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Welcome to episode 21 of 
designed curious podcast. 

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I'm your host and Mentor. 
Rebecca Ward. 

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Today, I am talking to you about
the pros and cons of residential

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design. 
What residential design, really 

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means to me why I love it, why 
you may or may not love getting 

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into residential design and it 
really brings up some points. 

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You might want to consider and 
help you decide whether 

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residential interior design is 
the career for you, or Whether 

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you want to go into commercial 
design, so let's get into it 

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today. 
You're now listening to design, 

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curious a place where you 
creative one are here to learn 

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about what it really is. 
Like, to be an interior designer

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and I'm your host and Mentor 
Rebecca, Ward, if you're worried

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about how to succeed in a 
creative career, if you're ready

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to learn your next steps to 
become an Interior Designer. 

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And if you want the satisfaction
of doing something you love 

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every day, you are in the right 
place. 

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Grab a coffee, a notebook. 
And let's dig into today's 

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episode. 
So I was thinking about this 

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topic the other day as I was 
planning out the different 

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podcast, I wanted to talk about 
and I was thinking about some of

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the things that I really like 
about residential design. 

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Like, why does it resonate with 
me so much? 

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And why do I enjoy it so much as
opposed to going in the 

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direction of commercial design? 
And I thought of the idea of 

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home and I thought that there's 
nothing more intimate and 

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meaningful than home home is 
supposed to know. 

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Nurture, you and take care of 
you, it restores you before you 

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go out in the world and when 
there's something wrong with 

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your home, you're not 
functioning at full capacity and

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it needs to be fixed and 
designer is there to help 

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fulfill that need. 
And I was just thinking about 

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what Joy I can bring to people 
as their home designer and being

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able to maximize their lives and
really help them be the best 

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that they can be in their lives 
by having a home base. 

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He's from which they go forth 
that really restores and renews 

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them. 
So the whole concept of home and

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nurturing just really, I think 
connects with me on a deep and 

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personal level that just helps 
me be passionate about 

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residential design, and wanting 
to help other people have homes 

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that they love. 
So, let me talk a little bit 

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more about residential design, 
pros and cons. 

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So I'll talk about the pros. 
First, one of the things that I 

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love about residential design is
the amount of creativity that 

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you can express in it. 
The custom everything is 

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possible and home as well as the
range of styles and every home 

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is unique and different 
depending on who the owner is. 

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And so it's so fun to take on 
these projects that change every

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single time, every project is a 
new thing. 

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I'm using new materials and new 
sources and Colors are different

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and textures and the needs are 
all different. 

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And so I think the variety and 
the creativity is what draws me 

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to it. 
On the other side of commercial 

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design. 
I am sure that there's a lot of 

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creativity, but maybe not as 
much variety when I think about 

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maybe like, education, where 
you're doing a lot of space 

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planning, which is, I guess not.
The thing that I love the most 

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about design, I love working 
with the finishes and And 

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fixtures and materials and the 
materials selections that you 

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have to do for educational or 
corporate design. 

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It's very limited. 
I mean, you have to choose from 

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this Final fluorines in this 
commercial carpet and this 

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rubber base and these paint 
colors and I just don't think 

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that that would really satisfy 
my Cravings as a designer. 

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But, you know, those people that
really love this base planning, 

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part of it and figuring out that
puzzle, that might be. 

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What does it for them? 
But personally, as a residential

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designer, I don't think I would 
feel quite fulfilled. 

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So, residential design really 
allows me to explore all the 

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textures and colors and fabrics 
and materials and finishes that 

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I could ever want to explore the
other advantage of residential 

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designs that you typically have 
a single decision maker in the 

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project. 
It might be a couple who owned 

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the house but your client is 
that couple or that homeowner 

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and whereas with commercial 
design, oftentimes your meeting 

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with a board, you have to get 
board approval from 5 10, 20 

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people, and trying to get them 
all to agree on something is 

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extremely challenging. 
Whereas if you're only working 

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with one or two people and I'm 
trying to get them to make a 

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decision and you spent time 
getting to know that person and 

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knowing, you know, what their 
needs are and what they're 

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looking for and how to 
communicate effectively with 

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them. 
Then it's, I Much easier perhaps

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it's because I'm a high is on 
the disc assessment. 

