1. Maintain a high level of Organisation.
You'd probably be surprised at how many clients an interior designer juggles at any given time. Being organised is key to maintaining a healthy business especially if you happen to be a sole trader.
It's not unusual to have 15-20 clients at one time all requiring personal service and each one wanting a unique result. This requires a very high standard of organisation you know! Not only to keep all current projects afloat and maintain smiles on all clients faces, but to exceed expectations and create truly amazing spaces that are practical and functional!
Keeping client files in order and staying on top of product orders, maintaining communication with clients and suppliers. Not to mention the administration - probably my least favourite part of running a business.
2. Lateral thought - maintaining the creativity
You've heard of thinking outside the box right? Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic.
A true creative mind steps outside the comfort zone of typical thought on a daily basis. It can be compared to stretching a muscle daily as an athlete would. It allows a designer to come up with ideas and present concepts that are new and interesting. As you can imagine, an interior designer when in consultation with a client needs to come up with information on the spot , ideas, creative solutions both practical and of course beautiful ideas in a blink.I like to think that I have big muscles....in the lateral thought sector of my brain that is!
3.Visualisation
They say that the key to achieving what you want—whether it’s a healthier body or increased confidence—may lie in your ability to visualize. Mental imagery can help you to to become stronger, happier, and more effective on all levels. I believe this with all my heart because visualisation is a hobby of mine, something that I do every day. When looking at any interior space, I need to see it transformed to confidently recommend a course of action for my client. Sometimes its colour visualisation for interior and or exterior colour selection projects.
4.Retain visual stimuli in a kind of mental scrap book of ideas.
Yes! See it, and then stash it away to use at a later date. A great design tool is idea retention.
Felix the cat was a great example of this with his magic bag. He was able to pull anything out of that bag just at the right moment and whenever he needed it - even in an emergency!
5. Observe colour in everything.
It's one thing to just see colour, but totally another to really appreciate the subtleties and unusual combinations that can be found in all things...especially in nature. I'm not sure about other designers, but I see a colour combination in nature that inspires me every day.