Interior Designers
Plan, design, detail and coordinate the construction of commercial, residential, institutional, recreational and temporary interior spaces to transform environments and improve their performance, experience, meaning or purpose.
A cafe fit-out with a tight budget
You are an interior designer fitting out a new neighbourhood cafe, with a budget that is already stretched and an opening date announced. It is a Tuesday and the builder is on site. The owner wants the cafe to feel warm and welcoming, and three decisions are waiting for you before the day is out.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I have seen a stunning curved counter in a magazine. It is in a hand finished timber. I know it costs more than we planned, but it would be the heart of the cafe. Surely we can find money by trimming somewhere else?
Say yes and find the savings later by cutting back on lighting and seating
The counter looks wonderful, but the room is dim and the chairs are uncomfortable. People admire the counter and leave early. A single feature cannot carry a space.
Show Carmel what the counter would cost in the other parts of the room, and sketch a version that has the curve and costs less
She likes the curved front in a simpler material and keeps her lighting and seating. The cafe feels warm and the budget holds. A design is a set of trade-offs, and showing them helps people decide.
Tell her it is too expensive and suggest a standard counter
You protect the budget, but Carmel feels unheard and the cafe loses the character she wanted. A flat no does not give her anything to work with.
The floor you chose is on back order for weeks, and I cannot start the walls until it is laid. I can get another floor tomorrow that looks close. Or we sit around. What do you want?
Choose the substitute floor yourself so the builder can carry on working without waiting for anyone
The work continues, and the floor is fine. But Carmel had a strong opinion about the colour, and she is irritated she was not asked. The decision was fast but not shared.
Wait for the original floor to arrive, however long it takes, since it is a key part of the design and nothing else will do
The builder stops and the opening date is at risk. A good floor is not worth losing the whole schedule when other options exist.
Get a sample of the substitute today, check it against the scheme and send Carmel a photo to approve
Carmel sees it, likes it and says yes within the hour. Baz carries on without a gap. Good designers keep both the design and the schedule moving.
I came to see how the cafe is coming along. It looks great, but I am not sure I could get to the toilet through those tables, and the counter looks too high for me to order at. Sorry to be difficult.
Thank Hui, measure the paths with them, and then change the layout and add a lower section of counter
The changes help, but because they were made late, one table has to be removed. Hui's honest comment was valuable, and it would have been cheaper earlier.
Say the cafe meets the minimum requirements for access and that this is surely enough for now
The cafe passes inspection but Hui rarely visits, and others find it awkward as well. Meeting the rules is a starting point, not the same as a space everyone can use.
Thank Hui, walk the space together, and rework the layout and counter before furniture is ordered
The cafe opens with wider paths and a lower counter at one end. Parents with prams use it too. Designing for one person often helps many others.
How it went
The cafe opens on schedule, a little over the first budget but with a counter people love and paths everyone can use. Interior design is the work of listening to how people live and then shaping a space around them, while money, time and rules push back. Do you like noticing what makes a room work?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The kitchen for a grandmother who stayed
A fictional case set in an interior design practice working on homes, cafes and small offices.
The situation
Elena was asked to redesign the kitchen in the Tran family home. Mr and Mrs Tran wanted a modern open look with a long island bench and pale stone surfaces. But Mrs Tran's mother, who was in her eighties, lived with them and cooked most evenings. The stone was slippery when wet, the island blocked her usual path and the high shelves were out of her reach. Nobody had mentioned it. The family felt that she would simply get used to it.
What they did
Elena asked if she could spend an evening in the kitchen watching the grandmother cook. She noticed where she reached, where she rested a hand and how far she walked between the stove and the sink. She then changed the layout so the main path was clear, moved the daily items to waist height and picked a surface with more grip. She explained to Mr and Mrs Tran how each change still fitted the look they wanted.
How it turned out
The kitchen still looks modern, and the grandmother cooks in it every night. The long bench lost a little length. Mrs Tran said afterwards that she had asked for a kitchen and been given one for the whole family.
What would you do?
- Who else might use a space that the client does not mention?
- How would you raise a problem the client has not noticed?
- What do you think makes a room beautiful as well as comfortable to live in?