Foothill Estates: The Back Story
If you’ve ever talked to a designer about their own home, you will quickly find out that they struggle to design for themselves. We know too much, see too much, and we like too much. That leads to an inability to commit to anything which often results in not doing anything. I believe the term is Analysis Paralysis.
Analysis paralysis is an inability to make a decision due to overthinking a problem. An individual or a group can have too much data. The result is endless wrangling over the upsides and downsides of each option, and an inability to pick one.
We don’t have that issue when designing for clients, as we have the ability to take a step back and be objective. However, When the clients happen to be my parents, Analysis Paralysis rears its ugly head!
The Back Story
My parents bought this house when I was sixteen. It was my first residential renovation project and what propelled me into residential design after five years of working for commercial architecture firms. The experience made me fall in love with designing homes and I realized interior design was truly my calling. Let’s not analyze the myriad of red tones “we” selected 17 years ago!
Fast Forward
Seventeen years later, it was time for another update. What started out as a main floor “refresh” with new furniture and paint, snowballed into a large scale update that extended to the basement with new flooring, countertops, backsplash, lighting, painted cabinets, furniture and decor.
Our first crack at the design was conservative - I held back on pushing them out of their design bubble and did what felt safe and comfortable for both them and myself. It was a good design but it was too cautious and careful. Thankfully I had Jennae, my Jr. Designer, to push me out of my comfort zone otherwise I don’t think I could have moved past “go” from day one!
After my mom referencing many Studio McGee interiors, many meetings, and more discussions then we normally have with clients we landed on the final design that you see here. We have no opposition to more meetings with the client than normal - In this case it was tricky designing their home as their daughter and designing for two people that have very different views on design!
In the end, their home turned out better than expected and they are thrilled with the result. I couldn’t be happier, and I get to see it regularly which is a privilege I don’t always get when a project wraps up.
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