In this life hacks column, we’ve got tips for getting to know your clients better, boosting your creativity and heading off headaches from AI “inspo.”
Go back to the past
In his podcast, “Homing In,” The Modern House co-founder and author Matt Gibberd talks to designers, chefs, entertainers and others about their past, present and future homes. The resulting conversations are intriguing and insightful. Take Australian comedian Tim Ross, who grew up surrounded by modernist architecture and bought his own modernist house in 2003 in Sydney. He discovered it was more than a house; it was a way to connect with like-minded people. (He’s also got a great anecdote about interloping Beastie Boys.) Meanwhile, Cath Kidston, known for her nostalgic floral prints and now body care brand C. Atherley featuring products made using scented geraniums, opens her house to host Gibberd. It’s a surprisingly modern space in West London with Danish wood flooring and Ellsworth Kelly artwork.
The takeaway: Most designers ask clients about that they like about their current homes and what they want their improved home to include. Asking about past homes can provide valuable insights, too. Consider adding queries like these to your client questionnaire: “Tell me about a favorite memory related to a childhood home,” “Tell me about what you loved about your first apartment or house” or “Tell me about a room or feature from a past house that you wish you’d had in every house since.” The answers could be fascinating — and useful.
Caution clients about AI “inspo”
AI-generated images are flooding social media, as well as stock image and video sources. I just did a quick check for images of “kitchens” on Adobe Stock and found 18.2 million photos and videos. When I excluded images created by generative artificial intelligence, there were 9.9 million — meaning nearly half were invented by AI!
That means that when your clients are browsing Pinterest and other sources for their remodeling project or new home, they’re inundated with artificial images, most of them not labeled as such. Much of the time that’s fine, but it can also lead to problems. The Washington Post delved into this recently, talking to hairstylists, wedding planners and others who are losing business because prospective clients can’t understand why they can’t recreate something that exists only in an artificial world.
“When a potential client approached event planner Deanna Evans with an AI-generated vision for her upcoming wedding, Evans couldn’t believe her eyes, she said. The imaginary venue was a lush wonderland, with green satin tablecloths under sprawling floral arrangements, soft professional lighting and trees growing out of the floor,” writes WaPo’s Tatum Hunter. “‘It looked like the Met Gala,’ Evans said. The idea would have run the client around $300,000, she guessed, which was four times her budget. Evans delicately explained the problem — and never heard from the woman again. Evans lost out on a five-figure paycheck, she estimated.”
The takeaway: The deluge of AI images is going to grow. You may be able to save both yourself and your clients frustration by making it a practice to talk with them early in the project process about the “if it looks to good to be true” aspect of many AI images. Caution them about getting attached to fanciful staircases or magical bathrooms that the laws of physics or budgets prevent in real life. Inspiration should be just that, a jumping off point from which you and the client can create their ideal — and realistic — home.
Take a breath
A recent session of FS’s program “Returning to the Creator Within: A Community Reimagined” began with several minutes of guided breathwork and visual meditation to center participants — and to show them a tool they can use to foster their creativity.
“We are over-stimulated. We are pulled by all the things that call us out externally and we spend very little time in our inner frequency, our inner currency, our inner world, the energy of us, the code of us,” said Lilly Berelovich, co-founder of the New York-based trend forecasting and consumer insights firm.
After the meditation, she asked: “Did you feel more inside yourself? Can you hear your heartbeat? Can you hear the tiny little flickers that start to happen inside your body? Can you get in touch with that electricity that is you?”
The goal, she said, is to tap that “electricity” to do your most creative work.The takeaway: When you are sitting down to do creative work, eliminate distractions like pinging phones and start with a few minutes of breathwork or meditation to center yourself. (Seriously, you can make the time to do it.) Encourage your staff to do so, too, for instance, by starting staff meetings with calming exercises. You can go so far as to schedule a meditation break or two into your day. Or, if you are feeling especially frazzled, take two minutes as you transition between meetings, appointments or tasks simply to breathe. There are plenty of apps you can use to get you started. Once you find a few practices you like, you can wean yourself from the tech assistance and do them on your own.
