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BAD IDEAS LEAD TO GREAT ONES
We all live in unique spaces. We have unique requirements on those spaces. We use them in all sorts of various ways. When it comes down to it we live our lives in our homes. They need to fit our lifestyle. It’s not surprising after living in a home for a while you start to determine something just isn’t right. You feel a need for a change of some kind.
Perhaps the kitchen doesn’t work for you. Maybe the master bathroom is too small. Maybe you need another bathroom for kids. Whatever the problem might be, you need to find a solution. An adjustment to the home. Something that fits your current needs. It is rare that someone considers a remodel just to change the look of something. It’s more that they’re disappointed with the performance of a space. While improving the function they improve the aesthetics.
So how do we start? If you’ve listened to my podcasts you might be familiar with my needs and options review. Together, we take the time to discover your goals and get into your unique situation. How can I tailor a solution to your individual problem or need. While tackling the needs we are striving for achieving the wants.
It’s clear when designing that the needs drive the wants. When you start to sketch out solutions to the needs the wants fall inline and conform to the solution. I’ll talk more about discovering the difference between needs and wants later.
After understanding your goals and discussing options with you, I take quick measurements of the space. These are to get a rough idea of the structure and space. Then the sketching begins. We work together during this stage of design. The goal is to develop a plan that visualizes your needs and goals. We want to turn all the ideas and verbal communication we have been having into a plan.
During this stage it’s important that we do not get wrapped up in the details. We can discuss them. We might even break off into some side sketch ideas for future use or to help us evaluate our current plan. The details will develop during another stage. This is the early stage of design where we are discovering solutions to your struggles.
It’s important to think big picture. We are discovering solutions to big picture goals. Although it might seem on the surface that your goal is to have a green kitchen. That’s not your goal. Green’s a detail or option that can be applied later to the solution. A goal would be to have a kitchen that does x or allows my family to y. It might even be larger than that. It could be our family is having z problem. Is there something we can alter with our home that would solve z problem?
First we discover the struggles you’re having within your home, then we search for solutions to those struggles. That is not to say the details are not important. The details effect everything we perceive of a space. They’re just not the focus now. The color of the kitchen and material on the floor are details that can be applied to virtually any space or design.
During this sketching stage don’t be afraid to voice an idea. Unlike there are no bad questions, there are bad ideas. But the good thing is that the bad ideas are necessary. They’re the momentum and the unboxing of your thoughts that allow us to reach for the good ideas.
A good idea cannot be born unless several bad ideas were explored first. It’s one of the few understood elements of design. Bad ideas lead to good ones.
I have a pdf that will help you to evaluate your goals. If you would like for me to send it to you along with adding you to the newsletter you can join by entering your email below.
If you have a question for the show I would love to hear it. You can email me at [email protected]. If you would like to connect with me on Twitter I am @wwsarchitecture and the same on Instagram @wwsarchitecture
