All I Really Need to Know I Learned on Bravo

Joelle said at some point on July 23, 2008

I’m sitting here, trying to figure out where to start my to-do list.  But it’s one of those deals where you can’t decide if you should do the thing you should do first which will take up your whole day or if you do a bunch of little things on the list to simply cross them off.  So, in the meantime, I’ll procrastinate by blogging.

I was watching Flipping Out over my oatmeal this morning.  When I first saw this show, the first season, I was annoyed by Jeff Lewis… which I guess is the point. But honestly, I’ve grown rather fond of him now. He’s an uptight, OCD, boundary-pushing mess, but I like him. I can relate to him a little. Kathy said the same thing.  I think it has something to do with being a creative person with a side of attention to detail and a sprinkle of control freak.  And for understanding the occasional client who want something that could only be produced by a force of nature or a miracle or a magician… but the budget can’t change.

I was listening to this woman go off about crown molding this morning, or lack thereof.  She only had a $200k budget, totally inflexible, but as the project progressed, she added this or changed that. Then they found rats in the A/C and had to put on a new roof, which added $40k in costs which had to come from somewhere.  But she just had to have the crown molding, oh heavens to betsy, the crown molding!  You have to have crown molding in a traditional house, what the hell are you thinking?!  If she’s not getting crown molding and she’s not getting her outdoor cushions, what’s she getting?  Oh, woe is she with naked ceiling seams.

Is crown molding something to raise your blood pressure over?  I got a little pissy over some curtains that shrank in the wash once, but at least I was prepared to pay for new curtains (which I didn’t, I just pretend they’re waiting for a flood).

The client had entirely new AC put in and a new roof and like 3 other interior projects that weren’t originally slated and she thought there was going to be cash left over for outdoor cushions?  I’d noticed over the season that when she’d add this or that, or they’d get this great idea, Jeff wouldn’t let her know up front that it would affect her budget.  I assumed that behind the scenes, he’d told her or issued an invoice or something. But, I believe he even said at one point that he assumed she understood that these new unforeseen costs would have to be deducted from another area since her budget is inflexible.  I totally don’t agree with that.

As a consumer, I want to know immediately when something is going to cost more that I originally thought.  As a business woman, I want to keep my clients informed so they never feel out of the loop or are surprised if a bill comes at the end.  The part I struggle with is the ever-so-fine line between letting clients know when the request is out of scope of the contract without beating them over the head with it like Debbie Downer. Designers usually want clients to have a sense of momentum and excitement about their projects.

As women, it’s in our nature to please, so I hate being the heavy. But, “Sure, we can do that! It would be additional...” can be a bit wearing on both parties.  No one wants to be nickeled and dimed, but things come up, clients have ideas or change their minds.  Our agreements outline that any requests made that aren’t listed in that document are considered out-of-scope and are subject to additional charges, but that’s sometimes selectively forgotten through the course of a project.  I suppose, “per the contract” is just one of those unpleasantries of business we could do without.

I don’t think Jeff Lewis handled it very well, but I understood his position.  And the woman was totally flipping out over something that he told her could easily be handled in phase two.  But I understood her position as well. She thought it was all being covered under her $200k because the designer made an assumption about the client’s understanding of the project. There is onus with the client, as well, to ask if they’re unclear on anything, but ultimately, it’s on the designer to explain, without pretense or defense, what’s happening along the way.

It’s weird that I’m gleaning applicable professional lessons from a reality show. 

Anyway, where was I going with this?  I don’t even know.  The end.