Interior design is a field that’s easily glamorized (my favorite first reaction is always that our job must be so FUN!). Still, like any creative profession, there is a lot of “invisible work” behind the scenes. We are on a constant mission to create complex interior spaces as layered and textured as the lives of clients that inhabit them. This entails compiling and managing all the details ranging from the obvious - paint color selection, furniture layout, art, tile selection, lighting, window coverings, and hardware, to the more involved - the critical details of reimagining functional space and adhering to budgets and timelines which are specific to each project. We are collaborators, artists, project managers, and dream makers. Our one constant as designers is that there’s always a problem to solve. Every day at Bright, we become innovators, using our creativity to develop aesthetic forms within function.
Here’s a look at what it’s like to be a fly on the wall at Bright Designlab.
It’s 8:30 am on a Monday, and I’m sitting at my computer with my morning cup of coffee. Our calendars at Bright are usually scheduled (and frankly, jam-packed) two weeks in advance - the nature of running 20 projects at a time - so each week, we inevitably hit the ground running - and we take time to map out what each day holds for us.
At 9 am, we’re kicking off the week with our management review of project budgets via Zoom. Our Design Team pops in to join us at 10 am for “Team Sync” - a time to connect and give an overview of our weekly goals and hours for each project. I’m buzzing off the new energy of a fresh week, and there’s something especially motivating about seeing your teammate’s smiling faces, all excited to tackle the week together.
Pre-pandemic, lunch was a time to connect - soup days were a thing; Working hybrid means we’re all drifting with the tide and rarely all in the office together. Hopefully, soup lunches and team retreats will weave their way back into our lives soon enough. In the meantime, our breakfast team meetings and quarterly happy hours will have to do.
The rest of the week, we’ll be in a constant state of change - back and forth from WFH to the studio for in-person client meetings, client and contractor meetings on Zoom, and site meetings to check the health of our projects, which are always in various states of construction. We currently have 20 projects that ebb and flow between 5 of us, with teams of two or three designers on each.
On any given day, here is a sampling of tasks from our to-do list:
Taking a field trip to pick out marble slabs for a kitchen or bath (or a custom piece of furniture!)
Looking at plumbing at Chown (a crowd favorite!)
Bringing decorative lighting to a site and talking through placement with electricians
Approving (or rejecting!) drawdowns for paint colors on-site
Supervising a counter templating
Selecting a stain for the floor (harder than one might imagine!)
Placing hardware on cabinetry
Directing a full home furniture installation
Staging a home for a photoshoot
Measuring a space or existing furniture to weave into a new plan
Engaging in team charrettes where we solve puzzles within the projects together and look to each other for new ideas and sourcing
The list is, quite frankly, endless, and that’s all part of the fun. During that time, I am also working on the backend proposals, reviewing accounting, payroll, taxes, incoming prospects, social media, and making sure our beloved plants are watered!
Since our projects often continue for years, there is really no concise daily wrap-up, but we do encourage getting to the end of a task list and closing things down at the end of the day to cultivate a healthy work-life balance. Our team doesn’t often work overtime– that’s quite unusual for our field! As a business owner, it’s key to have an evening workday shutdown ritual or a set of tasks performed at the end of every work session to help our brains and bodies to unplug. I know that the act of putting down the pen and shutting my laptop and not giving in to the temptation to reopen it means I’ll experience more restful off-time, which sets me up to focus more deeply when I’m in work mode.
As interior designers, we’re responsible for all aspects of a project, from researching and planning to selecting and procuring materials, all the way to installation and follow-up. Every step is carefully thought out and executed to ensure the project meets its goals. We thrive on listening to our client’s stories as inspiration for our design. We strive to create comprehensive designs that feel collected, a curated evolution of our client’s lives so that it doesn’t feel like everything was purchased all at once. We work as a team to create robust and tailored interiors with complex layering of materials and functions. A day in the life goes beyond “decorating” and making rooms pretty. It requires skill, attention to detail, and a balanced understanding of architecture, engineering, building codes, and the unique needs of our clients, to design interiors that enhance lifestyles and inspire meaningful moments.