinetry and to create a dramatic mood in a dining room.

Cabinetry in Stiffkey Blue by Farrow & Ball

Convenience At Your Fingertips

All of the colour combinations shown above plus more options for you to choose from are included in my Perfect Colour Palette for Stiffkey Blue.

My Perfect Colour Palette library holds over 50 palettes to select from! Click here to see all of them.

Classic Paint Collection

If you want more Farrow & Ball, check out my Classic Collection here.

Note: All colours shown are by Farrow & Ball

My Newest Collection: Sherwin Williams Neutrals

Remember, it only takes one mistake to take your home decorating project from divine to disaster. Don’t let the paint be what stresses you out!

For Easy Pinning

6 Reasons You Need a Contract

Interior design contracts are essential for your business. Before you start any interior design or decorating project with a client, you must have a signed contract in place.

During my 10 years as a professional, award-winning interior decorator, I have learned the importance of having a signed contract and reviewing it with the client before embarking on any type of new project.

Today, I am sharing with you my top 6 Reasons Why You Need a Contract. Check out the video below for all the details.

Interior Design Contracts – 6 Reasons Why You Need Them

6 Reasons Why You Need a Contract

1. Shifts the mindset of the client

You want your client to be able to clearly distinguish that there is a difference between the initial consultation and the next level of interior design services, where they are entering a more formal working relationship with you.

We hear a lot about mindset these days and that’s because it is so important for everyone to be fully on board and in the right frame of mind before moving forward with any type of interior design project.

From flat fee services such as Custom Design and Project Management projects to services billed by the hour in blocks of time like Designer for a Day or Designer by Your Side services, you must have a signed contract in hand and retainer payment before you begin working with clients.

They will respect you more for having a process for every step of the project.

Learn more about these different types of services listed above that we provide in our business and guidelines on what to charge.

Download my Services and Rates Guide now with Walk Through Video

2. Protects you & your client

An interior design contract outlines the way in which you work and helps to protect both you and your client. Yes, a contract and/or letter of agreement is also there to protect your client! Its purpose is such that you both fully understand the terms of your working agreement.

This is super important because although we understand how invaluable our interior design services are because we work on client projects every single day but we can’t expect a client to know all of what we do and how our processes work.

There are many moving parts to each project, from the ordering and tracking of items to resolving various types of issues and overseeing the trades, various elements can arise that are out of our control.

That is why it’s your responsibility to make sure your client fully understands how you work.

3. Sets the tone

Having a legally binding contract lets the clients know that you are a true professional when it comes to running an organized business with streamlined processes.

This comes back to adjusting the mindset of your client and setting up the proper framework for working together. When your client understands that you follow specific steps in your process, they will be more confident in the working relationship you are building with them and in your abilities to manage their project.

4. Open communication

Isn’t it nice when you hire someone to do a service for you and the way that they communicate with you is clear and open right from the the start?

Reviewing your contract in person with your client shows that you are a believer in communicating your processes effectively and that you don’t avoid difficult conversations.

It demonstrates that communication is important to you and that they can speak openly to you if they have an issue moving forward, knowing that you will confidently handle whatever comes your way during the course of the project.

Claire-ity Tip: Get a signed contract, even when working with friends and family!
If your friends and family respect what you do, this will not be an issue. Don’t stray because you know someone well. Stick to your processes.

5. Helps manage client expectations

If you know me, you know that I’m huge on managing client’s expectations!

When I coach designers one on one and we dive deep into a challenging situation that they are dealing with on a client project, we can almost always trace it back to something that was skipped over or a mistake that was made at the beginning of the working relationship.

We know that not everything goes as planned during a design project and that there will be hiccups, but your client likely does not.

Having a comprehensive contract as your interior design partner helps you to explain the entire process, including some of the problems that may arise and MOST IMPORTANTLY – how you will manage and resolve any issue so that you minimize shock or disappointment down the road.

6. Allows for open discussions

I encourage you to see reviewing your contract with the client at the consultation as an opportunity. It’s not meant to scare, intimidate or pressure anybody. It’s YOUR chance to have an open discussion so that they know what it looks like to work with your interior design firm.

I don’t say to the clients: “We have a contract that must be signed before we start.”

Instead, I let them know that I have an Agreement to go over with them and this will allow them the opportunity to ask me any questions about the service and how we work.

The way in which we approach this puts the client at ease and they respect that we are open with them and that we have nothing to hide.

I am more than happy to go into detail in each section so that they can make well-informed decisions and have complete confidence in the way we work.

We always bring our Contract Templates with detailed Service Outlines for each of our services with us to every initial consultation meeting. It is not uncommon for us to leave that first meeting with a signed contract and retainer in hand. It is possible!

