New Guest Bedroom Design with Havenly

"It's a marathon, not a sprint." That's what my friend Michele told me when Mr. TBF and I bought our house a little over two years ago. Moving from a small apartment (with junky furniture) to a three bedroom home was thrilling, though suddenly our amount of space to furnish and decorate grew exponentially. Coupled with the fact that Mr. TBF and I have very different design tastes (I love light and contemporary, he'd keep a suit of armor in every room if he could), we had a (very fun) challenge on our hands.

We're finally feeling good about our living/dining area and our bedroom; my next priority is a room on our third floor - during the winter, this room serves primarily as my office space, and in the summer... Well, in the summer it houses guests practically every weekend! The upside of the room: views of the harbor, loads of natural light. The downside: extremely limited storage - no closet, just built-in, floor-to-ceiling open shelving on one wall. 

Here's the deal: I am good with clothes. Interior design? Not so much! I was a little daunted by the process (and perceived price) of hiring an interior decorator, so what to do? Enter Havenly, a service that offers professional interior design, all online. The process is simple. Havenly gives you a style survey to get a sense of your personal style (in this instance, Mr. TBF gave me free rein), then you upload photos and dimensions of your room to the site. You are assigned to a designer who works with you to create renderings and come up with a design you love for the room, and you can purchase the pieces suggested right through the site - no shopping around necessary! I'll be unveiling the before and after photos of my finished room in a couple weeks (you won't believe the transformation!), but first I wanted to introduce you to my Havenly designer, Amy. She and I chatted about the entire design process and just how easy (and cost efficient) it is to get professional design service online:

What's the difference between Havenly and traditional interior design? 

Havenly is an online design company that provides clients with room designs without having to meet face to face. Clients are able to see detailed information about suggested items, and everything that is shown can be ordered through our website with the help of our ordering team.

The Havenly process begins with a style quiz. Tell me a bit about that. 

When a client signs up, they take a style survey to determine which styles they’re drawn to and to help their designer get an idea of which combination of styles the client loves.

What style do clients normally fall under?

Clients can fall anywhere between traditional or glam to modern and eclectic. I typically work with clients who's taste is a bit more contemporary, glam, or eclectic. 

How easy was it for you to understand my style?

Based on your style survey and looking at a few of your existing pieces, I determined your style to be contemporary with an eclectic and sometimes classic feel.

What's your favorite style to design?

I love mixing contemporary with eclectic.

So we were a good match! How do you incorporate your own design preferences into my style?

I like to think I keep up with trends pretty well and am always finding new pieces that I love. I try to first and foremost keep a client's design preferences in mind and then incorporate some of my favorite pieces that fall under their design preferences. 

Where do you find inspiration?

In addition to a client's inspiration photos, I always try to ask a few personal questions relating to design such as; how do you want the room to feel? What types of art are you drawn to? This helps me get a feel for the client's vision. Pinterest is also a great resource for inspiration. If a client gives minimal direction I often go there to find ideas that I think could work well in their room. (Ed. note: In my case, I told Amy that I wanted the room to center around a carpet Mr. TBF and I picked up in Marrakech - it held a lot of memories of us sipping mint tea in the desert, and I think it is lovely!)

Budget is always an important consideration. How do you help Havenly clients stay in budget?

We source a wide variety of vendors ranging from custom and high-end to very budget friendly. In addition to sourcing appropriately  priced items I also tell my clients to not feel pressured to purchase everything at once. The "priority" items are a great step, and you can always add in the "splurge" items or accessories as your budget allows. (Ed. note: Havenly also offers an online budget calculator, to help plan your dream room). 

What are three easy, but high-impact changes a person can make to change their space?

1. Painting your walls. White is a great fallback color and will freshen up a room instantly! 
2. An appropriately sized rug - this almost always means going a size up.  
3. A new layout can definitely freshen up a room as well. Play around with the furniture placement and find something that suits your lifestyle the best!

What is the most difficult aspect of dealing with clients online? What is the easiest / best part?

One challenge that comes up occasionally is when a client doesn't offer a ton of feedback about their style or vision for the room. It can take a few revisions on my end to get their style nailed down. But that's also one of the quickest and easiest things to do! Since everything is online we can easily go back and forth and I can show them different ideas instead of having to schedule an appointment or call as would be required with a traditional designer. I love being able to meet and work with new clients weekly, I am never bored! 

Stay tuned in the next few weeks to see the before photos (eek!) and the fabulous new room, thanks to Havenly! 

Update: See the finalized room here.

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This post is presented by Havenly.