Long
Distance Design Poses Unique Challenges
Debbie DeMaria, President of Vogue Interiors,
has garnered countless design awards, as well as maintaining a 7,200-square-foot
showroom and design studio that is an combination of classic style and
contemporary trends. She has a large local clientele and her work on area
model homes has received accolades. Why
then would DeMaria step outside her comfort zone in order to tackle long
distance design jobs complete with logistical problems and supply pitfalls?
“No matter what the public conception,” laughs DeMaria, “Being an interior designer is not the glamorous occupation one might think. We are in the trenches for a minimum of six months, sometimes painstakingly gathering information and confirming decisions with our client. This is not an easy task – most of our clients are very involved in their projects and some decisions do not come as easily for them. I’m a very hands-on designer and I love the challenge. Consequently, when I was approached by clients who had design projects in other countries, I didn’t hesitate before accepting the assignments.”
The first international project DeMaria took on was in France. “Of course, the language barrier was a problem, but with the help of a few referrals and good assistants, I was able to find tradespeople who spoke some English. Little did I realize that communication would be the least of my problems,” she says. “I found that the house, a 200-year-old chateau, presented its own problems. Regular nails do not work in plaster, stone or lathe walls, which are a much different medium than our modern dry wall.”
DeMaria continues, “Then came the quandary of the draperies and bedding. Should I have our treatments fabricated in France, or here in Florida? We solved that dilemma by finding a wonderful French workman with his own workroom. We were able to allow him to take control, as he had all of his own equipment and knew how to do the installation. We drew up very detailed designs and carefully labeled all of the fabric and trim. This was a huge task in itself, as the soft furnishings for this particular job filled an 8x10 room.”
Perhaps the most difficult international assignment DeMaria has ever taken on was that of a home in the West Indies. Good contacts and DeMaria’s skill and ingenuity saved the day.
“I was very fortunate
to find two great architects from Virginia; Mark Bittle and Jay Dalgliesh,
who both recognized the importance of the designer/architect relationship,”
explains DeMaria. “They were able to
recommend wonderful tradesmen and subcontractors in the West Indies. We
communicated on nearly every detail that would affect the outcome of the
project.”
Even so, DeMaria encountered challenges. “None of the islands has a big DYI store. If you run out of something, or find you’ve forgotten something, you’ve got to go back to the States for it. So it’s imperative that you over-pack your supplies. We brought along three chests of tools and anything else we thought we might need, from staple guns and nails, to string and PVC pipe. You name it, we had packed it,” she says. “And any metal we used had to be stainless steel to ward of corrosion from the salt air. Due to the fact that there is no air conditioning in this home, the interior design had to be planned with a mind towards the ever-present salt air.”
DeMaria quickly discovered that teamwork is the basis for any project, but especially on one this logistically challenging. “The most important thing is to communicate your thoughts and ideas and to work with a group of people who are looking to get things done right the first time,” she explains. “There were no egos involved. Everyone knew what we had to deal with and everyone offered ideas and solutions whenever we encountered a glitch. We kept in touch via emails and faxes and responses were immediate, which helped tremendously, because the basis of any designer/ architect relationship is that if you have conflict, it needs to have a resolution before it reaches the client. This way the client is never presented with the problem itself without also having several solution options.”
Still, Mother Nature often interferes with the best-laid plans. “The rains in the West Indies are legendary and much more frequent than in Southwest Florida,” explains DeMaria. “At one point, we had to work between rainstorms. Two hours on, one hour off, and at times, we had to endure power outages. When the electricity did work, we needed to have enough power converters on hand, as we were dealing with the 220 vs. 110 conversion. We did manage to burn out a couple of converters throughout the course of our stay, due to the high voltage equipment we were working with.”
Sending the contents of an entire house onboard a ship via containers posed other problems. “Organization and a great team is what made it all possible,” says DeMaria. “Before we let a container go, its contents were checked and double - checked and packed with infinite care. Remember, there’s no such thing as replacement when you’re working at such a distance. We had a few custom pieces which were to be reassembled on site. All of the pieces had to be made so that the packing and reassembly didn’t require an instruction book. And, once our containers arrived at the destination, government law dictated that they had to be unloaded within twenty-four hours.”
According to DeMaria, “When the project was finally done, one night at about 9:30, the last room to be finished was absolutely filthy with sawdust. We couldn’t install any of the furniture, soft furnishings or accessories before it was cleaned. One of the architects and I found some Comet cleanser, buckets of water and SOS pads and got down on our hands and knees and scrubbed the entire room, including floors, walls, window screens and shutters, without the luxury of knee pads or gloves.”
That story illustrates the fact that the staff at Vogue Interiors always goes the extra mile for their clients. Whether you’re in Florida, France or Florence, DeMaria and her entire staff will not only bring their design skill to your unique project, they’ll sense of humor, air tools, SOS pads, and passports as well.
Vogue Interiors
24520 Production Circle,Suite 5
Bonita Springs, FL 34135
239 498-7500
Photos courtesy of Vogue Interiors