If you are still looking at me with a side-eye, take a look at what one of my coaching clients had to say in a testimonial after investing and implementing strategies from my ROCK the Consultation Processes package and utilizing my Contract Bundle.

Even if you don’t end up converting a client to further services past the initial consultation meeting, coming fully prepared to this first appointment is something I highly recommend.

Need Contracts?

CONTRACT TEMPLATES WITH SERVICE OUTLINE POWERPOINTS

Be prepared at the meeting to get your client’s ready to sign your contract

Don’t need the bundle? Pick one:

Custom Design and Project Management Contract Template

Contract template here

Designer by Your Side Contract Template

Designer by Your Side

Designer For a Day Contract Template

Designer for A Day

Pin for Easy Reference!

Swiss Coffee Colour Palette Designs

Three Beautiful Palettes for Swiss Coffee

In my previous p ost, I did a colour review for Swiss Coffee by Benjamin Moore. Now I want to inspire you with ideas on how to pull a complete palette together using this sophisticated, soft white.

In this video, I demonstrate how to use the colours from my Swiss Coffee Perfect Colour Palette as inspiration for creating beautiful interior design palettes with fabrics, wallpaper, hardwood, and countertops for your home.

All the colours I use are included in my Swiss Coffee paint guide. I have come up with three gorgeous combinations, but there are many more ways that you could mix and match to create a design palette that is perfect for you!

Swiss Coffee – Palette Inspiration

Palette 1: Soothing monochromatic

This first colour combination is the most calming pallet of the three. I printed off my Perfect Colour Palette for Swiss Coffee and walked through the endless fabric aisles at my Design Centre to find patterns that paired well with the combinations that I put together.

1st Colour Combination: Swiss Coffee, Thunder, Moonshine & Lancaster White

Look at how beautifully these 3 colour tones work together!

I am using this colour combination to find inspiration for fabrics and other home décor finishes. I am not saying you must paint with all these 3 colours, but instead, use them as inspiration for pulling together a design palette.

Here’s what I found:

Soothing, monochromatic palette to go with Swiss Coffee

The first fabric is a fantastic, soft, and pretty floral fabric from JF Fabrics. You could use this fabric for a pillow on your sofa or apply it to some gorgeous drapery. You can see the other neutral-toned materials shown above that could be used for a sofa, a custom ottoman, and/or accent chairs.

Notice how the taupe looped rug sample compliments the fabrics and overall palette? The addition of the wallpaper sample with similar tones can be used to add another layer to your design palette.

Be sure to watch the video above to understand in more detail, why I chose each specific element of the designs.

Your home should always flow from room to room so that it’s clear that your design choices are purposeful. To do this successfully, repeat the same tones into other areas on your main floor.

Hopefully, you can see how I’ve done that with each of these materials by including selections for a kitchen design with the counter selection, backsplash, and a pretty piece of hardware.

Palette 2: Contrasting & Moody

The second palette is slightly more moody with contrasting colours between quite dark and much lighter colours. I love creating contrast in my interior design projects!

2nd Colour Combination for Swiss Coffee

Often just one fabric can be my jumping-off point (inspiration) for decorating an entire room, maybe even an entire home!

Kendall Charcoal adds a moodiness to this Swiss Coffee palette

Palette 3: Bright & Fun

Now I’m not typically a neutral kind of gal when it comes to my interior design projects. You have seen my own bathroom, right?

In this final colour and design palette combination, I have saved the bright, bold, and most fun for last!

An exciting combination of 3 colours, again taken straight from the Swiss Coffee Perfect Colour Palette.

Colour Combination #3: Swiss Coffee, Soft Chinchilla, Agave & Adobe Orange

Once again I picked a fabric first – the one with the dark green circles – and added on to the palette from there.

Bold Colours and Patterns for our 3rd Swiss Coffee palette

You can see the orange in this fabric is not as bright as the Adobe Orange and that’s ok. I am trying to show that tones don’t need to be exactly the same when pairing and mixing colours. But you can see how well it all ties together.

I would use all three of these fabrics in the same room just mix and match them. I love adding texture, you can see that here with the sample for the neutral area rug in the top left corner, sitting on top of the hardwood sample.

Putting together palettes combining colour, textures, patterns and materials was certainly made easier using the colour combinations in my Perfect Colour Palettes. If you get stuck on how to come up with a colour palette for your own projects, my guides can definitely help. Their purpose is to make it less daunting to choose paint colours for your home.

So, which palette was your favourite? Comment below to share your thoughts on which one you found resonates the most with your interior design style.

Get Inspired – Perfect for Pinning!

Convenience At Your Fingertips

Swiss Coffee is now part of my Benjamin Moore Whites & Neutrals Collection showcasing all 10 of my Benjamin Moore white and neutral Perfect Colour Palettes.

