Have you ever wondered how today’s technology is impacting design? We spoke to a leading interior designer about unexpected complications that can come with a wired home renovation. She also revealed what may clients don’t understand about the magic of HGTV and those inspirational Pinterest boards.
Technology Builds Hidden Costs into Design
Nowadays, many clients approach designers with visions of touch-screen operated homes dancing in their heads. But they may face inconvenience when smart homes go on the fritz. “I think some clients are finding that,” reveals CWI.DESIGN president and principal designer Rachel Kapner. She’s certainly found it. “I was going on a photo shoot. We couldn’t get the shades to go up because they were on such a crazy system. You could not operate them manually if you wanted to.”
While tech solutions often promise long-term savings after the up-front investment, there can also be hidden costs. “I’m putting more money into the back end, sending installers back to retrain clients and to change batteries,” Rachel says. Homeowners are often charmed by descriptions that make the tech seem like a snap. “But it’s not as easy for the end user,” she explains. “Sometimes I feel like it’s not necessary, and it’s adding expense where, personally, I don’t think it needs to.” In those cases, she’ll help clients find more reliable solutions.
Home Makeover TV Creates Unrealistic Expectations
Homeowners are also receiving mixed messages from some of the most used pieces of tech in their homes — televisions and streaming services. Specifically, the makeover magic of HGTV hits—like Fixer Upper and Love It or List It—leave viewers expecting low costs and expedited results. How does Rachel revise expectations? “I tell them that is definitely not realistic — both the timelines and the cost factors,” she says straightforwardly.
“Some clients think that it can happen like that,” Rachel says. But she understands how the television productions benefit from donated items and other perks that skew both timelines and budgets. “There’s just no way that you could get Carrara marble for the whole house, for every bathroom and every countertop, for $3,000.” And when shows break down the alleged costs on screen, she adds, “some things are so way out of whack that it makes me crazy.”
Social Media Recommends Outdated Design
Skewed views also arrive courtesy of social media. “It used to be, clients would pull magazine pictures. Now it’s Pinterest and Instagram,” says Rachel. Either way, it can be an inspirational part of the design process. “I was always a magazine person,” she remembers. “The big joke in my family was that they weren’t sure I knew how to read because I would always start at the back of a magazine and go to the front, looking at the pictures.” Rachel has what some would call a photographic memory, and she can still can recall absorbing certain images in this way.
Unfortunately, the internet does not always remember with such accuracy. “Sometimes things on there are out of date,” Rachel says of social media. “People will show me and ask me for things that they’ve seen on Pinterest. The pictures are so old that the items are not available anymore.” In such cases, Rachel can still use these as models to find or create something like the desired product. But when someone has their heart set on having the exact piece, she says, “it can be cumbersome.”
This Is What to Remember about Technology and Design
Even after coaching clients through stalled shades and outdated Pinterest boards, Rachel still makes design dreams come true. “I try to make everyone’s houses their dream homes, and so—even though I have a part in it—I want it to be their dream.” Nevertheless, when it’s time to bring a wish list to your designer, there are a few important things to remember: Do not expect results on a TV budget and time frame. Not everything on Pinterest is still in circulation. And be prepared to reconsider technology if your designer reveals it comes with unexpected inconveniences included.
In the meantime, when it comes to some of still-touchy tech, Rachel will keep helping clients understand, she says with a knowing laugh, “what the downsides are.”
Get more advice on taking your design to the next level on our blog, and follow Rachel’s work on CWI.Design on social media via the links below.
