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00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,360
I just had this conversation 
with a neighbor at work who is 

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repainting their space and they 
had chosen bears simply white I 

3
00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:13,480
think, which was according to 
the TikTok, she said one of the 

4
00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:19,000
most favorite colors of white. 
But if you look through whites 

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00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,200
on any paint color deck, then 
you will see that there's 

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00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:25,960
hundreds of whites out there and
they all differ from each other 

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00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,760
because of their undertones. 
So understanding undertone is 

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00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:33,360
extremely important. 
You're only going to get to know

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00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,560
this by training your eye to 
look and comparing one to the 

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other. 
So that's why I love having the 

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paint deck with me when I'm 
selecting colors. 

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You're now listening to Design 
Curious, a place where you, 

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00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:51,200
Creative one, are here to learn 
about what it really is like to 

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00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,760
be an interior designer. 
And I'm your host and mentor, 

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00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,960
Rebecca Ward. 
If you're worried about how to 

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succeed in a creative career, if
you're ready to learn your next 

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00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:06,160
steps to become an interior 
designer, and if you want the 

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satisfaction of doing something 
you love every day, you are in 

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00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:13,440
the right place. 
Grab a coffee, a notebook, and 

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00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:19,080
let's dig into today's episode. 
Hello and welcome to episode 177

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of Design Curious podcast. 
Today on the podcast, we're 

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continuing in our design skills 
series. 

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Today we are talking about 
mastering practical skills that 

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the ones that you should be 
focusing on and how to practice 

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them and get those practical 
skills honed so that you can on 

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the spot be able to answer your 
clients questions and come up 

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with great designs whenever you 
need them. 

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Before we get into that, don't 
forget that we have my design 

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mentor where we can work on 
these practical skills. 

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You can meet with me one-on-one 
and I can help you give you 

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exercises or help you explore 
where you might be weak in 

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different practical skills and 
we can work on that. 

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So now let's get into the topic 
of practical skills. 

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So if you've gone to design 
school, gotten a green design or

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a certificate, then you will 
have a handle on some of these 

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practical skills. 
You might be lacking in a little

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bit of applied experience of the
skills though. 

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So it's definitely good to work 
on these. 

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So let's go through the ones 
that I'm going to highlight as 

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being necessary for having 
successful projects as a 

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residential interior designer. 
So we're going to 1st focus on 

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color theory as a core skill and
we have a episode coming up with

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Maria Killam, who I consider the
color expert. 

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I really enjoyed talking with 
her and I think you'll enjoy 

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that conversation when it comes 
out in April. 

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Color is such an important 
topic. 

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It is emotional. 
It's part of the neuro 

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aesthetics conversation where 
people can have a memory or 

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00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:16,000
emotional reaction tied to 
color, and it can really change 

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the whole feel of a space. 
So you're going to need to work 

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on your personal approach to 
color. 

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Are you very experienced with 
selecting colors and can you see

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the undertones of each color? 
Especially when it comes to the 

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neutrals, whites, There's 100 
shades of whites. 

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00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:38,480
I just had this conversation 
with a neighbor at work who is 

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00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:43,360
repainting their space and they 
had chosen bears simply White, I

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00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:47,320
think, which was, according to 
the Tik Toks, she said, one of 

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00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:50,040
the most favorite colors of 
white. 

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00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:55,160
But if you look through whites 
on any paint color deck, then 

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00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:58,760
you will see that there's 
hundreds of whites out there and

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00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:01,600
they all differ from each other 
because of their undertones. 

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00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,920
So understanding undertone is 
extremely important. 

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00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,920
You're only going to get to know
this by training your eye to 

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look and comparing one to the 
other. 

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So that's why I love having the 
paint deck with me when I'm 

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selecting colors because I can 
see, OK, this, I'm looking for 

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one that's more of a pink 
undertone. 

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And I can see on my fan deck 
that this one looks more pink 

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than the one next to it. 
So I'm going to gravitate 

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towards that, things like that. 
So it's important to know the 

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color undertone, it's important 
to know the color temperature, 

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saturation and value, the hue, 
all these things that go into 

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making color different from each
other and livable. 

