My second interview of the interior designer insight series is with Pamela O’Brien. Pamela is an award-winning luxury interior designer, writer, and speaker. Pamela values teamwork during a project, and she is known for creating strong relationships with her clients, the builders, and the architects in order to collaborate and deliver a design her clients love.

Q: What does a residential full-service package translate to for Pamela Hope Designs?

A: Well, we like to say we take you from paint colors to sofa pillows, and we love when we can be involved with the entire design process. We’ll start with the concept, and sometimes a client comes to us and we help them find an architect, we help them find a builder, we help them find the various trades and services. Other times, a contractor or an architect will refer to us, so some of that work may have been done. The drawings may have already been done and the house has already been designed, but we like to get involved as soon as possible either in pre-construction or as soon as possible afterwards so that we can help with the selections and be a team member the whole way.

Q: How closely do you work with Builders and Architects when working on a large scale renovation or new build home? What are some of the major elements needing coordination between all parties?

A: Well, we like to work with them as closely as possible. We’re really good team players, and from what I can tell, all of our builders and architects have really liked working with us because we do what we say we’re going to do, we do it on time, and we’re very clear with our communications. And I was glad to hear that you liked working with designers because there are some (designers) who, I think, have maybe made jobs harder than they had to be, or made things hard on the builder, but we try to be the opposite. We try to keep the client in line with selections, allowances, and all of the processes that basically the designer and the client are responsible for. We like to stay in close communication so that we’re finished with them in advance of when the architect or the builder needs them.

Q: Where do you like to focus your resources within the budget?

A: You know, it's hard to specify that. All parts of the project are really important, but we like to finish, and sometimes that's a struggle. Sometimes building gets out of hand and it gets very expensive, or other things happen in life. And a project can always be finished to the level of completion that we would like to see: the client happy in their home with everything they need in that home. And so, I like to make sure we save some money at the end for the design and the decor. Because if you have the best poured foundation on the planet, but you don't have a comfortable sofa, you're never going to be that happy with the house. So, for us, it's very important, while we get deeply involved in the construction side, I really like to get to finish with the art, the rugs, the sofas, the furniture, and the accessories because to me, that's what makes the house a home.

Q: How does your team stay organized?

A: Well, we are a small staff by design. So, we work together quite a bit. One of my favorite parts of the week is Monday morning. We have a weekly staff meeting, and we go through our calendars, we have an inspiration photo, and everyone looks for something that just catches their eye. That's a lot of fun. We look at that together, and we study the photo when we talk about it. We learn a design tip from ourselves pretty much every week. But also, we go over our calendar, we go over everything that's on the books for clients, and we go over every single project, one by one, talking about where we are, what's next, and what needs to be done. Most of the work has already been assigned to one of us, but at that point, we might assign small tasks to somebody, or, for example, one of my designers is particularly good at fabrics and textiles, so if all of a sudden, we're ready to shop for fabrics, then maybe she might take that part of the project on for that client. So, it's staying in touch, keeping binders and folders. And also, we do a lot of work on PowerPoint. When decisions are made, we usually put a picture, a link, and any other specific information like dimensions, or what the layout is going to be. We keep all of that in a PowerPoint. I know most contractors have their own way, and you were very good. You had documents that you wanted filled out because you had your way of doing it. But for us, visuals are very important because when we're shopping with that client down the road for a rug or a lamp, it's so great to have basically a picture of everything in the house, and PowerPoint is a really easy way to do that. Everyone can look at it, they can edit it, they can add things, and subtract things. So, we have a living design plan, if you will, that we take with us to meetings and we build that while working with the client and at the end, the builder.

Designing a home is a team effort between the designer, their team, the client, and the builder. Having a professional navigate those relationships and expectations can be extremely beneficial when you’re going through the home construction process.

Stay tuned for part 3 and even more insights into the interior design world.