My Perfect Colour Palette library has been expanded and now has 50 paint colours to select from. Click here to see them all.

If you want to get all my Benjamin Moore colour guides in one place, look no further than my Benjamin Moore Ultimate Collection. All 20 of my Benjamin Moore guides are in one handy collection.

Remember, it only takes one mistake to take your home decorating project from divine to disaster. Don’t let the paint be what stresses you out!

Take my Colour Quiz to see which Colour Palette best suits your style.

How to Prepare for the Initial Design Consultation

Do you feel 100% prepared when you show up at a prospective client’s door for that all important initial design consultation?

If you are not organized or exactly sure how to prepare then keep reading and watch my video because today I’m sharing proven strategies on ‘How to Prepare for the Initial Design Consultation‘

I have over 100 reviews from happy clients, and now charge $800 for my initial two-hour consultation meeting. I have learned so much over the years that now I am fully prepared every time to ROCK The Consultation.

How to Prepare for the Initial Design Consultation

1. Bring a client folder

I bring a client folder with me to every consultation meeting. These folders are customized with my fonts, logo, brand colours, and professional images of my interior design projects from my extensive portfolio.

The folders are printed at a local print shop and in each folder I include:

Business Card

It may seem old-fashioned but I still use a business card and think it’s a nice professional touch to leave one with every client I meet.

Welcome Letter

I’ve created a one-page welcome letter that describes how my services work and the value I will bring to their project. This is called a ‘Benefits of Services’ document.

I also have a Welcome Packet template I created in Canva that you can use and download for free here.

Completed Questionnaire

When a consultation is confirmed in our calendar, we have them complete our questionnaire so that we can find out more about their upcoming interior decorating project or renovation. This helps us get to know our new clients and understand what type of interior design help they are looking for from us.

I read through the clients’ responses, highlighting specific areas that stand out as most important, and may also take a few notes so that I have a good working knowledge of who the client is and what their design goals are.

New Client Checklist

We create this checklist as soon as we have booked a client in for an interior design initial consultation meeting. It helps us keep track of where we are in our onboarding process with each client. I add it in my client folder for my own use, to make sure I cover everything leading up to and after the consultation.

The branded folder with my business card and Benefit of Services welcome letter is left with the client, except for my client checklist which I place in my own client folder.

2. Be Professional & Punctual

It seems a no-brainer, but these are key components to building a successful working relationship with clients.

In regards to your appearance, dress comfortably and smart. That’s going to look a bit different to everyone, depending on your personal style and brand.

I don’t show up in stilettos and a sophisticated dress, as that is not reflective of me and who I am. I prefer more of a smart casual look. Be YOU and continue with your usual style of how you present yourself on your website and on social media.

ALWAYS be on time, even 5 minutes early is recommended. Some of my clients have said that they can set their watch by me and I like that! If you do find yourself running late to any scheduled client meeting, it’s imperative to let the client know as soon as you can, with a quick call or text.

3. Bring your Services & Contracts binder

For every consultation meeting I go to, my hope is to be walking out with a signed contract and retainer payment unless I know beforehand that the meeting is just a one-off working consultation (which I actually love!).

I bring a binder with my Service Outlines in a PowerPoint format that includes further information, including the benefits, of each service that we provide. These documents include answers to FAQ’s so we can easily manage client’s expectations of timelines and estimated fees.

As the consultation moves along, I determine exactly what type of design service would best suit the client. With these helpful resources, I can confidently and easily explain how a particular service works. I flip open my binder and review it with them right then and there!

4. Bring examples of your work

How better to land a client then by showing them some of your previous work. Show it off, don’t be shy! Being able to show a prospective client your portfolio goes a long way, as well as examples of previous presentations you’ve done.

You may find yourself mentioning mood boards during your consultation, but what if the client doesn’t know what those are? Bring some with you or have a file saved on your tablet to show them some visuals and let them see how you can help them. Remember, we do this every day and understand the terminology and everything that is involved, but our new clients do not!

5. Bring your Contract Template

As a result of being super organized with all of our processes from the start, we’re able to determine which of our services will be the best fit for the client based on the responses in our questionnaire and our discussions during the consult.

We bring our contract templates to the consultation, and it is not uncommon for a client to sign our contract and pay us a retainer in order to get their design project into our calendar. They have witnessed our professionalism, our organized and structured process, and as a result, they are ready to sign up with us. Yay!

Being prepared and organized for your initial consultation sets you up for great success and less pushback from clients.

In addition to these great tips for getting yourself prepared, take a look at my 5 Mistakes to Avoid at the initial consultation.

CONTRACT TEMPLATES WITH SERVICE OUTLINES

Be prepared at the meeting to get your client’s ready to sign your contract