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So I will tend to select colors 
for my clients that are less 

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saturated then they might 
initially gravitate to. 

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If they were in a paint store, 
they might pick a color that's 

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very saturated. 
But I have found from my 

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experience over the years that 
the more saturated a color is, 

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the earlier you get tired with 
it. 

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00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:08,240
So it's less lasting, less 
timeless. 

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And if it's a muted version of 
that color, then it remains a 

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little more timeless than 
something that you're not going 

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to want to change out in a year.
But you want to select colors 

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also that are harmonious with 
each other. 

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So learning color theory can be 
really helpful with that. 

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It can impact your mood, can 
impact your perception of a 

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space. 
So many people ask if they 

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00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:34,800
shouldn't paint a small space 
dark color because they'll make 

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it feel smaller. 
Well, probably it will. 

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Although when you have like 
black on the walls, it's hard to

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define the corners and so it 
just feels like an 

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all-encompassing space. 
But that might be the move 

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you're going for. 
So it really depends. 

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It's not like I would say never 
paint a small space black. 

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I love painting powder rooms, 
dark dramatic colors because 

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it's fun and it's in a small 
space. 

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You're going to develop your own
opinions, your own go to colors 

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for your clients that are tried 
and true and they will put a lot

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of trust in that. 
When you said I've used this 

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color in my own home, I've used 
this color in five other houses.

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It's this is the white that 
always looks great no matter 

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where you go, no matter what 
light source you have. 

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Then they're going to trust you 
a little bit more. 

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OK, the next skill I want you to
work on is building your 

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confident designer eye. 
So you're going to train 

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yourself to see proportion and 
balance and observe things when 

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you're in a space. 
Just always be observing, I 

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guess I should say, and you 
probably are. 

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If you are a designer or if 
you've always loved design or 

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you're creative individual, then
you're going to be noticing your

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surroundings. 
And so be more cognizant of 

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those reflections on the space 
and understanding proportion and

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scale and balance because it's 
going to come into play so often

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when you're selecting furniture,
especially for a client, you 

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want the size of the furniture 
to be proportional. 

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I said before, when I was first 
starting out in selecting 

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furniture, I didn't learn how to
select furniture for Indesign 

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School. 
I I learned that afterwards when

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I was doing model homes, but I 
kind of always assumed that 

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every sofa would fit in every 
space. 

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I just thought there was a 
standard sized sofa and I didn't

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even think about the fact that 
you can make them extra deep or 

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extra long or that manufacturers
will create them in a certain 

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depth and style and height and 
all of that. 

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I was pretty ignorant of that, 
but I just assumed that every 

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sofa would fit. 
And of course that's where you 

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double check everything is when 
you scale it into your drawings 

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and you see, Oh well, a 44 inch 
deep sofa here is not going to 

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work. 
I need something that's more 

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apartment size, something that's
36 inches deep. 

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And so that's something that you
can sharpen and learn over time.

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Always maybe carry a little tape
measure with you as you go about

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and you are sitting in a sofa 
that really works for you. 

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You can know how tall you are 
and how deep that seat is. 

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And you know, note that down 
because you can always customize

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a sofa from your vendor, almost 
always, as long as they allow 

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customization to fit a certain 
individual. 

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So maybe your partner is 6/5 and
they're having trouble finding 

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chairs that they love to sit in.
And so when he or she finds one 

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that is fits them well, then you
can take down those notes. 

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So these are things, 
observations in real life. 

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You might not learn in design 
school, but you're going to want

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to sharpen them so that you can 
apply them to your projects. 

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Start visiting furniture 
showrooms and go to a lot of 

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hotels. 
If you can travel, get inspired 

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that way. 
Restaurants, all of these places

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are education. 
I love it when I go to Las Vegas

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Market, stay in those fancy 
hotels, go to all the fancy 

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restaurants because the design 
is always really inspiring that 

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the scale that they had to do it
to is just amazing. 

