A happy little tree makes a great designer indeed.

Every once and a while I run into someone who asks, "So what makes someone a good designer?" I say, "I'll tell you what makes someone a great designer."

The best interior designers are scrappers.

They are not what you see in the movies. They don't all dress, drive, eat, & live glamorously. Design is not a hobby. It's an obsession. Your space becomes their baby for the next few weeks. They eat, sleep and drink your wall measurements, the Pinterest pictures you showed them at the initial consult, your color scheme, everywhere they go they are on the prowl for inspiration for your design...sometimes they don't eat; sometimes they don't sleep. A great designer is after the high that only comes when their clients see their newly designed space for the first time and and their reaction is pure joy.

*Shudders* Yea, that's the best.

A great designer knows your money is important to you.

They take your budget and handle it like a newborn baby chick...holding it ever so gently and snapping at anything and everyone who would take a bite out of it. They understand that your money is important to you. In light of that, a good designer is very much like an attorney, in that they fight for you tooth and nail to make sure your budget is spread throughout every corner of your space. A good designer will bargain shop for you. A great designer will literally travel through the annals of time and space -i.e. antique shops/thrift stores/flea markets/Craigslist/etc...- if it means that they can get you a quality piece for the fraction of the price. Which brings me to another point.

A great designer has no shame.

They aren't afraid to haggle. In fact, haggling becomes something of a sport to them. Like the sand in an hour glass, they know that with every purchase they make, your allotted budget is dwindling, and so they desperately haggle with zero shame, and they aren't afraid to walk away if need be...they know with a little patience they'll find something better. Because YOU are worth it. Your space, and ultimately your joy is worth it.

A great designer builds things.

A designer knows exactly what kind of piece belongs in your space. Sometimes there's a snag in that what they see in their heads hasn't been made yet; it is legitimately a figment of their imagination, and so, they build, they stain, they epoxy, until their ideas come to life. They aren't afraid of a palm sander, or a sewing machine...And what they don't know how to do, they hire someone that does; because ultimately a great designer knows that you, and your space are unique, and deserve a uniquely you custom piece if the space demands it.

A great designer sees your vision.

Empathy is not really a quality that comes to mind when one thinks of designer attributes, but it is essential. A great designer takes all of your ideas and stores them categorically in their minds until a beautiful collage is formed. In other words, you give a great designer a jumbled mess of notes, and they will create a symphony out of them. In order to accomplish this however, one must be able to see and feel what the client is hoping to achieve in their space. And this is something that cannot be taught in school. This is a God given talent. Empathy is sharing and understanding the feelings of another; during the design process a great designer will be available to you all hours of the day, because they understand that a design idea is like lightning, it strikes suddenly, and unexpectedly, and should be addressed immediately. The designer you hire should be your closest confidant for however long they are cultivating the interior of your home.

A great designer is first and foremost an artist.

This is perhaps the most essential of all the qualities. Our industry is often accused of being nothing more than glorified decorating. As an interior designer I can attest that to us, this notion is somewhat bewildering. A great interior designer does indeed decorate, however, to the designer everything is deliberate, nothing is by chance. Consider the painter, when he or she adds a tree to the mural...it is not by chance that he paints a tree, but because she understands that the size and shape of the tree will offer up a suggestion of scale for the rest of the objects in the painting. The painter knows that by adding a tree to the right side of the canvas, it will balance out the heaviness of the mountains on the left. Basically, all great designers are Bob Ross. They are true artisans of their craft.

Lastly, a great designer knows when enough is enough.

The last thing a client wants to feel when coming home to their new space, is that they are not home at all. A great designer knows the difference between creating an incredible space catered to their client, and essentially transforming a space into a Pier One store. They know at what point to step back and say, "it is finished" even when (in rare cases) the budget allows for more. The great designer recognizes that what they create is living art. It is meant to be a habitat for someone. It must be designed congruent to the lives of

the home owners, and not simply the trends of the season.

Remember to look for these attributes when hiring someone to design your space. Don't settle for good. Hire a great designer, and I promise you joy awaits.