I think it is most important for a residential designer relabel able to listen clearly and interpret what their clients want for their home.  Too often I hear stories from clients saying that the designer didn’t listen and used their own tastes to dictate the space.  Residential design is very personal; you are their friend, confidant, right hand, voice of reason and many times, counselor.  As a designer if I meet a client for the initial consultation and feel that I won’t be able to interpret their needs properly then I let them know and walk away from the job. I recently updated a formal living room in Palm Beach and you will notice that it does not look at all like most of the images created for clients in Miami. This image is a perfect example of using your design sense to assist your clients with their vision and style.  The needs of this room were that it had been painted by a family member years ago and the memory needed to be preserved.  We were utilizing most of the existing furniture and needed to reupholster and create new draperies and an area rug to complement the existing specialty paint finish while updating the space and creating a fresh look as it had not been changed since the 70’s.  The before image to the left will show you what the original space looked like.  I have also included an image below which shows the drapery fabric that was selected and the difference you can make with a minor update.  Multiple patterns were selected within the blues to complement the yellow walls and green was also included to to tie in the yellow and make the walls a little more subtle.  Blackout liner has since been added to the drapery to assist with the preservation of fabrics, art and paint.

Hope you like it!