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So I like to relate with people 
and understand how they're 

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feeling and it might be a little
bit easier for me to to work 

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with people one-on-one like 
that. 

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Another Pro I would say is that 
you get direct feedback and 

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responses on your design and the
satisfaction of your client. 

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For example like you get to have
that reveal like That 

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quintessential HGTV reveal where
the client can walk into the 

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space and they're just blown 
away by the work that you've 

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done and how it's changed our 
life. 

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And, you know, people are 
getting emotional and I kind of 

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love that part of it. 
It's satisfying for me, I don't 

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know, maybe it's an ego stroke, 
but it just to see someone 

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appreciate the work that you've 
done. 

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In person is just really nice to
have. 

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Whereas, if you're designing, 
maybe a commercial space like a 

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restaurant or Cafe, you know? 
That a lot of people are going 

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to be in there, enjoying it, but
you don't actually get a talk to

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those people necessarily and see
how they on a personal level, 

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love the space, and what they 
think about the tile choice that

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you made. 
And so I love getting that 

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feedback from my clients and 
that's something that I get out 

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of residential design. 
And then I also love 

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incorporating personal details 
of the client. 

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So maybe they travel a lot and 
you can incorporate artwork that

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they've collected or they have a
favorite color. 

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Color. 
And then you're trying to 

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incorporate that into the 
design. 

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So I love making a space really 
personal for the client. 

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So those are all things that I 
think there's probably many more

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aspects of residential design, 
but those are probably some of 

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the top things that I really 
love. 

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That were motivations for me to 
choose residential design, as my

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focus in my career, some of the 
cons that come up when people 

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think about residential design, 
or that maybe, you know, my 

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Professor said Baldwin College 
but one of the things that comes

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up most frequently is the 
hand-holding that you need to do

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with your residential clients 
it's often very challenging for 

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them to visualize the design 
like you can you have to walk 

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them through step by step to 
kind of see how and why you 

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chose the things that you did. 
How it's going to help them in 

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their life why they need to 
spend so much money on such and 

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such resistance? 
Is the focal point of the room 

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and you kind of have to walk 
them through and hold their 

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hand, as they might be hesitant,
as they might be fearful to 

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spend money on that, or as they 
just don't understand where 

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you're coming from. 
So that does take a good amount 

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of patience with the client as 
they are walking through that 

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process and you have to do that 
almost every time with every 

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client. 
But that's, you know, like I 

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said before, that's one of the 
personal things. 

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I really love with the clients 
actually taking them through 

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That process one of the cons 
could also be that things might 

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tend to get personal. 
So if you have a client that 

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doesn't like your design and 
it's rejected, I think it's 

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because they have a closer 
relationship with that client. 

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The designer can tend to 
sometimes take it personally 

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that they don't like a certain 
thing about the design. 

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Whereas in a commercial setting,
you might be like the board 

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decided that red was not the 
right color. 

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Well you're not going to really 
take that personally. 

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You're just going to shift and 
change directions, but when 

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you're thinking so deeply about 
your clients and how they're 

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going to live in the space, I 
mean, I really get in there and 

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envision like, okay, my client 
is walking into the kitchen on a

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Sunday morning and this is her 
getting their coffee and then I 

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like to sit over here with the 
dog. 

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And, you know, as you're 
visualizing this and then, if 

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they don't agree with that 
design that you visualized, it 

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can be difficult to receive 
that. 

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So that's something that I 
probably They coached myself on 

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over the years. 
Now doesn't bother me as much as

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it used to. 
But, you know, some there are 

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times when I've become attached 
to a certain aspect of the 

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design that the client decides 
not to go forward with, and it 

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can be disappointing. 
Another downside of residential 

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design is because you're 
working. 

