Despite not starting out as an interior designer, Caroline Couzens’ move into the industry was a thoroughly organic and fluid one, following a successful career as a three-dimensional product designer and design tutor. “I’m a materials person and have a great respect for crafts. Every project I undertake starts with a materials based approach, whether I'm designing a space or indeed an object,” says Caroline, who believes form following function should underpin everything. “I’ve always been drawn to function and home, solving the real-life problems people experience in their home environments. I see design as problem-solving, and this is how I approach my work today.”
So, just how has she turned her hand from product design to becoming a sought-after interior designer in just three years? Here, she reveals her top tips to success and why sticking to her design beliefs has delivered exceptional projects.
Set Your Design Values And Stick to Them
Harbouring a minimal aesthetic style of her own, Caroline made it her mission never to make judgements of clients’ homes or ideas. “My job is to not impose my style on others. My job is to listen and respond,” she explains. “Clients may tell you that their home represents them and there are certain things that they love, but to make any judgements yourself is wrong. Be an open book, because sometimes it’s the closed brief that actually opens up the most creative avenues.”
Caroline’s training, experience and visual skills have given her a deep understanding of the aesthetic balance of volumes and light in a space, equipping her with the expertise to make even the most eclectic of schemes work. “It’s all down to recognising the balance and how to achieve it. If a client wanted lime green and brown with purple flowers, I would make it work. It’s all about pulling together pieces of the puzzle, layering and building. You’ve got colour, aesthetic, personalities, practicalities, and it can all be successfully layered when the balances are right,” she says.
Value Your Ideas
As a solopreneur, like Caroline, building your own business is exciting, but understanding how much to charge for your services can be challenging. Caroline believes it’s important to charge a fee for initial face-to-face consultations, as her ideas are valuable, especially if she’s taking time to visit someone at their home. “The best design is about ideas, and it’s easy to say that ideas cost nothing, however, if I went into somebody’s home, gave them a 30 minute consultation and then walked out, they would have got the best bit for nothing,” says Caroline. “On a professional level, I need to ascertain where the client is at in terms of how much time, effort, and expense they want to put into their renovation, and I can’t do that without meeting them and seeing them in their environment. It also allows a prospective client to see how they work with you.”
Impress With Clear Visuals And Accurate Estimates
Clients will return time and time again if they enjoy the design journey you take them on, and trust in your decisions. For Caroline, using Houzz Pro’s 3D floor planner for just about every project allows her to communicate her design concepts clearly and easily. “I absolutely love the 3D floor planner. It’s so user-friendly, and it gives my clients a multi-layered view of the floor plan and a 3D visual of the space.”
The 3D floor planner is also a tool for calculation and scaling, allowing users to create accurate estimates that are clear and transparent. “When I am specifying, if somebody needs to know the square meterage of their walls for tiles, or paint quantities, I can immediately go into the 3D floor planner and give them those quantities. It’s a brilliant tool for helping to reduce the risk of wasted materials, and over spending, which is key to building trustworthy relationships with clients.”
Alway be Upfront and Transparent
Whatever challenges or difficulties you may face on a project, it pays to always be honest with your clients to maintain a healthier and trusting relationship. For many people within the interior design and construction industry, the inflated costs of labour and materials has impacted many projects’ bottom line, therefore, it’s the responsibility of the interior designer to notify clients of any rising costs. “I’m always very conscious that my job is to get the client the best value, " says Caroline. “It’s not about being cheap, it’s about getting the best bang for your buck. As a result of inflation, I have had to put my hourly rates up, and equally material costs have gone up, but you have to be fluid and consider getting different competitive quotes. Honesty is the best policy. Don’t make things up, and that includes prices.”
Market Yourself Efficiently
Reaching the right clients is a big conundrum for any interior designer. Houzz’s platform allows existing clients to write reviews raving about services, providing prospective clients with valuable information to help them make an informed decision. “The reviews are a brilliant feature,” says Caroline. “I always ask my clients to write one; I make it a very personal interaction. And then to prospective clients who contact me, I explain that the reviews do not get filtered or edited by me, but get directly posted on Houzz, which gives them credibility and integrity.”
Adopt Technology to Save Time and Money
For anyone considering digital tools to help them streamline their business process, but are unsure of which direction to take, Caroline believes Houzz Pro is a multifaceted experience that needs to be tried to believe. “Not only does it give you a public face, allowing potential clients to view your top work, it also has really useful tools for not only presentations, but workflow, time control, finances and admin assistance, so it’s a win-win. It’s a very comprehensive bundle,” she says.
Caroline loves that she no longer wastes time flipping from app to app, but can now write a proposal, adjust an invoice or send a message to a subcontractor all in one platform. “Houzz Pro has 100% helped me to scale up my business, creating a portal for me to showcase my projects, as well as a portal for people to find me. And the amount of time I’ve saved bouncing from excel spreadsheet to word doc to drawing app, now allows me to concentrate on the part I love - making more people happy in their homes. Many of my clients have made an investment in me, even if they’ve just had an initial consultation, and I’m hugely respectful of that. To know that I’m actually making people happier and problem-solving is a lovely thing to know. I’d much rather be designing than doing the admin!"
