I’d like to know more about Feng Shui. What can you tell me? Can you recommend a class? –TR-C, New York NY

This is a simple question that can be difficult to answer. Feng Shui is an ancient art and science developed over 3,000 years ago in China. It is a complex body of knowledge that reveals how to balance the energies of any given space to assure the health and good fortune for people inhabiting it.

Feng means wind and shui means water. In Chinese culture wind and water are associated with good health, thus good feng shui came to mean good fortune, while bad feng shui means bad luck, or misfortune.

As it happens, an experienced friend of mine teaches a terrific class on this subject and I’ve copied the details of his next course offering here.

Best of luck, and let me know how it goes!

MODERN LIVING FENG SHUI EVENT
September 11, 2012

How does your home affect your life?

This interactive presentation reveals the true value of Feng Shui for you. Find out how adding a bedside table can transform your love life, and how rearranging your living room can improve your social life.

Through simple associative learning Benjamin Huntington will show you how to enhance your life by harnessing the limitless power of Feng Shui. Begin your personal Feng Shui journey and release the full potential of your world.

UNLOCK THE POWER TO RESHAPE YOUR LIFE AND ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS

Join Benjamin Huntington, ASID, FSIA, CID at the GE Monogram Design Center, Architects and Designers Building, 150 East 58th Street, 10th Floor in New York City

Tuesday, September 11th
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served

RSVP: Events@veritatedesign.com

Benjamin Huntington, ASID, FSIA, CID is a certified professional Feng Shui consultant with over 25 years of experience in the art of Feng Shui, a blend of various schools, teachings and recent scientific research. He has been widely published in a variety of local, national and international magazines and has presented workshops and lectures to audiences across the globe.

REGISTER NOW

Advertisement

How much should I expect to spend on a nicely done (but not super high-end) two-bedroom renovation in a Manhattan apartment? –LS, New York NY

First we would have to define what you mean by “nicely done.” Are you satisfied with Ikea cabinetry? Do you dream of bath fixtures from Waterworks? Or are you interested in re-purposing high-end cabinetry from a firm like Green Demolitions? Custom cabinetry, while more expensive, can often solve tricky spacial issues like diagonal walls, whereas the Home Depot product, costing less up-front, might still require retrofitting and cost more in the end than the custom product does to begin with! Does $600.00 for a powder room faucet offend you? Does $1000.00? What kind of flooring is being considered? Wood plank, vinyl, stone? Do you want hollow doors or solid? What type of hinges and pulls? What about your counter surfaces, kitchen and bath tile, appliances and lighting? Does your project require an architect? A contractor? Board approval? Department of Buildings filing fees? An interior designer? And all this before you talk about furniture!

There are myriad moving parts to any project and endless decisions to be made that will affect your life for a long time to come. Each item should be considered carefully for looks, for utility and for expense; and with professional input over the entire span of your project.

As a guideline, I would start with $400.00 per square foot; and know that the sky is the limit!

I’m having problems with my contractor and my designer won’t intervene because he says it’s illegal? Isn’t this why I hired a designer in the first place? –PK, Jersey City NJ

There are a number of reasons you hire an interior designer, some of which include: a paid point-of-view (you like the designer’s overall body of work); you want a space designed to accommodate your personal tastes and needs beyond what was provided by the architect or developer (or in the case of an older home, what was there…); you don’t have the time required to put all the moving parts of a project together yourself; you’re self-aware enough to know what you don’t know about space planning, the newest materials, why marble or stone is the right/wrong choice for the use intended, how to deal with customs agents and why not to order from certain vendors or foreign countries; or you’re seeking to enlarge your frame of reference (pass West Elm, think out-of-the-box, collect accolades from your circle) and elevate your taste level with a completely coordinated space.

Unless your interior designer is also a licensed contractor or GC him/herself, it is illegal in New York for him/her to direct or engage a contractor that you have hired, even if the designer referred that person. It should be noted that the client, in most cases, is responsible for contracting all trades independent of one another. This could include the architect, the designer, the contractor and possibly specialty trades like decorative painters and plasterers. Hiring a “design-build” firm negates this step, but be sure that they can offer you more choices than “one from column A and two from column B.”

The designer’s role is to make sure that his/her design is being constructed to “generally” conform with his/her wishes. When this is not the case, the designer should immediately contact you and/or the project architect, who in turn, directs the contractor.

