Von Löwen Designs

To better relate to some of the emotions surrounding the client’s decision to use a professional designer, it is always helpful to put yourself into their shoes. Think of the risks that go along with the responsibility of choosing any provider, for what could easily be one of the most invasive and costly endeavors they and their family will go through in their lifetime. How would you like to be the one to blame, if something doesn’t turn out right?

Viewed in this way, it is easy to understand that the client has every right to enter the remodeling process in a high state of anxiety. What’s even worse, is the client’s inevitable apprehension and caution that is reinforced by knowing outside professionals often see details and complications in a project that they may not necessarily see. In fact, it is imperative, and an essential part of the designer’s role to reveal such nuances, problems, barriers and issues of which the homeowner is unaware. On the other hand, if these specifics are not discussed and conveyed with the utmost care and tact, the client could easily believe that rather than relieving fears and being helpful, the designer is creating complications. Talk about walking a razor’s edge.

There are other emotions usually present as well. Imagine having to place a huge portion of all your personal, social and family affairs, into the hands of
a practitioner of what appears to be some sort of convoluted art, who often uses indecipherable jargon and engages in mysterious and unexplained, (and probably expensive) activities. Predictably, the average first time remodeler experiences unwelcome feelings of dependency, loss of control and doubt.

What I have learned is to keep my clients up to date but not overwhelmed, walking that fine line that seems almost instinctual. Client’s seem to desire someone they can count on to keep them acquainted, yet take away their worries and absorb all that day to day hoopla. Although all too often, they encounter professionals who continually just add to their concerns instead. Since clients are often anxious and uncertain, to no fault of their own, they are looking for and deserving of professionals who will calm their fears and provide reassurance, and will continue to inspire confidence throughout the duration of their remodeling project.

No doubt, it does take some time to become mindful of this integral practice, certainly no one ever teaches it to us in our training, in school, or even your typical professional design firm, but I’ve genuinely recognized both the need as well as the benefits of remaining a life long student of character and relationships. For sure, human nature is such that you’re not going to be perfect and connect 100% with every single client, but hopefully through awareness, practice and diligence, I will continue to develop habits that incorporate my learnings into my overall design approach.

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, so before you leave be sure to visit Von Löwen Designs to view an assortment of refreshing examples in kitchen and bath design concepts, refined palette and interior finishes, and sustainable yet chic, green remodeling ideas that may encourage and inspire your next remodel or home improvement project.

Green remodeling is a design and construction approach with a primary focus on providing the healthiest home possible, maximizing it’s life cycle, while minimizing the structure’s environmental impacts. These impacts include energy, water, and materials consumption, waste generation, and harmful emissions, both indoors and out.

Although the principles that govern green residential remodeling are shared with all other design and construction projects, more than a few aspects are unique to green remodeling:

• Range of projects – Residential remodeling covers everything from painting a room to refitting a kitchen, to gutting a whole house down to the framing and then rebuilding.

• Existing conditions – In new home construction we generally have just the site to consider, but in residential remodeling there are existing conditions that range from room configuration, to hazards such as mold, lead, and asbestos.

• Custom work – Whether in design or construction, just about every residential remodeling project is custom, with very little opportunity for the sorts of economies of scale that occur in production building.

• Professional – client relationship – Remodeling professionals almost always have a client and spec remodeling projects are rare. The closer relationship with homeowners requires skills and perspectives not generally required for new construction projects.

• Occupants – Remodeling professionals must plan and often conduct their work based on the health, safety and schedules of real people. Even if the work requires that the home be vacated, the timing and duration of such a period must be very carefully orchestrated.

• Sequenced or staged projects – Many residential remodeling projects are phased or sequenced projects, ie. (“we want to do the bathroom and then the kitchen”), and this can make for challenging orders of operation in both design and construction, often requiring innovation and improvisation by remodeling professionals.

• Integration – A cornerstone of all types of green building is systems integration, and residential remodeling adds a new dimension to this integration: integrating the old or existing with the new.

These unique aspects of residential remodeling mean that a best-practices guide, rather than a rating program is appropriate. This program and approach to green residential remodeling has been developed through a partnership between the American Society of Interior Designers, (ASID) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Whole House – Systems Thinking Approach.

It is easy and tempting to boil down green building to simply product selections and glide over or even ignore the challenges of green building as a process and how systems need to be designed to work together. Be cognizant that it is rarely a single product, building component or a collection of attributes, that results in a home being labeled “green.”

Integration.

Getting designers, architects, engineers, builders, and trade contractors, all on the same page is not easy; and is not an everyday occurrence. Yet green residential remodeling does not just suggest professional integration at all levels and across all disciplines, it requires it.

Green vs. Good Design.

One of the challenges in developing resources for green building is deciding how to address what constitutes green design and construction, versus what constitutes good design and construction. What is the relationship between the two? Homeowners should recognize that you can still have a quality project that is not a green project, but you cannot have a green project that is not also a quality project. Good design and construction are the foundation of green design and construction. For example, you can’t have just efficient lighting; it must also be effective lighting. Similarly, beauty is an integral part of green design and construction; the beauty of a building or project is the starting point for durability, one of the most important attributes in green building.

Climate.

A very significant aspect of building green is designing and constructing for the climate and site. Certain strategies will need to be developed with varying degrees of implementation, depending on climate. Many sources of additional information yield climate and site specific guidance and will need to be addressed.

Individual Approach.

Given the nature of green building and the depth and unpredictability of residential remodeling in particular, your approach will certainly vary depending on the actual scope of the project, client requirements, budget, and ability to connect with the best resources for more extensive coverage of techniques, strategies, and materials.

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, so before you leave be sure to visit Von Löwen Designs to view an assortment of refreshing examples in kitchen and bath design concepts, refined palette and interior finishes, and sustainable yet chic, green remodeling ideas that may encourage and inspire your next remodel or home improvement project.