If you've been hanging around the LFID social channels and/or blog, you've probably heard us throw around the term "Designed in a Day". Catchy name, for sure, but maybe you're wondering just what that actually means?
What is the THING being designed in said "designed in a day" session? How much can you actually accomplish during that time? What is the end goal?
Honestly, each of these sessions looks a little different depending on our clients needs and goals for their space and project.
When I started offering the service, I had envisioned it being focused on single room furnishing and decor projects, but I quickly realized that almost any house project— regardless of whether it was furniture, renovation, or just general design ideas—could benefit drastically from a day session.
So, we expanded!
What is consistent about every session is that we're always on site, working one-on-one on the client's project for a solid 5-hour block of time. The other consistency is that these sessions always get our clients on track, with a plan, and moving in the right direction.
The Old Darby Trail Living Room Project
This particular project was one of our more straightforward Designed in a Day sessions: our clients were looking to tackel their living room, and wanted to replace the carpet, lights, and fireplace surround, as well as update all the furniture in the space.
Here's a shot of the space from the listing photos several years back:
As you can see, the space doesn't have a huge footprint, but the soaring ceilings and walls of windows make for a very grand and wonderful feel. And can we talk about those VIEWS?! Stunning.
Paint, Carpet, and Fireplace Selections
Our first decisions was to paint the walls SW Greek Villa. With the window trim contrasting the existing wall color so much, the rectangle shapes of the windows really stand out. You end up with a feeling of repeating rectangles all around the room, which feels very harsh and busy.
To soften that up, we wanted the trim and windows to blend right into the wall, making the beautiful green surroundings the focal point, rather than the window trim.
We chose a beautiful textured carpet from Karastan Carpets, curtesy of our friends at Standale Home Studio, along with a beautiful stacked stone facing for their fireplace. My client loves rich green tones, and wondered about using a green paint color on the wood fireplace surround—which I LOVED, and said heck yes!
Layout and Space Planning
Furniture wise, my client wanted a place that would be comfortable for their whole family—two kids in late elementary / early middle school, their dog, and she and her husband. They wanted to be able to hang out as a family, watch movies, and fit lots of people for when the kids had friends over.
We decided to go with a sectional sofa to fit the max number of people possible, paired with two matching accent chairs and a long low media console so as not to block the view out the windows.
I added a sofa table with lamps to act as a surface for drinks and snacks for the back half of the sofa, since there wasn't room on the outside arm, and went with a side table and lamp on the opposite side of the sectional.
We used a large round coffee table to contrast all the sharper angles in the room, and beside the fireplace to the left, we included a large display cabinet with glass doors for books, photos, and other special items.
Our Furniture Selections
My client's style is clean, crisp, and bright, with a bit of a modern transitional bent. In the next image you can se the items we selected for the space.
We went with a neutral palette overall, with layers of black, white, off white, and lots of texture. The leather chairs bring in that added warmth, and the blue/green color will be the new color of the wood mantle and fireplace surround.
The long white media console will blend nicely with the warm white walls, while adding in a layer of texture. We also recommended they purchase The Frame TV so that their tv would act as a work of art when not in use.
Over the fireplace, we chose an oversized piece of artwork that brought in some elements of the outdoors. We also found some beautiful black iron sconces, which will go both above the windows and on either side of the fireplace.
Lastly, we chose an oversized black chandelier to replace their dated ceiling fan. This light fixture is one of my favorite elements because it's sort of a modern take on a traditional candelabra chandelier.
How These Sessions Work
These sessions always look different:
sometimes I sit side by side with my clients and we work through selections together, and sometimes I pull together a plan while my client does whatever the need to do during their day, and then we regroup and revise.
The later was the case in this situation, and I'd say, especially if we're pulling a whole room plan together, that this is the most effective way to utilize a Designed in a Day session.
In this case, I put together the layout and selected all the pieces for my client separately, and we then regrouped to make a few adjustments and finalize the design.
In the last year, we've started using a wonderful new tool that allows us, as design professionals, to create a personalized online collection of trade exclusive items for our client, which allows them a one-click checkout, rather than sorting through multiple links, and ships all the items directly to their house.
VIEW A SAMPLE COLLECTION:
Our clients can opt for either a porch drop-off or white glove delivery, and our trade portal takes care of any issues, such as a product arriving damaged.
It's been a game-changer for both us and our clients: now we have an easy way to offer trade products to one-time-service clients quickly and easily, where before, we only offered this to our VIP Interior Design clients.
If you're interested in learning more about how our Designed in a Day sessions work and whether one might be a good fit for your project, pop over and complete our intake form and we'll reach out to schedule a conversation.
Excited to work with you!
- Lauren Figueroa
Work with Lauren Figueroa Interior Design
LFID is a full-service interior design firm serving West and Southeast Michigan known especially for our Designed in a Day service.
We work with clients from Detroit to Novi to Clarkston, and Grand Rapids to Holland to Traverse City—and anywhere in between! We pride ourselves on creating bespoke, people-centered spaces—because after all, people are what this life is all about!
If you have a project on the horizon, get started by telling us about your vision here, and you can view past projects here. Thanks for stopping by!
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