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And so I always have fun and get
inspired and take notes when I'm

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visiting those places. 
The next thing you're going to 

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want to work on is your space 
planning skills. 

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So really understanding traffic 
flow through a space in a home. 

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It's very important. 
There's a lot of open floor 

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plans, especially here in 
California. 

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I think there's trend going 
towards less open floor plans. 

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But I don't know if we'll ever 
be as closed off as we were, you

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know, a couple 100 years ago 
where they were more concerned 

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about heating all of those rooms
and so they could close off the 

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ones they weren't using. 
But traffic flow through a house

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is really critical. 
It depends on how many people 

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are living in that home 
day-to-day or if they entertain 

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a lot. 
If you want your entertainment 

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spaces to have a good traffic 
flow, if you want people to be 

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directed towards the backyard or
towards the kitchen or stay in 

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the living room space, traffic 
flow is going to make a a big 

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difference on that and the 
function of the space. 

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You want to be thinking as 
you're using your own kitchen, 

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how do I like having these 
drawers? 

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Here is it having the silverware
or the flatware drawer over 

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here? 
Or do I need to have my cups and

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plates above the dishwasher? 
How you store things, the 

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function of how much counter 
space you have on either side of

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the cook top, things like that. 
So you can hone your space 

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planning skilled by your 
observation of these things. 

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Common mistake is that there's 
too much empty space so there 

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could be awkward layouts. 
Now sometimes you can't help it.

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Like the architects may not 
really have been thinking about 

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the furniture layout in a space 
and sometimes there's going to 

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be a big open space. 
You don't know what to do it. 

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So it could be back-to-back 
sitting spaces or creating a 

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little game table area or 
conversation spot. 

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Trying to creatively think how 
to work out awkward layouts. 

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So you could probably even 
Google floor plans with awkward 

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00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,280
spaces and then just quiz 
yourself and test yourself on 

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coming up with some solutions 
for that. 

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Because you're going to have 
clients that come to you and 

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00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:36,200
say, I have this extra large 
landing at the top of the 

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stairs, but it's too small to 
fit a sofa. 

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00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:42,280
What do I do with this space? 
And so you need to start 

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00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:47,040
creatively thinking ahead about 
how to use up that space. 

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You don't want to go to waste 
and you want to be beautiful and

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00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:52,000
intentional and a part of the 
home. 

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00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:56,160
So I would recommend testing 
yourself and quizzing yourself 

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00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,880
with space, planning problems in
order to fine tune those skills.

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00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,480
Then you're going to work on 
your composition with focal 

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00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:07,040
points. 
One of the really common 

199
00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:12,360
problems you'll run into if 
you're going into a remodel or 

200
00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:15,640
just advising someone on the 
layout of their family room is 

201
00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:19,680
when there's a split focal point
in that room of the fireplace 

202
00:12:19,680 --> 00:12:23,240
and the TV. 
Sometimes you can't align them. 

203
00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:26,600
As much as people don't like 
TV's over the fireplace. 

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00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:28,480
Sometimes that's the only 
solution. 

205
00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,400
But it's a good thing to think 
about to see if there's any 

206
00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:34,600
alternates that might be 
asymmetrical. 

207
00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:39,120
Solutions on a wall for having 
the fireplace and the TV 

208
00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:43,400
staggered, but then using 
cabinetry and other features to 

209
00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,800
help it remain a beautiful focal
point in the room. 

210
00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:49,880
And then learning how to layer 
textures and lighting and 

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00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:54,680
accessories, art, greenery into 
the space to help the 

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00:12:54,680 --> 00:12:58,280
composition come together. 
Sometimes the space doesn't feel

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00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:03,160
alive or welcoming until you 
have all those finishing touches

214
00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,800
in there. 
Even if it's been designed 

215
00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,120
beautifully with furnishings and
the architecture and the space 

216
00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:12,720
plan looks good, it doesn't feel
quite welcoming until I get the 

217
00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:17,400
softer touches in or that focal 
artwork on the wall. 

