July 15th, 2016

AMANDA FORREST

Meet the gorgeously talented Amanda Forrest!

Only a few months ago I had the pleasure of photographing Amanda for a second time, so it felt fitting to share the first round of images before diving in to share the second.

What I love about Amanda is how personable and down to earth she is! I know when she is going to be in the studio it’s going to be a fun day. Some other fun facts about Amanda? She’s a mother of 5…yup 5 (hello #MomGoals). We wanted to somehow incorporate that element into her photoshoot, if you keep scrolling below you’ll see some signature ‘desk’ shots with a funs spin. We decided it would be fun after we took a proper styled shot to add in a bunch of fun elements of her 5 children…also a more true reflection of how her desk usually is! A mix of work and play.

Amanda also just launched her new line of pillows, check out her online shop here!

Keep on scrolling to read about the 5 things you need to know when working with a designer!

5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT WORKING WITH A DESIGNER

1/ We can design one room…or an entire home

We work all on size projects and a range of budgets so feel free to call on us if you have a room that needs a refresher or you are building a home from scratch. We liaison with architects and construction managers to ensure your home will look and function the way you are expecting it to. We are your voice in a sea of people asking about tile direction, pot light placement, floor outlets and bulk heads just to name a few.

2/ We want you to be honest about money

All too often clients are afraid to tell me what their budgets are for fear that I will somehow feel the need to blow their maximum funds. This is absolutely not the case-I just need to understand the overall numbers so that I can source accordingly. Its disappointing to pull together a design concept only find out that I have overshot in the money department. On the same hand if you are expecting the best of the best and under deliver-we both end up disappointed. In order to give you the best bang for your buck weather the project is big or small I need to know what you would like to spend on your space.

3/ We don’t get the discounts you think we do

Everybody loves a deal-so do I! Generally our discounts on product range from 10-15% off of the full retail price. This means by the time we place the order for you, pay our accountant to do the paperwork on the discount we lose money passing along the discount. If you are paying your designer by the hour you will likely pay more in hourly time for the rigmarole of dealing with the order then you will save at 15% off. We offer this as a value added service to our clients but trust me when I say by no means are we getting rich off of that lamp you paid full price for.

4/ We can’t tell you exactly when the project will be complete

This is because much of the timeline depends on how quickly you can make a decision on what we present to you. If it takes you a month to getting around to trying out the sofa we suggested then our timelines change dramatically. We love clients who do the homework we give them so we can keep the project moving along.

5/ Your style is not our style

Our ultimate goal is to create a home for you that reflects your family’s personality. Sure it will have our stamp on it-because that’s what you are hiring us for but the overall finished look needs to be something that functions and feels good for your family long after we are gone. We love it when clients give us photos from magazines of that they have found online so that we can get a sense of what they are drawn to.