Breaking Down Projects into Achievable Goals

It’s like penpals, but BETTER! ✨ #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #thedesignlog #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design, home design, home construction, #edesign #fyp

Since we’re entering what’s to be a commercially pink and green colorscape (hello @wickedmovie 🩷💚) it seems only fair to show our favorite little guest bath they needed a little pop 🍭 of its own! 🫧🫧🫧 #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design, home design, home construction, #edesign #fyp #guestbathroomsdesign

As we dive into the Friday season of the year, it’s becoming a little harder to stay motivated when we think of all the things we need to actually get done before the clock strikes midnight on 2024. We’ve hopefully made it a little easier by adding our version of a little gift guide with selections for all types of people (including yourself) in your life! Besides that - we’ve got a strong countdown before the holidays, so if you’re wanting to make a change in your home the time is NOW for aesthetic upgrades. Send us a message and we’ll get started! #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design, home design, home construction, #edesign #fyp Inspo 💡 via Kelly Stone Is the end of the year/holiday itch starting to hit you??

Wit or wit out? (iykyk) We could give you a million reasons to hire an interior designer, but the only one that matters right now is: we make the entire process a whole lot better! Le duh! Need some help? Tap that link, queens and kings! #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design, home design, home construction, #edesign #fyp

Happy Monday! ☀️As we say goodbye to September, we wanted to share 9 tips before you start your next project… 1️⃣ Always measure twice (or thrice.) 2️⃣ Don’t start demo until materials have been delivered. It’s never worth the wait. 3️⃣ Don’t skimp on sofa/sectional fabric. They really make truly lasting and kid-friendly options. 4️⃣ Get rid of the boob light immediately. IYKYK. 5️⃣ If you need to break down your home upgrades into a space-by-space process, do it. Don’t try to spread your budget thin when you can get what you really want over a longer period of time. 6️⃣ DIY is only an option for those who truly enjoy the time and patience it takes. If it’s not worth your hourly, then hire someone to do it - otherwise, you’ll end up paying someone more to fix it. 7️⃣ Yes, you need window treatments. 8️⃣ Be careful about jute heavy rugs in baby/crawling spaces - they cute and affordable, but aren’t worth the scrapes and irritation on their skin for now. 9️⃣ Obvi… when in doubt, hire an interior designer. We fill in the gaps and make it all seem like a breath of fresh air. Need some help? ✨ Tap that link, queens and kings! Coffee brought to you by these @sandiegomag coffee gems: @communalcoffee @mostracoffee @frostmecafeandbakery @pappalecco @holsemcoffee #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design, home design, home construction, #edesign #fyp

The many faces of eDesign! We have a strong belief that home design should be - wait for it - fun and accessible! We have a 4 step eDesign plan that gets you from Plan Huh?! to Plan Done! …and yes, full construction is possible! Through eDesign we’ve been able to help create homes in: ☀️ California (obvi, but it’s a big state!) 🇨🇦 Vancouver 🏞️ Virginia 🦀 Maryland 🏛️ Washington DC 🌊 New Jersey 🍂 Connecticut 🍑 Georgia 🏜️ Nevada 🍎 New York 🌰 Ohio 🌵 Arizona 🍊 Florida 🐄 Wisconsin 🌴 South Carolina You bring the house, we’ll make it a home and then pop the bubbly! 🍾 #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design, home design, home construction, #edesign #fyp

It’s no shock that I’ve always been a struggle bus 🚌 on the instant design inspiration. There are designers out there who can instantly just jump in and get it done within a day of their client calls. ✨I’m not that girl✨ I’m more of the work-on-it-over-days-in-pieces until that one random things (sometimes a single piece of fabric) sparks the actual inspiration and I work like a mad woman. I used to hate it about myself, because I wished I could just be that instant-design-ASAP person, but now I love it. I truly want to bring something I love to someone’s home, if that means days of mindlessness, get’r done! 👷🏼‍♀️ Check out our link in bio to get in on our design wavelength 〰️ We promise it brings you alllll the goodies at the end. #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm #fyp Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design, home design, home construction

It’s the Little Trees in the Uber for me. Sometimes it’s just for fun! 🤩 #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, #fyp

