Hi friends! For those of you that don’t yet know the inside scoop, I started an E-Design business this year. I am so incredibly excited about it and want to share with you my thought-process behind this decision.
Dave and I have been married for six years, and there has yet to be a dull year shared between us. Between having kids (two out of three were very much unplanned), moving into our first house two weeks after our first child was born, leaving jobs, switching jobs, starting businesses, and having more babies, we have learned to roll with the punches over the course of our marriage.
With all the changes over the past 6 years, 2019 stands to be a monumental year for our family in more ways than one. For starters, we are expecting baby girl number three this May, and our sweet Logan (14 months), is a handful as she is! I’m still open to anyone who wants to move-in with us and be our live-in nanny next year! I literally have no idea how to juggle three humans.
We are also looking to move into a bigger home this year. And by this year, I mean, when our baby is about a month old. We would like our oldest to finish school in June before we move. This means we need to find a home and have our current home ready-to-sell and on the market before the baby is born.
I am also on the brink of several possible job changes. Currently, I am teaching math part-time at a tiny school in South Jersey. I am also continuing with interior design as I toggle between one or two jobs at a time. The school I am currently working for has expressed interest in hiring me full-time next year. This would mean benefits, a large increase in pay, and certainly stability for our family financially. However, it also means more time away from my kids, and definitely an end to what little time I have to do interior design and blogging, two things I am extremely passionate about.
Enter in the E-Design business. Could this venture be the solution to some of life’s problems?
Why I Love E-Design
A few years ago, I saw E-design as being the future of interior design. Well, here we are today and it certainly isn’t going anywhere. There are so many benefits for you as a client when choosing E-design over traditional full-service design. But for me as the designer, there are a ton of great benefits as well!
All Communication is Via Email
You would be surprised (or maybe you wouldn’t) how difficult it is for me to have a decent phone conversation with my two kids in the house. And getting out for an actual consultation or site visit is even trickier. I love that all communication is via email because:
- I’m a good email communicator (I come across very nice, 🙂 ).
- I can email whenever I get a spare moment- early in the morning before the kids wake up, late at night, or during nap-time).
- We always have a written transcript of what was said so no one has to remember anything and we can always look back on our conversations for clarification on any details.
You can purchase everything yourself
This is unlike my normal full-service interior design where I am in charge of everything from sourcing, ordering, tracking, deliveries, and returns. I normally have all items shipped to me so I can check them and make sure they came in correctly/unharmed. I then bring over everything at the same time to your home and install it for you.
With E-Design however, I am sourcing all of my products from stores that you can purchase from as a “non-trade member.” You can purchase the items whenever you are ready, or wait for any deals or clearances if you so choose. Here’s a little secret: designers hate when you do this during full-service design- it really stunts the process. But with e-design, my part in the process is already finished at this point, so you can order whenever is right for you.
If you live close enough, I get to install for you!
If you would like me to come put your room together for you and style it, I would absolutely love to! Most of you will have to live close enough to me for me to offer you this service, unless you are willing to pay for my travel! In which case, when can I come?!
I get to help so many more clients!
Because I’m basically giving you all the tools you need to complete your project on your own, my time in the picture is much shorter than it is with a full-service design. For us, our entire working relationship could be as short as 7-10 business days. This allows me time to work on many more projects over the course of the year as well as several projects at once. In fact, since my payment is significantly less per project, I’m counting on having many more clients this year to supplement my income! With a full-service project, clients can spend anywhere between $1,000.00 and $5,000.00 on designer fees for just one room. With E-Design, every room is a flat-rate package of $500.00.
How can I help you with your home this year?
So how about you? Will this year be a monumental one for you and your family? Or maybe it’s looking to be on the quieter side. Either way, is there a way for me to assist you with some home projects over these next few months? I would love to get to know you a bit and make your life a little easier!
Check out my Design Services page for more info regarding E-Design. And get started on your E-Design Questionnaire today! You could cross a room off your list in a matter of a few weeks!
