Designing for clients is something that takes a design process and knowledge base that is flexible yet accurate for each project to flourish and set itself apart from what has been done in the past. We as designers focus so hard on determining the best for our clients and configuring ideas that exceed the liking of our clients, that we almost forget that we must design for ourselves as well. Here at June DeLugas Interiors, as a part of our firm, we have a beautiful showroom dedicated to the retail side of the business. This allows clients the opportunity to have a look and feel into some upholstery and accessories that they might consider placing in their homes, or for window shoppers to take a minute to configure some ideas for how they would like to update and innovate their homes. With this idea, we would never want clients to stop by and notice a stale look in what our showroom offers. As always, design is renewing itself, whether that is with old becoming new again, or brand-new products revealing trends we have never seen. So, with that we are continuously having to keep with the times and that means we must continuously reinvent our showroom.
As a part of this summer, JDI had the pleasure of hiring a design intern. For part of his time here, we offered him the showroom as a full-time project that he could use as experience working in the real world of design. We had been looking into a showroom redesign, and he showed up just in time to put this project in motion.
In the beginning of this design process, we had to seriously investigate what items we had that were either no longer with the times, or that were just taking up space, that we could use for more impressive vignettes. Doing this always allows for available space for things to start moving, and more importantly, allowing the creative process to flow. We take the time to relocate the larger items to ensure they all fit within the store in a respectable clean looking manner, and then the hard work goes into moving these pieces to truly shock the eye when coming back in for the first time. Of course, we had accessories and wall hangings that needed to be placed, but they seemed to place so much more comfortably when you can look around and find the perfect place.
For this new look, we wanted an open, more inviting feel into the store that also gives us more room to have collaborative workspaces. It is quite the challenge to find more space than you might have to spare, but with the right moves and the right planning, we were able to do so. For those clients looking to redesign their homes, and for us as the designers, sometimes all it takes is some reinvention to find new beginnings.