Making Decisions and Moving Ahead With Your Project

Design is all about making decisions.  Selecting things that are right for your house, and deciding to make a change.  Obviously, you want your designed space to be well thought out.  However, no space is perfect, and to expect it to be so, can be a problem.  Sometimes clients are afraid to move ahead with a project, because they are afraid that the space will not be perfect.  It can cause them to stall a project for months, even years.  They can have too many “what-ifs” in their head and this can cause people to get stuck in a bad design, simply because they are afraid the new design will not be good enough.

“What if I get a new piece of furniture and it does not fit in the space?  What if a really great new sink comes out in a year and I just put in one?  What if I like something better in the future?  What if I get tired of my wall color?”  These are real concerns for real people.  But sometimes you need to just forge ahead, and make the best decisions you can make at that time. 

I spoke with a woman a while ago about her future kitchen remodel.  She told me she had been planning it for 17 years.  Really.  It was not a matter of finances, it was a matter of having to make so many decisions and live with them.  So she left her old kitchen in place. It was easier for her to do that than to make the decisions and move ahead.  To this day she has not remodeled.  She is not the only one to be stuck in this kind of situation.  I have encountered many clients who have not been able to finalize decisions for months, and years.   Fear of making the wrong decision, or fear that the new space will not be perfect can be overwhelming.  That is when you need to hire a good design professional, and trust in them to guide you to make good decisions. 

I am currently planning my own kitchen remodel.  I understand that I cannot have everything, and not everything is right for my house.  I know that I cannot change my mind once things have been ordered, and that I will live with what I select for a very long time.    My final selections are almost all made now, and I selected things I have always liked, classic design, timeless materials.  I usually will tell clients that if you have always liked something, chances are you will still like it in another five years.  In the big picture design is about creating a space for family and friends to live.