Hello September! 🥧 A quick look back at August to say au revoir to summer (I’m like 30 days in on French Duolingo, so get ready for a LOT more random French words 😂🇫🇷) Stepping into some of my most favorite times of the year and we’re getting a head start now! What are your goals for the final third? #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design, home design, home construction

My $5 Target sunglasses get compliments at least once a day - no joke! - and we love to tell them how they’re “just from Target!” We know we all love a deal. When it comes to home design, I’ve been thinking a lot about value engineering (don’t we all 😂) and wondering what are things that people wished they wouldn’t have skimped on in the budget department? Rugs? Counter material? Sofa fabrics? Let us know ⬇️ #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design, home design, home construction

Anyone else running for Queen of High Level Last-Minute Excellence?! 👑 I could work on a project for weeks and suddenly in the last minute a Hail Mary of inspiration comes along and changes up the entire design. Sometimes I just need a little inspiration to make it all perfect (and sometimes that means flipping the whole concept on its head! 🙃) If you’re looking to get started on your spaces before the holiday season, send us a message to see how we can help! #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design, tile

You see this chair? Very demure. Very mindful. Sometimes there is just that piece that you get custom made for a client and it makes your heart flip for all time 🤸‍♀️ #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design, custom furniture #demure

“Per the spec sheet…” In reality our spec books are like Christmas, but a whole lot better! It’s giving: * room division * product image * quantity * finish * dimensions * product details * lead time * stock * edging detail, etc * hardware * inserts or rug pads It’s a behind easy way to keep an eye on your project, even if the professionals call us with a few questions. …but that’s our job to handle 😉 #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design, spec sheet

It’s a whole mood… board. 📌📐 ✨Fun fact about me: I love to see things completely laid out as I do them. Spreadsheets, mood boards, lists and more. A mood board is my favorite way to get a handle on if clients and I are on the same design page before we truly get into the nitty gritty. My personal fave way to start out is to have a client create a @pinterest board for their spaces - a place where they can go on a true dump of ideas and thoughts. Not only is it a great place to pull from, but it’s also a 10/10 way to see what design styles you really like and envision for your spaces (designer, client or somewhere in between!) Tomorrow - for our 💌 subscribers (get on the list!) - we’re sharing our favorite tips to using Pinterest to design your home. When I say that using it with clients has always made the process so much easier - it’s a full understatement. Most people have a hard time understanding what their design style is simply because there are so many words thrown out there in the design tv world for them to latch onto. I’ve had clients who say they’re modern farmhouse, but when I use my Pinterest practice, we realize that it’s not the case. We use mood boards as a way to find what someone is really drawn to vs. what they think b/c they likes that one design that one time. Happy Monday, friends! #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design, Pinterest, moodboard

Why am I digging out of a trash can, you asked? ➕ I lost a sample. Legit. I searched the trash. It ended up being inside, trash free. ➕ A vendor team used my client’s trash cans and it wasn’t near their trash day/they were out of town, so I had to clear everything out, put it in my car and then dump it in the West Elm dumpster that I saw on my ride home. ➕ The tiniest missing piece of hardware that got thrown away from packaging that would have cost an additional $150 to replace, and I like to save a buck every now and then. Moral of story: We’ll go the extra mile. ✨If you’re thinking it’s time to take the step for your dream home, contact us ASAP, if not sooner. #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design,

I mean… it’s a starter pack for some of the days! ✨🍸 We have some big goals for this month - and year - and forever - but my brain can only handle what’s going on today. Baby steps, ammirite?! Happy Monday! #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design,

Layout || lay·out || /‘lā,out/ (noun) the way in which the parts of something are arranged or laid out. 🏖️ “I’m going to layout on the beach.” 📐 “We need multiple layouts of the floorplan to see what works in our home.” @merriamwebster and I are ready to put both of these to work as we close out the summer months. Happy August! ☀️ #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design, August, Floorplan

I’m basically an Olympian in that I sit on my sofa and critique, then bawl hysterically when anyone wins anything. 🥇🤸‍♀️🤽🏾‍♀️🇺🇸 You? Either way, we’re going for gold. It’s one of our favorite accent metals to bring into any space to completely transform it. #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design,

Soooo you’re ready to be penpals?! 👯‍♀️ If you like: ✔️ the TMI side of interior design ✔️ tips, tricks and little bit of zhush ✔️ terrible witty one-liners …then you’re going to love it here! #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design,

