EDITOR’S NOTE: Question: Do most clients think of their residential designer as their professional advisor, their good friend or both” The answer varies, but it”s always a little tricky and definitely requires a delicate balance. In the first two installments of our Turning Tables series, we emphasized how ” just as in any successful friendship ” a residential designer must employ empathy and tact. Another imperative element of the residential designer / client relationship is free-flowing feedback. 

It”s rare to find clients who know exactly what they”re looking for. That”s why they hire you in the first place, right” Unlike us, most clients aren”t visual people to begin with, so they need you to show them the way. “The way” can frequently be found through ” in its most simplistic terms ” shopping. As you will read in this installment, where you shop can be as basic as visiting a well-known chain store or as exotic (for the novice, anyway) as allowing the client to accompany you to a city”s design district.

A word of caution: know thy client. If you sense attention deficit disorder or even get a whiff of chronic indecision from your client, leave them at home. Too many choices generates sensory overload, and you will forever be playing the unwinnable “What If” game with your client, producing maximum frustration for all parties involved. The solution” Just do the “shopping” beforehand and only show limited choices in any one category. Three (3) is always a good number.

Don”t worry ” this method is completely acceptable. Don”t think of it as cheating your client out of choices. Rather, think of it as getting to do what you”ve been hired to do, namely utilizing your desirable design acumen.

Prep for Meeting 3: Shopping

So Rob decides it”s time to go shopping. I am exhilarated and terrified by this. I shop with my husband on a regular basis. He”s a man with good taste, so we shop together. However, I have not shopped with another man since 1993 when my dad forgot that December 24th ” Christmas Eve ” is followed by December 25th ” a day that my mom expects presents.

So Rob, all casual, says, “So you wanna go shopping next week” How about if we meet at Crate & Barrel at 3 on Monday” I feel like I am being asked on a date. Of course, Rob is just doing his job.

“Um, yeah, I uh”sure. Yes, Rob, I would love to. See you there.” The date was set, and I am about to embark on an adventure.

Meeting 3: Shopping Personally With Your Personal Shopper

We meet at Crate & Barrel. Oddly, part of my motivation to start this process was that I had decided that I had already purchased enough Crate & Barrel furniture and needed to branch out. However, more importantly, my mind is open.

I”ve walked this “showroom” plenty of times, carrying July 4th platters or Christmas ornaments from the housewares gallery downstairs through living room after living room of possibilities. But this time Rob takes me to this lovely little starlet of a chair in the corner. The round curves, the orange leather, the smooth, clean stitching all create a smile on my face. I love this piece and know instantly that I will sit in it many times in my house.

Rob also informs me that Crate & Barrel has a great line of appropriately priced furniture that is well-designed and impeccably styled. I agree that I”m not enough of a furniture snob to need to buy $5,000 pieces. Rob and I are in synch, and I relax.

We shop for couches, ottomans, and lamps. He asks me questions like, “Do you not like the little arm because of the way it looks or because it will be uncomfortable if you lean on it for too long”” and “Do you want a pretty couch or a comfortable couch””

He wants to know if I like the seafoam-colored ottoman with the dark legs because of the round curve to the back, or if I just think the colors will look good in the living room. Question after question comes up about what I like: The shape” The color” The function” Do I see my friends sitting in it when they come over, or will my husband read a book in it”

After a thorough analysis of the Crate & Barrel goods, we head downtown to the Design District. I”ve always wanted to go to the Design District, but I”ve never had a reason to be “on the list”. Rob and I just drive right in and park in front of the first showroom, which displayed twenty things over $5,000 that I would love to own.

We walk into a room with icy blue walls, mocha wooden floors, crisp white couches with perfect accent pillows, and Rob said to me, “This is sort of what I want your living room to look like when it”s all done.”

I turn to him and reply, “If it does, you will be one of my favorite people in the world.” The bottom line is that Rob is not doing this to be my best friend. It”s his job. But for me, this is a major overhaul of my house that I never could have handled on my own.

As we walk around the Design District from showroom to showroom and designer to designer, Rob is greeted with hugs, air kisses, and compliments on his outfit. I decide Rob is the Mayor of the Design District, and I am delighted to be one of his clients.