So what's it like to be a professional designer? Each day is so different. Here's what I did today. Busy and long day. But a good day.
1) Finalize and email a proposal to a Wellesley client for a fireplace order. Get ready for the day. Pack up what I need.
3) Met with clients in Lexington to figure out what to do about a rug in their dining room that's not quite working for them. Problem-solve and try to make them happy. Come up with a plan that I hope will work.
4) Meet Robin, my former assistant for lunch in Newton. It was great to catch up with her.
5) Visit a trade-only carpet showroom near the lunch spot to pull carpets for a client's stair runner and a guest room in Belmont. Quote carpets for that client's kitchen and the family room. Sort and return carpet samples.
6) Drive to the Design Center. (Boston)
7) Talk to the rug vendor who sold me the rug from #1 to update him on what's happening. We were thinking we might order another custom Tibetan, but now maybe not. Return more rug samples.
8) Select rug samples from Michaelian for my Belmont client's dining room.
9) Select fabrics from Beacon Hill and Duralee for my Belmont client's guest room and the family room.
10) Go to the gym (Watertown). Talk with a guy who reps plumbing parts about what's going on in the business.
11) Go to Target (Watertown) to buy items that I'll use during a lecture I am giving tomorrow at NewBridge on the Charles, a senior living community which is part of Hebrew SeiniorLife. The lecture is about how to blend your belongings from your old home into your new home and how and personalize your new home. Many of the residents are downsizing and transitioning to a new phase of life so there are a lot of questions and concerns. I had a really fun time doing the lecture in the Spring, so I hope this one goes well. I love Target for bath accessories, kitchen towels and the like and even something as simple as new dish towels can make a person feel at home. I'll be using these types of items in the lecture tomorrow.
12) Back to office. Review notes from the last lecture I gave at NewBridge. Remember how fun it was. Get a little excited. Then realize there's still some work to do. Catch up on email. Fax a few orders: lighting, tile. Check fax machine and v.m. for any incoming. Make a "To Do" for tomorrow including follow up calls to make while out and about. Schedule a phone call meeting with a client.
13) Read this guy's blog about the interior design business: Interior Design Business by Fred Berns. Decide I really do want to be positive about my business in this economy. Send an email to a few friends about it. Send Fred an email thanking hm for his blog. If you are a designer, check it out!
14) Decide it's time to wind down and go to bed already. After all it's 11 pm. Tomorrow, as my mother would say, is another day. But today was a long one but a good one.