I have a designers confession to make. As interior designers we are trained to appreciate the finer things in life. Like French silk brocade, or an ornately hand carved fauteuil chair. We only shop in the most exclusive showrooms and we must custom order nearly every piece of furniture, right down to the $350 a yard silk tassel trim on the pillows...
What we are taught to discount and ignore is the mass-marketed, mass-produced furniture like that found in Pottery Barn and other sources. But I have a confession, I love Pottery Barn. Like many designers that I know, it's a dirty little secret for us. I feel like I have to sneak the catalog in my desk, where a client would never see what I was looking at. I picked up a fellow designer for lunch the other day, and I found myself blushing and making excuses when she saw I had the latest issue in my car.
I have a theory of why we designers secretly love and admire the Pottery Barn catalog. We are surrounded by extravagance and luxury. If it's true that we always want what we can't have, then the simplicity and conformity is what we should crave. When I look at a room in Pottery Barn, I get a sense of calm, of casualness, of nonchalance. The designs we create for our clients as professional designers are crafted with great thought and attention to detail. Individual creativity is a must, yet in P.B the way the rooms are put together in their totality, with any piece easily mixed with any other piece in the catalog without even thinking twice, is like taking a day off! You don't have to search through countless catalogs or fabric books, it's all there put together for you in a neat little package.
So what's wrong with specifying a piece from a Pottery Barn catalog? I mean how can I with a clear conscience, recommend a $15,000 dining table to my client when secretly I have fallen in love with a $3,000 table in a mail order catalog that would serve the same purpose? I will tell you how. The phrase, " you get what you pay for" has multiple meanings here. With the more expensive table, you're paying for the exclusivity of the piece. You also know that no one in a twenty mile radius has the exact table as you. Chances are the $15,000 table is of heirloom quality and is a piece that will hold it's value long enough for you to pass it on to your kids. It really depends on what your client values most.
In my mind, as a designer you understand what you're ordering and if you don't mind that every fifth house on your block probably has the same table, then go for it. What's wrong with a little conformity now and then, right? When it comes to your clients home it's all about being an informed consumer. I would never specify a piece from P.B. without consulting my client first and explaining the pros and cons. Wouldn't you be horrified if a client found their "unique" apothecary table at their neighbors house? Maybe they don't care about passing down their furniture. Chances are their kids won't have the same taste by then anyway.
As an added bonus, nowadays large chain stores and catalogs like this are becoming extremely designer friendly. I recently was given a small, purse-sized fan deck of Benjamin Moore paint colors used in the Pottery Barn catalog layouts and the store showroom. I love it. All of the colors are simple neutrals that are easily adaptable to almost any decor, and Benjamin Moore makes great paint. Did you know that you can get a designer discount at Pottery Barn, Ballard Designs, and even Pier One? It never hurts to ask what type of designer program they offer and usually it only requires filling out a simple form and showing proof of a resale number and a business card.
I promise I'm not getting any reimbursement from these stores. I'm just dedicated to helping out my fellow designers. I know in this industry, we work too hard and waste too much time running around town looking for just the right piece. Why not make our life a little easier and go with a sure thing now and then? It's all about balance, and mixing an eclectic variety of pieces together to create a beautiful, aesthetically pleasing living space. As long as the room looks great and the client is happy, then you've done your job and you will always be considered a great designer.
By:Chelsea Coryell
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