I recently completed a bedroom concept design for a Mum and Dad of 3 grown boys. The parents described the space as the most unloved room in the house, and a ‘dumping ground’ as they have renovation work going on throughout the house.
It was a great size room just a quirky shape with tons on natural light from 3 window, two of which look over their great garden space.
With the quirkiness of the space the client had ideas on what they wanted to achieve in the room but needed guideance on how to go about creating the space, before making potentially costly mistakes.
Home Visit
To start the design concept I complete a home visit which helps me get to know the client and get those all important measurements to put together the scaled design.
I use a questionaire to make sure I don't miss any vital quesitons and this helps me understand the clients likes and dislikes. Some questions may feel odd but they guide me to rule out what a client does and doesn’t want.
I also take plenty of photos to remind myself of the space when I am back in my office working on the design.
The Design Process
The first step in my design process is to have clearly defined the key elements needed in the space. Its very easy to get caught up in the creative design of a space and then realise you have not captured the brief for the room. When presenting a design concept back to a client, its important to play back these elements to ensure everyone is on the same page. I always find a photo to describe one of the key elements helps set the scene.
The second step in my design process is to start to draw up the floor plan using Sketchup. I build up the space from the measurements that I took, double checking drawings as I go to ensure the design is to scale. I then add in any key furniture elements that are to remain in this space. This client had a large queen size bed that they wanted to keep, and the plan was to remove a wall housing some built in hanging storage.
Once I have the floor plan I then go back to the questionaire and the photos of the exising space and start to put together the design influences for the room. If a client also uses an App like Pinterest I will ask for access to their boards to see if there are any design ideas I can get from images they have already 'liked'.
When I present the design influences to a client I make sure to spend time talking about each of the images I have selected and how I see these influencing their overall design. Whether its a floor treatment, fabric, colour, piece of art, furniture piece - each element has a reason to be on the page.
The design influences start to tell the story of the space.
Once I have these steps in place I can start to 'pull up the walls' in the design and work in 3D. I continue to create the design in Sketchup adding textures, lighting, flooring and key peices to the space. At this stage I don't add too much styling to the room but keep it simple so its easier for the client to visualise. From the 3D drawings I pull out a number of perspective views for each wall in the space.
Having walked through the design influences I can then show the client how I have pulled these into their space. These are prespective images. In the image below, I placed barnwood on the main feature wall, added simple bedside tables with feature drop ceiling bedside lights as the focal point. A larger dresser unit was added for storage.
The below perspective image is taken as if sitting on the bed and looking across the space. I included feature art on the main wall and a make-up nook as part of the bank of floor to ceiling wardrobes.
This client was concerned that they might loose storage space from their current set up but I was able to show them with a scaled design that they would actually have 10% more space, and that was before a declutter.
The final part of the design is to provide a short fly through video of the space.
Having walked the client through each stage of the concept they usually have a good understanding of the space and design but I find that the fly through videos help cement their understanding. These short videos are a fantatsic way for clients to visualise design.
Final Thoughts
I hope that has helped you understand my concept design process and the 5 steps I follow after a home visit. Each design includes a full set of the drawings with the fly through video which I can either present face to face or online.
If you then want to build on a design further I can complete a full design which includes all of the detailed styling, a more detailed fly through video and a Fixtures and Fittings shopping list which I build based on your budget.
If you would like to book a free 15 minute phone consultation to discuss your space please don't hesitate to get in touch. You can contact me through this web site or any of my social spaces.
I would love to hear about your next renovation project or a room you have completed.