Kitchen & Bath Business - November/December 2016 - 22

Learning Corner

Design Smarts

Industry professionals share
the most important lessons
they've learned

AS DESIGN PROFESSIONALS, you make some
mistakes along the way, which helps you learn how
NOT to make those moving forward.We recently
asked our LinkedIn Group - KBB Design Network - "What's the most important lesson you
have learned as a design professional?" We think
the variety of answers will provide something
useful for everyone.

CYNTHIA SCHEUER

AMY AHEARN

NAR BUSTAMANTE

Owner/Designer, Dragonfly
Design Studio

Principal Designer/Owner,
Decorating Den Interiors

President, Nar Fine Carpentry

Listen, listen, then listen some more. It's not about
me...it's all about my client.

Every problem has a solution. Creative and innovative thinkers turn problems into opportunities
for great design.

CHRISTIE BOARD,
CKD, CBD
Board by Board Construction

Learn to get along with your subcontractors. If you
work with talented people, they often have great
insight as to what can work on the installation side
or what cannot. I know when to step [aside], and I
know when to push my idea.Respect goes a long way
in getting my vision accomplished.I get a lot of thank
yous for not being a prima donna on the job site.

PAUL MCALARY

Owner/Designer, Creative
Kitchen Spaces

Kitchen Design and Cabinet Professional, Main Line Kitchen Design

Educate your customer first and listen to them
second. Kitchen design is all about the trade offs of
one feature over another. Giving a customer what
they think they want is the easy road and ensures
a poorly designed kitchen.The [compromised-on]
kitchen is always better than they ever would have
gotten otherwise.

GLORIA GRAHAM
SOLLECITO, AKBD

Interior Designer, Arkiteriors

STACY GARCIA
Owner, Garcia Cabinetmakers
and Kbtribechat

Owner/Designer, Artful Kitchens

[Recognizing] the mutual respect of the expertise
each trade brings to the project and approaching
contractors with questions opens up a dialog -
leading to solutions that work for everyone. I have
also learned the importance of setting expectations and clear documentation.

JOANN HAMMOND

To learn from each project, realize what went right
and what you would do differently next time. Try
to understand why something came out the way
it did, why it might be different than what was
expected and what could have been done to get
the outcome you and your client expected. Communication is so important.

LAURA VLAMING, CKD

Get signatures for everything, and have an attorney-approved contract. Serve chocolates at
design presentations.

I would say I've learned (and am still learning) to not
take anything personally - either positive or negative.Take your criticism AND praise with a healthy
grain of salt. I just focus on doing my very best.

Good communication skills are essential to designing for a happy client. Interpreting client
wants into reality includes listening in equal measure with discussion. A good showroom helps.

Kitchen & Bath Business / NOV.-DEC. 2016 / KBBONLINE.COM / The official publication of KBIS (KBIS.com)

http://www.KBBONLINE.COM http://www.KBIS.com

Kitchen & Bath Business - November/December 2016

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