218
00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:23,440
I love to use larger artwork, 
larger than most people usually 

219
00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:27,280
buy, which you know, as a 
designer can have a lot of good 

220
00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:30,960
resources for large artwork and 
it helps to fill up the space. 

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00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:33,120
You don't necessarily need a 
piece of furniture on that wall.

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00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:35,160
You might just need a really big
piece of art. 

223
00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:40,200
So things to think about there. 
And you're going to develop your

224
00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:42,560
taste over time. 
So that's another area is that 

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00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:45,560
your taste will evolve with 
experience. 

226
00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:50,160
You'll be curating how you 
choose what stays and what goes.

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You kind of develop your own 
principles and roles as a 

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designer when you walk into the 
space and see like I always do 

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this or I never do that most of 
the time. 

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And then you can know when to 
break your own rules too. 

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A lot of the times I will 
encourage clients not to put 

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TV's in their bedrooms, mainly 
for the health purposes of it. 

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It's not great for your sleep, 
it's not great for your 

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relationship, and it doesn't 
look great either. 

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So I will encourage them not to 
have TV's in the bedroom. 

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But if they're really insistent 
on it, then we'll work around 

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it, of course. 
Yeah, you'll develop kind of 

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your tried and true and then 
your go TOS. 

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Like I always put can lights in 
the ceiling in the bedrooms as 

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well as in the laundry room. 
I have multiple or the closet or

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things like that where 
previously the builder might 

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just do a mono point. 
You have go to ways for 

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improving the lighting in a 
house and that can honestly like

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just going through and doing a 
lighting plan that updates the 

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house so much and it can really 
help the appreciation of a home.

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Clients might not realize that 
until they have a designer on 

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hand. 
And the last piece of advice for

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pulling all of these practical 
skills together would just be to

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practice, practice, practice. 
Like create some daily exercises

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for yourself, redesigning 
existing rooms. 

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I've said before how hard it is 
to redesign your own space that 

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you live in, but challenge 
yourself and see like, OK, if I 

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wasn't living here, what would I
recommend to a client who has 

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minimalism taste or who has 
maximalism taste? 

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Try to push yourself to be 
creative in the details that 

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you're putting in there and then
create quick concept boards for 

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practice, Put together mood 
boards on Pinterest and things 

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like that. 
So there's definitely a lot of 

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ways to push yourself to 
practice, but it's not going to 

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get better by default. 
You really have to develop it. 

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And especially with working with
color, I would think above all 

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like practice, practice, 
practice with color. 

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And if you are painting out your
own rooms a couple of times with

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your own sweat equity, then 
you're going to learn a lot 

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through that trial and error and
understanding how light can 

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change color and how colors that
might be reflected from the 

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outside. 
There's a lot of green coming 

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in, or it's reflecting off the 
neighbor's house and things like

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that. 
So there's a lot of ways to 

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practice these skills and a lot 
of practical skills. 

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You need to know, of course, the
practical skills of every 

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designer like CAD, drafting and 
things like that. 

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It's always very useful. 
So always looking to grow and 

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improve these types of skills. 
I feel with practical skills, 

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most people think about these 
type of things when they think 

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about what an interior designer 
does and the type of skills that

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they need. 
That's probably why I spent a 

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little bit less time on this 
topic today because everyone 

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kind of knows what the practical
skills are. 

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But I hope you got a few ideas 
on how you should probably be 

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trying to practice them more 
everyday, be more observant, and

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then incorporate that into your 
schedule and your goals for 

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growth. 
All right, we have one more 

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episode on the design skills 
series and then I'm going to tie

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it all together after that on 
how to be the best designer 

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using all of these skills pulled
together. 

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So stay tuned for that on the 
solo episode next week, I'm 

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going to have another great 
interview for you. 

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You're going to love. 
So stay tuned for that and until

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then, stay creative. 
Thanks for listening. 

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If you love this episode, please
leave a rating and a review. 

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This helps me reach other 
curious creatives like you. 

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If you have a topic request or 
would like to contact me, simply

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head over to my website 
awarddesign.com or e-mail me at 

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podcast@awarddesign.com.