How Does a Virtual Home Design Consultation Work? (And Why Can’t I Just Use ChatGPT?)
Even with the normalizing and standardizing of virtual services in general, and the impulse to reach for your smart phone to seek wisdom and answers, there are still some services that seem like there is no replacement for in-person work.
I think some of my clients (before they met me!) may not have considered virtual home design services as an option at first. And honestly? I totally get it. How can I get a sense for how your home is feeling if I’ve never had the pleasure of setting foot there? How can a design lady in New Orleans help you transform your space in Denver or Raleigh?
What it comes down to, is that it doesn’t matter what I think your home is like. I don’t need to be in your home to decide how you feel about it. This is about what your tastes, desires, context, history, and quirks. As long as you can tell me about your space and what you like and don’t like, and can send me photos to work with (don’t worry, I have a guide for that!), we will get your space sorted!
I know how daunting it can feel working with a designer, especially if you’ve never done so before. To help with that, I’m going to lay out the process and timeline for a typical virtual interior design consultation so you can know what to expect. No pretentious mysteries, no intimidating barriers here. But before I get to that, I want to address the elephant in the room:
Why wouldn’t I just ask ChatGPT for virtual Interior design Services?
I have a number of answers for this, but whether you go with me as your designer or someone else, I hope you will use humans with the power to empathize and understand you instead of computers, which were designed to think like data machines.
Interior design is incredibly personal. So many of my clients have come to me during very traumatic and destabilizing periods in their lives. ChatGPT could probably guide you to put furniture in the right place, but ChatGPT just can’t possibly foresee the future of your life in your home and predict your evolving needs. Or hold you when you’re sad and happy at the same time.
A huge chunk of the work I do isn’t about furniture or wallpaper. It’s listening. It’s therapy. It’s running interference with mothers-in-law and standing up for a client’s needs when a contractor tells them something “isn’t possible.”
Human connection is irreplaceable. Thank you for allowing me this soap box moment!
The Process of Virtual Interior Design Consultations in 5 Steps
I have written a longer, more thorough Virtual Services Guide if you’re one for the details, but here’s the super quick version:
- You book a free 15-minute consultation with me, and you’ll tell me about you and your home and your hopes for the project.
- You send me dimensions of the room/open concept; photos of all the walls and corners; your style ideas, home inspiration board on Pinterest, quirks and likes/dislikes (I love quirks! You can’t scare me away!); 50% of the paid deposit; and a signed Service Agreement.
- Over the next four weeks, I will build an interior design package for you. This includes two video meeting sessions with me, a concept session in which we narrow down the style of the space, and a final presentation during which you see every item I’ve pulled together to incorporate.
- I send you the final design package, including specific links to every single feature and product, after receipt of payment. Here’s what a sample interior design package from me looks like.
- From the date of your design release, you have 30 days to make purchases and request free edits/replacements if anything I’ve chosen is out of stock or no longer available.
When I’m designing, I’m not just thinking about what will look good, or how it fits with the concept. I find furniture and fixtures that are meant to last more than a season – decades, even. It would be a shame to invest so much time and money into your space and home just for the materials to fall apart in 8 months. And, I promise I won’t prescribe $20,000 curtains, either (quality products =/= hefty prices). That is simply not practical for most of the clients I work with, or most people, period.
Thank you so much for considering me for virtual home design services consultation work. I love what I do, and I’d be honored and delighted to work with you. Get on my calendar if you’re ready to dive in! 🙂
Have questions first? Feel free to contact me here.
