Accidentally Designed

Here’s a little something that folks don’t know about me: my alternate career path was forensic pathology. If I hadn’t had the generations of pressure of artists and seamstresses behind me, I may have ended up a coroner instead of a designer. The good news for me is that I usually do get to employ a bit of forensics when working with clients, often with fascinating results. I’ll share a story of how design forensics helped a family live better in their home.

My visit started with a quick walk-through of my new client’s mcmansion. During the tour, I asked what I could do to help them and received a common answer: “we want to find our style”. After noticing all the furniture squished up against walls and the artwork resting on the floor, I asked an obvious question: “how long ago did you move in?” Expecting an answer under a few months, I was shocked to learn that the clients had lived in their home for two years. “Oooookay”, I began. “Your sofa is along this wall because…..”, I prompted. “….the movers set it down there because it was heavy”, my client responded. “Mmmhmm. So your artwork is on the floor because…..” “….we haven’t bought a picture hanging kit with the right nails yet”.

Without any initial information from the clients to guide me, I presumed that the room I walked into during that consultation was indicative of the homeowners’ true style. Wrong! Luckily, the little forensic research question about their motivation for placing furniture and accessories explained to me that the haphazard and jumbled look was accidentally designed rather than intentional. Armed with that information, I was able to continue the consultation and guide the clients into a personalized style.

My lesson for the day is pretty simple: when you’re on a quest to find your style, use some forensic insight. The answers to the questions “why did I put this here?” and “why did I move that there?” might just help you make a plan for a new look.