Full-Service Remote Interior Design : According to LiLu

Full-Service Remote Interior Design

Full-Service Remote Interior Design-What Does that Mean?

We shared a couple of posts on how LiLu is working with clients across the country and locally using full-service remote interior design. As we speak to more clients and designers each week, we’ve realized that people continue to have questions about how it works.
This is a fluid situation and so LiLu is using and will continue to use our creative problem-solving skills to move our client's design projects forward in any way that keeps everyone safe and healthy while delivering custom design that is unique to you.
In a previous post, we talk a bit about the basic process and virtual meetings. If you have ever remodeled or built a house though, you realize there are many touchpoints along the way! How do we handle all the various touchpoints that usually happen in person? Well, we are using different techniques with each client, as it works for them and their individual situation.
Here is another post on Remote Interior Design.

First Meeting and Questionnaire

For our first meetings, we are meeting virtually right now. As a first step we ask you to take photos of your space and a quick video for remodel and decorating projects. If we are doing a new construction home or helping someone move into a new home, we ask for photos of “must have” items they already own.
Then we meet with you via FaceTime and walk through your existing space or home and walk at length about what works and what doesn’t. Discuss what they love and hate and find out why they are remodeling or changing their environment. Why FaceTime? We learn so much by touring your space with you by carefully listening to your running commentary about your environment.
Our questionnaire has always been online, so we send you the link through email. We also ask that you share any images you have of your ideal home via Pinterest, Dropbox or Houzz. We will use whatever platform you are comfortable using.

Field Measure and Documentation

Once we are working together, the next step is a field measure and documentation of your space. We are doing this in a few ways now to suit your project. We will continue to offer various ways of working together moving forward so each of our clients can customize their experience.

• Self-Measure and documentation. We provide a drawn, written, and video guide so you can measure and document your own space. While it can be a bit complicated to measure and document a room like a kitchen or a bathroom, with our comprehensive guide you can do it yourself. The guide shows what to measure and how. In addition, we also have a video so you can watch how we do it so you can use the same techniques. This technique works well for projects in another town or state too.
• We measure when you aren’t home. In some cases, we are working with clients who are moving into a new home that is currently under construction or empty. When that is the case, we can visit the site and take a measure and photograph the space ourselves. We will, of course, wear appropriate gear and sanitize our hands and the space to leave it clean.
• You take a walk, run an errand or sit on your patio and we measure. For clients who are currently living in their space. We can make a site visit, wearing masks and gloves. We will sanitize the space as we leave so you can feel safe and secure with no DIY measure. Because construction and remodeling are currently an essential service in Minnesota, we are happy to provide this service to keep our contractors working.

Client Presentations

We are meeting our clients where they are and in a way that makes the most sense for moving their project forward. There are three primary ways we are meeting.

• Virtual online meeting with mood board boards and drawings. Here is a brief video clip of how a meeting like that can is conducted. We find that we have clear communication and easy meetings this way. We use this for reviewing drawings, selecting plumbing and lighting fixtures, and hardware. This is a productive meeting method for anything except items that are hands-on.
• Online meeting with actual (sanitized) samples at your home or office. This is a type of hybrid meeting where we deliver or ship fabrics or finishes to you that are carefully keyed to a mood board so we can clearly communicate about options and make decisions each item in your remodel or decorating project and you can see each finish, texture, and color in person. There really is no substitute for seeing tile, wood, counters, and fabrics in person to truly understand how your finished space will look and feel.

• We set up in your empty space, wearing masks and gloves, and meet online. Of course, we will sanitize samples and anything we might touch. This is much like the meeting I described above but we can come into your home and set up the finishes and fabrics in schemes for you before the meeting. For many of our clients who are working hard right now with their jobs or helping children with distance learning, this is the perfect service that keeps you safe at home and takes less of your time. Time for some of the biggest asset they have, and we understand that you may want to keep your investment of time as low as possible while still creating the home of your dreams.

• Socially distanced outdoor meeting. Yes, we will set up portable tables and setup outdoors, with social distancing in place. When time is a premium and direct communication is your preference, we will set up outside and meet with you. Of course, this is service is not available all winter, depending on the weather.

Site Visits and Showroom Visits

• Virtual site visits and showroom visits can be done, when we are delivering full-service remote interior design, to review progress and details with contractor. This past month, I discussed the placement of a faucet, blind colors, tile layout, and light fixture installation heights all with contractors and clients using video streamed on our cell phones to make sure every detail was being executed correctly.

We’ve also visited a plumbing showroom, virtually to see how a faucet operated and review the pros and cons of sink finishes with a plumbing specialist so our client could feel confident that our recommended selections would work well for the long term.
We also attended a slab selection at a stone yard in Phoenix so we could confirm that each slab selected met our aesthetic goals for the remodel project we are working on there. We were also able to discuss layout details with the fabricator at that virtual meeting.

• Using photography to review site progress. We work with several contractors who will take photos of each completed area each day and upload it to Dropbox or send it via at the end of the day so we can review and catch any issues before they become problems. This ensures that our client’s expectations for getting the details are executed perfectly are met.

This is a handy way for clients to also review progress without having to be on site. This also works well if you are building a second home and want to keep up on the details without traveling to the site often.

• Empty home site visits are an option for local home sites. Our contractors are making progress each day on your home and we are happy to visit the site, once all the contractors are headed home for the day. We can check the work and look out for anything that needs to be revised.

• The socially distanced site and showroom visits. Again, because construction is classified as essential in Mn at this time we can meet with contractors on-site when needed. While we are staying home and working from our home offices there are times when meeting on-site and in-person is necessary, so we are doing this wearing masks and using the proper sanitizing protocol. All the contractors we are working with have put in place strict rules to ensure everyone’s safety on job sites.

Showrooms are available in some cases by appointment when a virtual visit just won’t work. Social distancing is always in place!

Flexibility and Fluidity Are Key

Because we are all in a fluid and changing world, at LiLu Interiors we are remaining flexible to meet our clients where they are physically and emotionally. We always put your needs, concerns and dreams at the center of our design process.

Bringing Intention Home

For more than a decade, LiLu Interiors has been designing intentional living environments that reflect the singular values and needs, lifestyle and aesthetics of each individual client. With care, joy and trust, we’ll creatively collaborate with you to design a home that uniquely expresses who you are and how you live. Intentional design, no matter the style, requires thoughtful attention to detail and deliberate choices.
Let’s make life better. Let’s bring your intentions home.
If you want to work on an interior design project that uses technology and creativity to work together, remotely please give us a call. 612-354-3271