Congratulations! Booking your appointment with a Design Professional is the first step in the rewarding and exciting process, of accomplishing your home design goals. Please mark the date and time on your calendar. If something comes up that should cause you to have to cancel or reschedule, please be courteous and let the designer know as far in advance as possible. If a designer takes the time to come to your home and you are not there for a scheduled appointment you will be billed for an hour of her time.

I. COLOR:

Before the Designer arrives at your home, give some thought to your color preferences. Think about rooms that you have seen and liked. If possible go through magazines and see what inspires you. Do the rooms tend to be all different shades of one color (monochromatic scheme) or are you drawn to varying or complimentary colors within one space.

•  Are you willing to let the Designer's professional opinion guide you entirely or do you have strong opinions about how your home should be decorated?

•  Again, think about what you have seen that has appealed to you. This includes not only style of furniture (Neo Classic, Country, European, Contemporary, etc.) but also scale and overall feel. Do you prefer big, overstuffed chairs, or more formal, smaller pieces? Are you comfortable with lots of embellishments and trim or do you prefer a sleeker more clean lined look? Do you prefer traditional wood finishes or distressed or painted pieces?

III. TEXTURE AND PATTERN

•  Do you enjoy rich, heavy chenille, crisp cottons or simple and elegant silks?

•  Are there certain patterns you simply do not like? Are there ones that you are partial too such as brocades, tapestries, plaids or stripes?

•  Do you prefer muted tones in a fabric or bold patterns and designs?

IV. HOW DO YOU AND/OR YOUR FAMILY LIVE?

•  Determine your lifestyle and usage of each room in your home. Do you have children? If so, what are there ages and will they is frequently using the space?

•  How do you utilize the areas within each space? IE: In a kitchen, which area is your primary work surface? In a Family Room, are kids allowed to lie around freely? Do they gather there with friends or is that restricted to a game room or play area? In a bedroom, do you read in bed or watch TV or do you require a separate seating area for these functions?

•  Do you frequently entertain? If so, how many guests are typical? Are they formal or informal gatherings?

•  Do you have "wasted spaces" that require a transformation of use to better suit you needs, such as turning a library into a music room or a sunroom into a playroom, a spare bedroom into a computer room?

V. PRIORITIZE & DETERMINE A REALISTIC BUDGET FOR YOUR PROJECT

•  Your designer realizes that you may not know the exact cost of properly and professionally designing your space, however it is important for you to assess before hand the maximum amount that you are willing to invest in each area of your home. This does not mean that the designer will strive to use your entire budget. This simply gives her a realistic guide to use when selecting fabrics and furnishings to best achieve your shared goal. If after discussion it is determined that a budget is insufficient you may discuss alternate ideas.

•  At this time also begin to prioritize rooms or items that you would like to focus on first. Although it is ideal to design your whole home at once, this is often unrealistic. It is best to discuss the overall plan so that all rooms flow into one another and have consistency of style and color. The plan can be implemented in stages if necessary, once a master plan and budget are in place. An example of this would be as follows: Step One- Give the home a quick face lift with accessories. Step Two- New furniture in some areas. Step Three- Framing each room with new window treatments to complete the look. Your designer will help you determine what stages work best for you. It is a good idea to have some priorities established in your head first.

Please don't let his list overwhelm you! This is a basic guide to the types of questions your designer will ask. Don't worry, you are not expected to have all the answers to these important questions before hand. The guide is meant to better prepare you and give you a few things to think about before your consultation. By doing this, your time spent with a Design Professional will prove to be more efficient and productive. It is your designer's job to ask questions so that she may assess your personal design needs. She will also take careful notes and any necessary measurements to better help you make your home a lasting expression of yourself.