– by Ann Squires Ferguson, Squires Ferguson –
Have you ever had that moment when you cringe inwardly, in realization that you have seriously messed up? I have had my share of those “crawl under the rock” experiences in my design career, and my fellow designers bared their own worst moments to me too, with a rueful laugh. You can be sure we won’t repeat any of these mistakes!
Numbers matter! One digit wrong in a fabric specification code, and that’s the difference between a luxury sofa expected in rich Bordeaux red velvet arriving in a shockingly acidic chartreuse shade instead. We have never been so thankful that the client was both an artist and a practicing Buddhist! Never trust someone else’s measurements either. One local designer learned this the hard way: she ordered a full suite of bedroom furniture for a client and only discovered upon delivery that what had been labeled a bedroom would barely function as a den.
Always think in three dimensions. I was specifying pendants for a restaurant with a dramatic soaring butterfly roofline, but neglected to determine the exact drop from ceiling to shade for each fixture individually. They all arrived onsite with a standard four-foot rod. That mistake cost nearly $2,000 and a week in rewiring. A colleague recounted a similar experience early in her career – she designed a double height swagged Austrian drape. When it was installed they discovered that it was so heavy even a full grown man swinging on the draw cord could not raise it. Back to the workroom!
A few years ago, I was crafting a presentation for the Viking Air executive and found the perfect image of a floatplane silhouetted against a beautiful sunset. The instant the slide came up, a loud voice from the audience was heard. “That’s a Cessna.” Viking builds De Havilland, not Cessna. Believe me – that was achingly embarrassing!
A designer friend was fresh out of school, on her first site measure at a bustling construction site. She pulled out her brand new tape measure to start – and immediately slashed her hand deeply with the side of the tape. Cue fainting spell and first aid attendants. She still cringes to think of that first impression. I made a similar impression on a day tour of a local quarry. I was feeling privileged and competent – the Amelia Earhart of design. Then, as I leaned far over the side of a stone block, the crotch in my well-worn work trousers catastrophically split. You would have been proud of me though – I excused myself to the site trailer and immediately crafted a black duct tape patch. I am a designer, after all. We are a profession of problem solvers, even if, on occasion, the problems are of our own creation!
Ann Squires Ferguson is a Registered Interior Designer and managing partner at Western Interior Design Group Ltd. She can be reached at ann@westerninteriordesign.ca.