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So personally, with these 
clients, is that there might be 

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a conflict of personalities. 
They might be argumentative, or 

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they might be not great 
communicators. 

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And so there can be drama that 
develops around a project 

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hopefully not but there is 
potential for that. 

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And so that is one of the 
advantages of really studying 

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personality types, understanding
conversation Styles and 

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different methods of selling to 
people. 

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And I really enjoy getting into 
that. 

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I love all the personality test 
and understanding everyone's 

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personality. 
So, I enjoy that part of it, but

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there may be people who don't 
and so, That would maybe be a 

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hindrance for them to actually 
have to think about what is a 

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person's communication style and
how can I modify mine to work 

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better with my client? 
And then kind of like I said 

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before the subjective opinions 
of the client whereas you might 

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have a piece of art that you 
picked up for the space that 

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goes perfectly looks great. 
With the design, all the colors 

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work but then the client just 
doesn't resonate with that piece

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of art, they don't like in. 
So then you have to To go back 

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to the drawing board and pick a 
new one. 

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And I suppose that could happen 
in a commercial setting but more

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likely in commercial design or 
even with model homes, I felt 

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like we had a lot more autonomy 
with our designs because we were

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just pleasing the Builder and 
the directors in charge of 

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building the models and not 
necessarily a particular client.

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So we had a lot of autonomy on, 
you know, Style. 

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The house was going to be in the
details that we were including 

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in the house and we just kind of
got to do whatever we wanted to 

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do with that. 
Whereas your client is 

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definitely going to have 
opinions about specific items. 

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So that's why I spent a lot of 
time up front getting to know my

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client getting to know their 
design style their personality 

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and really getting a lot of 
feedback from them up front so 

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that I know that they're going 
to love the pieces that I select

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for them. 
In their design. 

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So those are just a few pros and
cons about residential design. 

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But like I said, I really think 
that for me, I do love getting 

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to know my clients and really 
working with them on a personal 

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level. 
And I think that's an important 

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thing to know about residential 
design that if you, like 

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relating with people, and 
working with them one-on-one, 

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then that's going A big part of 
what you're doing. 

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I suppose, if you did have a 
larger firm, you could kind of 

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have your senior designers or 
other people be the point of 

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contact with your clients, if 
that's not something that you 

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love to do, but you could 
oversee it and kind of be the 

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design director, but not 
necessarily the person relating 

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to the clients that could be a 
work around if that's not your 

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Forte of hand-holding with your 
clients, but that's my two cents

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on residential. 
Design and why I love it. 

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I hope that was helpful to kind 
of clarify my own personal 

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reasons why I do Residential 
design and maybe some insight as

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to what it takes to be a 
residential designer. 

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And, you know, working with your
clients one-on-one, just some 

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food for thought, for those 
trying to discover. 

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If interior design is the career
for them, you can get all the 

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details in our show notes are 
War design.com forward slash 

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podcast, I would love to get any
suggested topics from you that 

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you'd love to hear on the 
podcast. 

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You can email me podcast at our 
war design.com. 

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And don't forget to leave me 
five star ratings and reviews. 

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And seeing what it is that 

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you're enjoying about design, 
curious podcast, and I might 

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share those sometimes here on 
the podcast. 

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So, if you'd like to leave me 
review and let me know you're 

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listening and what you enjoy. 
If there's a specific episode 

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call that out, I'd love to just 
hear your Feedback on those 

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things. 
So, have a great week, stay 

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tuned for another great 
interview next week, on design, 

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curious. 
And we'll see you then, creative

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one. 
Thanks for listening. 

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If you loved this episode, 
please leave a rating and a 

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review. 
This helps me reach other 

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curious creatives. 
Like you, if you have a topic 

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request or would like to contact
me, simply head over to my 

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website, our Ward design.com or 
email me at podcast at our war 

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design.com,