Help! I’ve met with several designers in my area and they all charge differently. What’s up with that? How do I know what I’m getting for what I’m paying? Is there someplace I can look on-line for industry standards and guidelines for pricing? –KB, Old Greenwich CT

Sadly, there is scant, little out there that establishes industry standards for interior designers and their fees, which vary widely across the U.S. That said, I often recommend that clients go to Salary.com or PayScale.com and research what a lead designer in a large interior or architectural firm would earn in their region. You can also check out web sites that offer listings for interior designer services in your area like Thumbtack.com or Houzz.com.

Interior designers provide a wide range of services and you should be clear about what your project requires and what you’d like to spend (do your homework here and be realistic). Ask the designer questions about their background and how they break their fees out…and what you get for that. The designer should be asking you questions too! Remember, you’re interviewing each other; and your project may not fit in with a particular designer’s style or minimum threshold. If this is the case, ask the designer for a referral to someone else. And be sure to ask your friends and colleagues if they’ve worked with someone they liked as well.

Generally, designers charge in one, or a combination, of the following ways:

The Hourly Fee: exactly what it sounds like. You are charged for all the time the designer and /or his/her staff expend on your project, regardless of the task. Most firms bill in 15 minute increments, so it’s best to have several thoughts to share before you communicate. An optional trade-off here may be that while the hourly amount may be higher than you might expect, you are likely to be free of mark-ups on materials and items of merchandise. Of course your arrangement could also be based on a lesser fee per hour along with a mark-up on the items you select. Both combinations typically run from 1/3 to 40% of over-all costs.

The Flat Fee: this is a flat amount that covers the cost of creating a customized design especially for you. $3,000.00 – $5000.00 per room is not a-typical in the Northeast, and flat fees for entire projects can run into many thousands of dollars based on the scope of the project. Often you are allowed to make a specified number of changes, at no additional charge, to bring the project more in line with either your taste or your wallet. Once you approve the final design, furniture and materials are ordered –as a separate service- either at an hourly charge for all time expended, or, on a mark-up system generally between 25-35%.

The Mark-Up: a percentage charge of each wholesale item you buy through your interior designer that covers a portion of the time it takes to order, process and arrange for the delivery of your items, often 25-35%. In some rare cases, designers have been known to charge a 50-100% mark-up but no hourly or flat fees for the design.

The Monthly Charge: a flat, monthly fee that covers all time expended by the designer in a 30-day period, whether you use the service or not. The amount can be based on the average number of hours a seasoned designer knows a project will/can take, or on what the designer projects her/his income over the course of a year should be for the type of project you present. This works wonderfully well on large, multi-year projects (ground-up construction and decoration) but can also work for mid-size projects where it functions like flat billing from the phone or electric company.

Sliding Scale Charges: different charges for different services, i.e. drafting, design, shopping, follow-up etc. Be sure you understand what you are agreeing to, and more importantly, that you trust your designer as this can become complicated and unwieldy. In my experience, and I’ve changed my opinion over time, what was intended to add clarity for the client about who was doing what job (Sr. Designer/Jr. Designer), for how long and at what price, turns out to be an accounting nightmare for my office and a matter of opinion on the part of the client. Therefore, I now invoice based on an average of all of these charges for all of the time we expend, with the exception of drawings, which are invoiced directly by the draftsperson.

Why am I charged for phone calls, texts and emails? –WS, St. Louis MO

After talent, I am primarily selling my time; and there is a value attached to that. Whether I meet with a client in person or communicate electronically, there are only so many hours in a day to accomplish the tasks at hand. The presented answer you receive, often in seconds and with smooth professional confidence may have taken 5 emails and 3 phone calls to achieve. It may have taken a day or a week of back and forth with the vendor due to discontinuances, special order limitations…or even mis-recorded information. It may also have taken an unannounced, in-person visit to complete whatever the piece of business was. At its simplest, it may only require pulling your file, reviewing the information, checking something on-line, notating it on your order for future reference, letting you (and all related parties, i.e. contractor, architect, mill, upholsterer etc.) know the action taken and whether there is any action to be taken by you/them, following up on that with more calls or emails, then re-filing the document or folder. Even invoiced in 15-minutes increments (lawyers charge in 6-minute increments), this often doesn’t cover the time expended by my office on your behalf. And while you should (and deserve to) feel as though you are my only concern when we communicate, what you may not realize is that there often 3-4 other clients on my roster who feel the same way at the exact same moment!

