Last time we learnt about Furniture Placement Guidelines, today we will learn about How to Pull Your Decorating SchemeTogether.

With all the hard work over, we now need to tie up all the loose ends. Unfortunately, like every job there is the element of paperwork! I’m sorry, but it can’t all be glamor and fun. You must document your scheme, so that everyone involved is following the same path. This is then able to be used to get pricing from contractors and suppliers of products, as well as making sure that you or (your client if you are doing this for someone else) knows exactly where they stand and what they are going to get for their money.

So I will keep this short and sweet.

• Always write a finishes schedule. This lists up all there areas that you are working in, walls, ceiling, floor etc and what rooms you are working, and then what finish they will receive. This means that a contractor for example a painter can take this piece of paper and walk around the rooms and measure the quantities he needs of each product for each application.

• Make sure your client signs this document to ensure they know what they are getting. If you are doing this for your self you obviously don’t need to sign, but you do need to make sure you have a system if you change anything on this list, so that you can update it and reissue it to your contractors and you all know what is the most up to date copy.

• With your list (and this should be done when you are selecting your products) check with all the suppliers that the products are available and or that you can get them within your time frame. It adds a lot of money onto your project if you have to courier a product to get it on time. So forward planning is essential here.

• Make sure that you work out a time line and all your contractors know when they have the space to do their work and when they are expected to be finished, and make sure you are tough on this one, it is like a domino effect if you let one slip behind.

• Make sure you have all your prices and costs in your hand before you start engaging contractors or manufactures to start making things for you. You need to ensure that you are within your budget before you start. You want to make sure that you can pay everyone, if you want to get a start into the decorating industry, lets make it a good one.

• Engage your contractors and manufacturers ie painters, carpet layers, curtain manufacturers, in writing, always refer to their quotation or estimate and confirm the agreed amount and the payment arrangements. For example a deposit and remainder on completion or with installments, or payment in full before commencement (watch out for this one, don’t ever pay the total account until you have the total amount of work completed or else you have no way of getting the job finished if they don’t turn up. They have your money and you have an incomplete job.)

• Get the work underway, make sure you keep your eyes on the time and the quality of the work. Always be around, this keeps the contractors on their toes! You don’t have to stay but keep popping in to check up on things. You don’t want to have the job completed and see that the painter has misread your finishes schedule and swapped some bedrooms around!

• When the job is completed, check all the work has been done to a satisfactory standard before you pay the entire account. If you find any problems, write them down and get the contractor back to remedy them. It is important that you get this done ASAP as the sooner it is done the more likely they are to finish it, some contractors start another job and you just can’t get them back. So be very prompt on this job.

• Take out your camera and take some photos for your brag book!!

Well done!

Architectaria - Architect and Planners

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