POV: You’re a 30-something lady who feels like they’re living in complete decadence due to an accidental purchase (we’re talking about you, @starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew🥤) and remember when you were younger and assumed private jets were the only way to feel our bliss, yet here you are living your best life at 6am on a Tuesday?! It’s the little things and clearly I needed this lol 🙃😂 P.S. Speaking of not-so-little things, swipe through to see where this bathroom remodel started 🤍 #ellemacque #sdinteriordesigner #sandiegointeriordesign #sdinteriordesignfirm Interior Designer San Diego, Hiring an Interior Designer, California Interior Designer, Coastal Interior Design, Bathroom Remodel

We spend years or decades daydreaming of all of the things we would love to create in our homes. We see the before and we see the after… but what about the middle?

For me, that’s my favorite parts - seeing, envisioning, organizing, planning, curating, pivoting, and more - but that’s because it’s my job. Le duh.

For you, potentially, these are the parts that are overwhelming and so time consuming that you sometimes start the project before you’re really ready (i.e. when we have half done home upgrades circling around) or never get around to starting at all.

We want to offer you a little buddy breakdown that will get you on track, whatever the outcome you decide you want it to be.

via elle macque

Step One || Do I Need To Hire A Designer?

I want to start by asking this, because the internet has been teaching us that we can all pretty much build a house on our own at this point and I’m here to point out that that just not might be true for everyone.

Your home is one of the biggest investments. It’s your home, your future and holds so many important memories and moments. So, it should be handled with the care it deserves.

When you’re deciding on what is the best avenue for your investment and if that includes hiring a designer to help navigate the project, we offer a few points to decide on for yourself:

• Time is a valuable asset. Singular space projects can take up to 40 hours of work to complete from start to finish. That can be a lot when you’re already working a 40+ work week and have a family, social life, extracurriculars, etc.

• Starting from scratch can be a fun learning experience, but can also be overwhelming when having to deal with a lot of trial and error.

• Managing a project is super fun when everything is going smoothly. It’s not as cute when it’s not.

If either of these 3 points seem like deal breakers to you, then I would highly recommend hiring a design. Period. This isn’t a sales pitch, it’s just a fact. There are tons of designers, myself included, who offer multiple services from Full Service to Consults. They’re various in investment and are worth a chat overall.

Step Two || You Decided That You’ve Got This!

We support it and that’s what this series is all about! We want you to be able to feel as calm about this as possible.

Let’s start with this little bitty guide (we’re using a Living Room as an example) and break it down from there:

Today is all about breaking down each piece of the project into condensable goals, because no project just goes from A to Z without everything in between.

When you think about your project, we want you to start with writing down the main points that you want to achieve - and make those details.

Instead of saying “overhaul of living room”, write out things like:

• New sectional

• Paint room

• New flooring

• Reface fireplace

@collovhome

Step Three || You’re Crushing The Next Phase

Now that you have those main goals all lined up for your Living Room Project, it’s now time to break them down into action items.

Let’s take your new sectional goal for example. While it seems as easy as just going to a store, buying and moving on. There are points you want to know or have figured out ahead of time to make the most of your investment:

• Size: When you plan out your living space, you should draw out roughly the size of the sectional that you want to have. Too small and it won’t look right, too big and it won’t fit/look out of place.

• Budget: It’s not only about setting the budget that you would want to spend, but to also see what average budgets are around your area. Consider the quality, size, fill, durability, etc. Look online at stores that you’ve liked and see what it costs for size and style of furniture you’re needing.

• Custom or Big Box Store: If you’re not finding the style that you prefer in a retail store, you can always reach out to a local upholsterer to see what their pricing and availability is. What is the design style of your room? Will a modern sofa work or do you need something more classic?

• Fabric Options: Decide on the use of the room and source fabric options that meet those needs. Patterned, fabric style, tufting, nailheads, railroading, ruffles, etc. If you have pets or kids, we would recommend getting a highly durable option.

• Turnaround Time and Delivery: How long will it take to get your sectional? Does that work with your desired time period? Do you have a delivery plan? Does the company offer White Glove services? Do they only do a curb service - so do you have a way to get it in the door?

While there might be more questions to consider, it’s best to break them down step by step in order to get the project completed to your desired standard.

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