We knew we needed a designer before we knew we needed an architect.

A possible tile choice and color options

Our first interaction with a professional designer was after the addition to Flying Point Road.  As one of our family members was walking through the new construction, she turned to us and said “I have someone that you really need to talk to…”  (Interventions take all forms…)

Two weeks later, we had a twelve page document outlining wall color recommendations, furniture suggestions and overall good stuff.  It was money surprisingly well spent and we use that report to this day.

So while we knew that Dash Landing would eventually involve a designer, we also knew it had to be the “right” designer :

1.  No shills.  We weren’t keen on the idea of a designer whose primary compensation was the commission on furniture.  Our furniture might be tattered, mismatched and old, but we like it.

Floor tile choice.

2.  No crazy people.  Yes, we’re looking at you grapefruit spoon lady.  Life is way too short to deal with prima donnas, high drama and the tick obsessed — no matter how much Maine Home & Design likes you.  We’ve got plenty of our own insanity to go around, thank you very much.

3.  No architect wannabes.  We spoke to a couple of people who seemed to be overly interested in adjusting the blueprints — even before they saw them.  And having just finished paying Rob to design the house, we didn’t see a need to redesign it so soon.

As we were relating these requirements to a friend over the winter, she looked at us and said “I have someone that you really need to talk to…”  (Same intervention, different person.*)  A few days later, we added the fabulous Krista Stokes to the group of people responsible for Dash Landing.

And at this stage of the process, we’re spending a lot of time with Krista.  Lighting fixtures, colors, tile — all need to be decided and ordered to keep the project from sliding even further behind schedule.

One of the images that we sent Krista

A portion of that time has been here at Flying Point Road going through our furniture and looking at the initial layout ideas.  We’ve exchanged a lot of Pinterest boards.  Went on a field trip together to a tile store.  (“Just pick out things that you like.  Don’t worry about anything else…“)  Shared a few of our favorite non-family images.  Linked to Laurie over the fireplace.  Visited the L.L.Bean Home store.  Exchanged long wordless emails. Apologized repeatedly for the dog.

All that work came to a head last week at the building site.  On Sunday, Krista carefully spread two “palettes” of tile, paint choices, lighting ideas across the house and we spent the rest of the afternoon talking through the choices.  One of those palettes was a bit more “organic,” the other just a bit “cleaner and more modern.”  And while both groups complimented each other, it was pretty clear that each had their own implications.

Right now we’re working through some of those implications via long wordless emails.  There’s a long way still to go, but really like where we’re headed…

* With apologies to Kasey Musgraves.  We’re listening to “Same Trailer, Different Park” more than we expected.  Which surprises us too…