How much should my kitchen renovation cost? –JK, Forest Hills NY

In a new home, purchased in the last 3 years where you are gutting the entire space, you can use the following guideline based on a medium or slightly above medium level project in the Metropolitan area:

Figure 30-40% of your purchase price for over-all design, demolition, construction and materials costs.  20% of that figure should be allotted for your kitchen.

In a home that you have lived in for more than 5 years and for which you are only renovating the kitchen, use the following guideline based on a medium or slightly above medium level project in the Metropolitan area:

Figure $600-$900 per square foot including the costs for an interior designer or kitchen and bath specialist, a registered architect, appliances & materials and all filing and contractors fees.

Materials can run in the following ranges, depending on your choices:

Appliances – $10,000-$30,000

Counters – $8000-$15,000 ($50-$150 per square foot)

Custom Cabinetry – $15,000-$50,000

Flooring – $10-$30 per square foot

Hardware – $1000-$3500

Lighting – $2000-$5000

Tile or Stone – $15-$80 per square foot

These guidelines are based on kitchens 80-150 square feet located in the Metropolitan area.  Additional costs may apply for Asbestos and Lead removal in buildings constructed through 1977 as well as any previously undetected and necessary mold removal in all construction.  In NYC many buildings require piping replacement to the branch line.  Requests for electrical upgrades must be cleared with building management and are likely to add significantly to the cost of your project.

How long does a typical renovation take? — JS, New York, NY

What is being renovated?  One room?  A whole home?  Are you doing a gut renovation?  A partial?  Just a bathroom?  Are you saying “renovation” but really mean “decoration?”

Here are some guidelines that may help (all time frames are estimated):

Furniture, window treatments or wall coverings: most take a minimum of 4-6 weeks to order.  Custom work and foreign ordering can take up to 20 weeks.  If you want to choose your own fabrics, add 2-4 weeks to allow yourself or your designer to shop, help you make your selections and arrange for materials to be forwarded to the manufacturing firm.

Custom closets or built-ins: From design to installation, approximately 2-8 months, depending on your choices

Bathroom Renovation: From design to putting your toothpaste on the sink, approximately 8-12 weeks.  Actual time for demolition and construction, approximately 4-6 weeks.

Kitchen Renovation: From design to putting your dishes away, up to 20 weeks.  Actual time for demolition and construction, approximately 4-6 weeks.

Refresh your studio or one-bedroom apartment: (no heavy construction, some furniture, possibly some built-ins), approximately 3-9 months, depending on your choices 

Gut Renovate your studio or one-bedroom apartment: (new walls, new kitchen and bath,electrical work, some or all new furniture) approximately 5-9 months, depending on your choices

Refresh your two-bedroom apartment: (no major construction, some furniture, possibly some built-ins or a bathroom upgrade), approximately 5-12 months, depending on your choices

Gut Renovate your two-bedroom apartment: (new walls, new kitchen and bath rooms, electrical work, all new furniture), approximately 9-18 months, depending on your choices

Have you joined the Design Discourse?

When you have been in any line of work for a number of years it’s easy to think you have all the angles figured.  The business of interior design is a business of exceptions, rendering this theory moot.  While most clients tend to ask similar, or even the same questions, they all hear the answers differently. That said, certain truths stand up regardless of the location or situation affecting your project.  This blog strives to provide detailed explanations of issues common to the broadest range of job site conditions, but will also toss a saucy wink toward some fun, innovative products and ideas that will, with wit, illuminate those darker-corner design dilemmas!

Generally, I find one of the biggest disconnects between the client and the designer (or architect or contractor) is not knowing the right questions to ask…or, more appropriately, how to ask the question in a complete format.  Clairvoyancy is not part of our curriculum, but it’s amazing how good you get at it with practice!  Our first post illustrates this point beautifully.  A more direct and concise response would have been possible with a few specifics added to the question.  Of course you can’t always help being a bit tongue-tied (usually not a problem for me!), nervous, excited or just thinking faster than your speech; but it can cost you!

Take care, do your research and read on…

My crystal ball tells me the coming posts will be seen as opportunities for clarity in advance of chaos. If my vision holds true, and you’ve saved dollars or delays, I’ve completed my task (except possibly during a Mercury Retrograde)!  With that in mind, I will be posting a variety of client questions, fielded and responded to many times in my career.  The future holds answers.  I believe you will find them informative, definitive and sometimes even fun!

I look forward to your queries and your quagmires.  They are all part of the larger Discourse on Design!

Wishing you joy, while transforming your rooms into environments–

Kent