As you begin to consider an interior design project -- commercial or residential – you would be wise to first explore the changed contemporary field as it now relates to your venue.   Though we all feel pretty sure we know what we like and want, those certainties might be based on limited, outdated information concerning what is actually available and possible – today!  Keeping an open mind at the front end is added insurance that you will arrive at a more than satisfactory result – at the back end.

Deep immersion in one's own day-to-day business operation can obscure notice of what is currently occurring in the "big picture" of one's own field, as it relates to business site-presentation design.  It would be a good investment (of your time and preliminary funds) to explore with your interior design expert the relevant current design trends and other pertinent facts that should influence your project choices.

A designer who takes the big picture into consideration with you -- as a starting strategy -- has your satisfaction in mind.  He or she wants to expose you to a broad range of possibly unfamiliar availabilities, while keeping in mind the guidance and preferences you provided in the beginning discussions.  What you, as the client, wants and prefers must be balanced with an informed understanding of what presentation will be appropriate and essential for your site interior -- in order to fairly compete in your particular venue!

What the marketplace offers for interior design projects changes with regularity, over time.   Your designer wants to educate and inform you more broadly in order to be sure you have the added advantage of a full range of insight for your decision-making.  If your home or workplace has not experienced a refreshment remodel, or refurbishment in ten to fifteen years or more, you might be astounded at the range of new materials and components now available.

Well beyond just "green" and "solar," there has been a virtual revolution, over the past two decades, concerning design and construction advances.  One of the best improvements has been cost as it relates to longevity, durability and environmental impacts.

No client likes to feel that their preferences are not being respected.    Sometimes your professional design team has to risk your resistance in order to make sure you are fully informed concerning the pros and cons of new approaches, materials and methods.   Some aspects of construction and its components may have shifted dramatically since the last time you were involved in a project.  Change often comes with resistance and difficulty.  Yet it is vital for your project – large or small – to know that you are moving forward with the best, most current information.

Whether the essential information has to do with materials, color, component availability, construction sequencing or resource acquisition – you may be unfamiliar with current procedures, limitations, etc.  Nevertheless, your design team has the unwavering responsibility to inform, educate and demonstrate – with or without your gracious cooperation!  So, your designer sometimes has to take a little pushback in stride.  We try to do it with a smile!

Robert Boccabella, B.F.A. is principal and founder of Business Design Services and a certified interior designer in private practice for over 30 years.  Boccabella provides Designing to Fit the Vision© in collaboration with writingservice@earthlink.net.  To contact him call 707-263-7073; email him at rb@BusinessDesignServices.com or visit www.BusinessDesignServices.com  or on Face Book at Business Design Services.