For the Client
You will want the same exceptional service you receive from your local designer, but you will wonder if this is a smart move. It definitely is the smarter move. Finding a different designer in your remote locale means you will have to work with that designer while you are in that locale, and working — instead of relaxing, golfing and enjoying your home — you will be shopping and not finished with the project. Working with your local designer who knows you, knows your lifestyle and understands your preferences only means you will need to spend a little money to have them travel to see the residence. You can always have someone locally work with your designer if photos or dimensions are needed.
For the Designer
You will need to determine what your day rate will be and be prepared to work almost every waking moment you are there so you don’t have to charge another day. Keep your pricing low, but fair to you both, and make sure you take hundreds of photos and dimensions. Shopping with your client here and shipping everything there is easy to do and in some cases, the manufacturers are closer to their new home than to here!
We just finished the first phase of a grueling installation in Accra, Ghana in Africa on a project we started almost two years ago, for some of our favorite clients. What made this project challenging was getting the architect and the tradesmen to understand why we needed all the information we needed…they did not understand us and we were quite perplexed by them. They never quite understood what we were doing, but now they fully understand what we expect and we will help educate them to maintain all of the beautiful pieces we designed for our clients….climate control and weather conditions play a major part in the decision making process!
While all of our furnishings and custom built-ins arrived in Africa are wonderful, the overall workmanship on the building was surprising due to their lack of resources and MY lack of understanding of their limitations and abilities in construction. While they imported all of the stone flooring, countertops and base trim from Italy and it was installed by the Italians, no one had ever heard of caulk and they did not polish the top edges of the 3 cm stone bases. So now we have to remove all the dirt and plaster drippings and paint and lightly steel wool the bases and then apply two coats of a high gloss sealer so the bases match the quality of the stone. I have ordered several cases of paintable latex caulk and bronze silicone so they can fill in the gaps around all of the windows to keep the critters out and create a clean paintable line around the windows. We thought of so many contingencies, such as felt pads for all the furniture, non-skid pads for the box springs or mattresses on the wood platform beds, extension cords, dimmer controls, light bulbs, but no one thought about the caulk!
For Both
While these projects can be very rewarding, creating the team to communicate about everything between you and your client is key….then, go ahead and have a lot of fun!