design process
Designing your home can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be.
The process requires an extraordinary amount of time, money, decisions, and most of all, patience. But with the right partners, a remodel or build can be a smooth process with a happy ending. A trusted design team that understands your vision can bring your dream home to life - with your sanity intact!
EVOLUTION OF A TYPICAL PROJECT
Since project timelines vary widely depending on their scope, this graph shows our proportionate amount of time spent in each phase as it pertains to the overall timeline of the progress of a project.
there are four main phases
phase 1
establishing your design foundation
It all begins with an idea. Wether you’ve just recently been inspired to update your home or even if you’ve been thinking and saving up for years, chances are you have some ideas to share with us to get the creative ball rolling. This is the part where we learn about you and your habits, likes, dislikes, daily routine, and much more.
READ MORE ABOUT PHASE 1 + SEE EXAMPLES
phase 2
design development
After the foundation of the design plan has been established and the mood of the space decided, we move to the design development phase. In this second phase, the design becomes real though floor-plans, material sourcing, technical drawings, and beginning relationships with builders and architects who will join alongside our team to bring your project to life.
READ MORE ABOUT PHASE 2 + SEE EXAMPLES
phase 3
actualization + construction
This is the phase when the magic happens! We take all the plans and decisions we made with you to inform and coordinate with contractors, tradespeople, furniture designers, and artists and set to work building your space. All the while, we will uphold the original design vision and be present on site to ensure that from demo to final walk-through that your space is built beautifully.
READ MORE ABOUT PHASE 3 + SEE EXAMPLES
phase 4
final touches
With the ongoing shipping delays, we are finding that it is common to have furniture, especially custom pieces, arrive after most of the other design work is completed. So during the final touches phase, we will plan to wrap up the project by coming in around the time that your last pieces arrive and we will add our signature touch on arranging your things on bookshelves, hanging art, and making sure that every detail is in line!
READ MORE ABOUT PHASE 4 + SEE EXAMPLES
the emotional rollercoaster of design
Unfortunately, not every single phase of design is super exciting. There are moments of stress, times when we have to deliver some less than stellar news, or may run into delays. Here is a graphic representation of a sample project’s ups + downs. But no matter where our client’s are at emotionally, we will always be the steady project leaders that you can depend on.
Joy Levels
During the design + installation process things will inevitably go wrong - that’s one of the reasons that hiring a designer is critical!
Jill May Interiors does damage control, handles the delays, and takes care of all aspects of coordination. We (strive to) find solutions before you even know there’s a problem.
Although we hope problems don’t happen often, it’s a reality of our industry and we are here to handle the frustrations so you don’t have to.
WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
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COVID-19 may seem over for us, but the waves are still rippling across the world.
Many products, even those made in America, require hardware, parts, and pieces from across the globe. As the waves of the global pandemic begin to quell, we are still behind as an industry in terms of reaching equilibrium on backordered materials and products. Even designer services are stretched thin, and passing plans though the city is an extensive process even more so than before 2020. Please have patience and empathy with us for the world and the delays you may expect with taking on a project these days.
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We partner with professional receiving services that inspect all our deliveries as soon as they arrive. They unbox, assemble, and repackage and store safely to ensure that your products and furniture are perfect when they reach your home.
However, it does happen that during the transit process to the warehouse that damage occurs and we will need to address that with the manufacturer. This can be extremely devastating and frustrating especially when lead times are still extended and waiting for something to arrive and receiving it damaged after months can be a real let down. But the vendors we partner with have damage coverage policies so we will always work to get your pieces in perfect condition before they reach you.
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In the wake of Covid-19, lead times continue to be unpredictable and lengthy with average lead times reaching 6.5 months.
Factors include unprecedented demand for home furnishings, supply chain constraints and a decrease in manufacturing output due to high absentee rates and a shortage of skilled craftspeople.
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There have been severe skilled labor shortages due to the increased demand of the interior design market post the global pandemic.
Carpenters, laborers, framers and cabinet specialists continue to be in short supply. This has also resulted in additional time spent rescheduling, coordinating, working with delays and lost shipments. COVID-19's effect on furniture, fixtures and equipment has also been significant.
