The One Mistake We Made™

It's always fun to talk about design successes, but I thought it might also be fun (and informative!) for us to share some of the pitfalls and potholes we’ve fallen into on our personal design journeys. I call it “The One Mistake We Made…”™ because in every project I tour, even the happiest homeowners invariably point to something they wish they had done differently.

It's certainly happened to me in every design project in my house. I'm the one who built a crawl space instead of a full basement in our vacation house (when the full basement would have cost so little more) – an error I'm reminded of every time my husband bangs his head on the crawl space ceiling. In my design talks, I use this example to make the point that every problem has a solution, and it always gets a laugh when I show a slide of my husband wearing a helmet when he goes into the crawl space. But the real lesson is: Even though you can’t think of everything when you’re designing a new home or doing a remodeling, try hard to think of things can be done then. Often they may be much more costly, or even impossible to achieve, later on.

In addition to asking you for your stories, I'm asking some of the world's leading experts architects and designers to share some of the more interesting mistakes people make in designing kitchens, bedrooms and baths, outdoor living spaces, and gathering rooms (the topics of my first four books). Here's the question I posed:

"When a renovation or new building is completed homeowners often find themselves wishing they had made just one more improvement, or found a better way to deal with an old design issue. In your experience what is an interesting, noteworthy, funny, tragic, absurd, or simply common mistake that people make in designing? Please be as specific as possible."

The first response came from Scott Himmel, the well-known Chicago architect whose gorgeous work is featured my books. Scott had a few points to make:

First, in structuring your budget, keep in mind that the lowest bid is not always the best bid, and can sometimes lead to an unhappy result when the quality of the work is not up to par.

Second, if you do have to cut to meet your budget, try not to eliminate those last few design items or details that tend to really take the design to another level.

Third, on a completely different track, "clients do not understand the importance of 'background' pieces in a design as well as foreground pieces. Just like in a play, where every character cannot be the main character and tell a good story, not every piece in a room should be a 'showstopper.' Balance is all important. (This really is the motto of his partner, Bill Schumacher)."

Scott Himmel, Architect P.C.
360 N. Michigan Ave., #1100
Chicago, IL 60601
(312) 332-3323 x11

For San Francisco-based architect Andre Rothblatt, whose beautiful work is also in my books, the most common mistake is failing to collaborate with the design experts you've chosen (a trap that made especially often by clients who are successful in their fields and used to making their own decisions). I can certainly attest that, throughout my design travels, I've heard countless stories of the fabulous designs that have emerged when homeowners have learned to collaborate with their design teams.

Andre Rothblatt,
AIA2 Henry Adams Street,
Suite 460San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 626-5112 (415) 626-5111 fax
www.AndreRothblattArchitecture.com

Well, I thought that might get things going. What things would you have done differently in your new-build or renovation? Please write.

Sincerely, Joan