My Designer Tips: Moving & Installs
The kiddos are back in school, the university dorms are full again, it’s college football season and the holidays will be here before we know it. I felt it appropriate to write this particular blog installment...
Photo: via beyondthebackgate.com
As an interior designer, I’ve been involved in my fair share of installs. If not properly coordinated, they can be a logistics nightmare, leave a huge mess instead of progress and cause you unnecessary stress by this zoo of people running around like headless chickens leaning on YOU for any and all direction. If you’ve hired a moving crew, they charge you by the hour (no matter what they are doing…standing around and chewing gum? Yep, that’s what you’re paying for LOL)…you need to keep them working and have a plan of attack. Luckily, I’m here to help so you aren’t all on your own!
Photo: West Coast Self-Storage via Pinterest
In this post, I’m going to share some of my designer secrets exclusively to help you with your very own home move. For my fellow designers, these are good tackle box go-to’s that you may use on your very own client installs. While some may seem obvious, they are often overlooked or never even considered and if so, these “misses” can cause damage to your home, furniture and belongings, thus costing you (or your clients) more money. Save yourself the headaches and expense with my trade knowledge.
Photo: Snoop Pomeranian Facebook
Here are some tips I’ve learned over the years that will help to keep your move-in day or designer install on the rails.
Move-in day/Install tips:
Confirm your list of items delivering and installing - confirm who has what and who’s responsible for delivering what/when. For more complicated projects, we’ll run expediting reports internally from our design software. I’ll use that as my checklist and dash off as each item comes in and status of each. I like to stagger trucks too - I’m only one person (per my favorite station) and we don’t want to get caught in the rain or heat if everything is sitting in the front driveway or lawn. It’s goes from the truck INTO the space. It doesn’t sit or wait outside.
Check your install kit and toolbox - make sure you have everything you need and even those things you might not think you need. Don’t forget door stops, extra blankets, scissors, batteries and light bulbs too!
Confirm with your client and make sure proper arrangements have been made for all kids and pets to be off the premises or pets closed up in secure, conditioned area. This is for everyone’s safety and no one wants to lose a beloved pet when doors are left open for hours during installs and minds are distracted.
Before you offload the truck/deliveries, walk the entire team through the home/property and tell them what you’re calling each room. As pieces come in - you want your installer to know which room you’re calling “The Parlour” or if distinctive features are more obvious, go with names like “Blue Room” or “Hall Bath”.
Be sure to have helpers and each of whom will man their specific stations. Everyone can’t work in the same room - divide up your manpower. I like to stay with the truck and stand on the back lift gate (yes, they cringe and scold me for this). I have first eyes on everything and am there to witness any possible damage from truck to front door. If a big home, someone at the front door to point and confirm which direction once in, if multiple levels, someone at the top of stairs/bottom of basement to meet them and escort down the hall to appropriate final destination.
be sure to follow me @kathrynnelsonid for my instagram story updates & see behind the scenes on our client installs!!!
Wear comfortable shoes that are easy to remove - you’ll be popping them on and off if rugs and carpets are already in - I like thick no-slip grippy socks and Birks or house shoes with outdoor soles - they’re faster to slip on and off and you’ll be a running fool on install days. Dress in layers too - going from hot moving truck to conditioned interior can take a toll on you and even in the coldest blizzards, I’ve been a sweaty Betty from running across a property.
Keep an eye on your time! Start with the heaviest and largest items, if possible. If assembly is required for anything, get them working on that first thing - you don’t want to save the worst for last when you’re all exhausted.
Work in various areas around the house and constantly clean up trash. On really big jobs, it’s good to have one person walking up and down the halls (big houses or hotels) picking up trash from every room and taking loads to the garage or rolling housekeeping carts back to the service dump. Have this person keep their eyes on big boxes for red ribbons or installation parts - vendors are usually good at making these obvious. No one wants to go on a wild goose chase in search of rare antique brass finials in the final hour!
Take breaks, have agreed upon lunch times, break in waves so the install doesn’t just abruptly stop. I’m very guilty of working through meals and skipping lunches, especially on an install day but we all need food and yes, we all get “hangry.”
At the end of the day, confirm what wasn’t finished or where you left off…then pick right back up there the next day. Note missing parts, required install items and plan for one person to make a trip to the local hardware shop once you’ve got a good running list - remember, that’s one less person working onsite so be wary of just sending people off the jobsite.
Keep a positive mood and stay calm - this should be fun after-all.
Don’t forget to take pictures!!! I’m super guilty of this or schedule for a follow-up shoot to document all of your hard work. Client gifts and flowers are always a nice detail too.
Photo: Kathryn Nelson Design
We have another client install coming up next week. I feel like they always happen in the summer…during the hottest months. Luckily, this one is all indoors [hallelujah!] and I’m dying to see it all finished and every piece in it’s final home. Look for more details in my next blog post…for now you’ll just get some behind the scenes teasers.
Lesson learned
Like all things in life, you live and you learn. I like to use the mentality that when I do make a mistake, I use the situation as a “lesson learned” situation: I consider what I did wrong, how I could have avoided it, take a deep breath and come up with solutions. I’m also sure to consider said mistake in my future dealings, so NOT to make that same mistake twice.
We’re all human after-all <wink>.
I hope you found this post helpful, that you learned something new today and, that when you account for these tips in future installs, I’ve saved you a lot of drama on the jobsite or fighting with your spouse.
Cheers
Have some of your own tricks up your sleeve? Make sure to share them to Instagram and let us see your moving tips by using the tag #ShowKNDyourDesign
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Interior Designer’s Install Checklist
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