Or in other words, When is a good time to call and make an appointment with your interior designer?
Our year can be separated into a few periods:
Summer (July & August): Both the temperature and tensions on construction sites are sky high. Summer is when renovations are in full swing and when families are looking forward to moving into their new homes after working on them for a year or two (or three…). Rental contracts are coming to an end, and whether our new home is ready or not – we're moving in! This is the time of year when interior designers scramble from one building site to another, finalize designs, mark walls, solve problems, soothe nerves and then when everything's done, enjoy the results!
The Chagim (September & October): There are only about five work days left from this month. The rest are Chag. Or Isru Chag. Or Erev Chag.
Winter (November thru February): This is the time for planning!
This is the time to start planning the kitchen you want to finish in time for Pesach. As soon as the "after- holidays" are over, the planning begins, and around Chanukah time, we start the pricing. We close the deal in December, after prices have gone down, and we begin preparations and taking measurements on Tu B'shvat. On Purim, we'll call to find out when the cabinets will be assembled, and then the week before Pesach, you’ll go to Eilat for a vacation since you won't have a kitchen that needs to be scrubbed or kashered!
Now is the time to start planning for the renovations you'd like to carry out in the summer. (Do you remember the story about the grasshopper and the ant? Same thing but in the construction industry, the seasons are just reversed.) This way, we'll have time to design, change our mind, and then make some more design changes over the next three months. Before Pesach, we'll send out tenders, after Pesach we'll receive some responses (because everyone is stressed during March and April-see below) and then adjust the plan to fall within our budget. Around Shavuot, we'll knock down the walls and, G-d willing, we'll be done with everything by the time the holidays come around again….
Pesach-time (March & April): Everyone wants something new for Pesach. We quickly build new closets, install new lamps, hang new wallpaper and repaint the whole house. Tensions are at an all-time high. And yet every year I still get calls from people the week before Seder who say, "I'd like to redo the living room before Chag – can you meet with me tomorrow?"
Spring (May & June): This is the time to start actual working on site and executing all those plans we've been working on. Now is when we close deals with contractors, begin renovations and complete all the projects we didn’t finish before Pesach. If you'd like to sit down with an interior designer during the summer vacation, you should call to make your appointment now. This is the optimal time to contact interior designers, since we still believe that this summer we will actually take a vacation with our family (but that's only because YOU haven’t called yet…)
So, the next time you ask yourself, when is the best time to call…
- Just call! (no matter what season it is)
- If you want to carry out renovations in the summer, call your designer in the winter. Reserve dates with a contractor between Pesach and Shavuot while they still have spots in their summer schedule. This will also enable you to negotiate lower prices.
- If you would like to install a new kitchen, living room or cabinets for Pesach, call your designer by Chanukah. (Here's that answer I promised you…). And you’ll get better prices if you order your kitchen cabinets by the end of December.
- If you're interested in renovating, but don’t care what time of year, you should take advantage of most designers’ slow seasons, between the Chagim and Chanukah, or right after Pesach – before everyone else wakes up.
- You should never do renovations under pressure. It’s always best to plan ahead and take the time to think through what you really want. When you’re pressed for time, you have fewer options to choose from, since not all of your top picks will be in stock. You won't have any negotiating leverage and the best designers and contractors will be booked solid.
So, in case you’re still debating whether it’s too early to call – it’s not!
Have any comments on this blog? I’d love to hear from you.
Yours,
Derorit
Creating spaces people want to live in
