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| These days, all of us want to make sure that we wisely invest our resources. Gail McNurlen, a local interior decorator, recommends that we also wisely take care of the resource for those resources: ourselves. Foremost in her mission as Owner/Operator of Concepts of Distinction is to help people create comfortable places to live and work in a world that is what she describes as “busy, harsh, and unpredictable.” She explains: “The quality of a person’s life is greatly enhanced by the quality of their environment. Its look and feel greatly affects our mood and sense of well-being. A top-notch designer can, along with the client’s input and within the client’s budget, create a home or office total design that expresses the client’s personality and desired image.” Tim DeGeorge, a Duralee Fabrics sales representative, has regularly provided updated products to Gail from his Long Island-based company. Tim says, “Gail does a lot of exclusive interior design. She possesses excellent customer service skills, is very thorough, and always exhibits good follow-through. She is extremely professional and very well- qualified. Her in-depth background in corporate sales, coupled with her creativity, training, knowledge of the decorating world, and ability to establish customer rapport, all make her a go-to decorator.” Tim introduced Gail to Duralee’s product lines six years ago. Gail explains that Concepts of Distinction can bring decorating choices to clients that are not always available directly to the client. Many products are available to the public only through professional designers. This company, for example, is “to the trade only,” and an active Duralee account number is required to initiate a research request. Imagine sorting through Duralee’s 255 Standard Home Fabrics, 12,527 general fabrics, and/or 2,135 Highland Court possibilities, which is a whopping total of 14,917 choices. This is just for the fabric! No wonder Gail cautions: “It’s a maze of manufacturers, artists, craftspeople, and vendors. A designer takes what seems to be an overwhelming task and makes it a pleasant experience...I want my clients to have fun and not have to tend to tedious details of the project.” Since a fabric choice may be only one of many other choices that you will have to make, Gail says that redecorating without the help of a professional can be beyond overwhelming for busy people. Nonetheless, clients must do some homework to prepare for Gail’s help. A good start is to collect photographs, magazine clippings, pictures of rooms and styles you like, fabric swatches, paint color cards, and/or furniture catalogs, Gail advises. It’s important to study these selections with other decision-makers in the home as well. The following questions must also be considered, according to Gail: 1) Who is going to use the space? 2) What activities will take place there? 3) What is the project’s time frame? 4) If you are modifying an existing space, what do you currently like and dislike about the space? 5) Which choices are needs and which choices are wants? A refreshing element of Gail’s process is that she takes the time to caution her clients on topics that may be delicate and hard to hear, but good in the long run. She suggests that her clients have an investment figure in mind and be prepared for longer delivery times and costs. She adds, “To make the overall plan come together, it’s important for clients to adhere to the plan. Other’s input is always welcome but it can be difficult for everyone involved to remain on task and within the desired time frame if too many outside opinions are considered during the process.” Gail likes to advocate a team approach. She aims to promote a harmonious relationship that is professional, yet intimate in the sense that all parties are working together to make a personal space just right for the client. At times, Gail becomes a bit of a mediator when parties disagree. She explains: “I strive for a meeting of the minds when clients are not completely sure what look they are hoping to achieve. I present ideas based on what they are both telling me they want, explaining the pros and cons of each and educating them as to why certain ones would be best. Most often, the parties end up on the same page and are very excited about the end result because they have both had such an active role in the process. My job is not so much that of a salesperson as it is a consultant.” It is this consultant role that Gail wants to emphasize. She says that the salespeople hired by many furniture stores are trained to get the merchandise sold and out the door, whether or not it is truly the right thing for the customer. Many don’t visit the home to measure, they aren’t able to discern if the furniture is the correct scale for the space, and they haven’t seen the colors in the client’s home. They can’t take the time and care a decorator can to ensure, as Gail puts it, that the home is as unique as the people living there. “In addition to furniture, while in your home, I might even recommend a little faux painting, a window treatment or even a rug to pull the look together for a beautiful, inviting, comfortable look.” Whatever it is, Gail says she will go the extra mile to get it right. A testimony to her work is that she has a lot of repeat business. For one client, she has redone her main home in Des Moines, as well as her other homes located elsewhere. In many cases, she has designed spaces for two generations for the same family…parents referring children once they have homes of their own. Several of her clients are ongoing, in that they work together to do one room at a time over a longer period of time. Another client, after having Gail help her with her home, inspired her husband to hire her to do his executive offices. Gail says she will also help people on both ends of a move. She can suggest what to toss or keep from the first space and prepare computer drawings, for example, of possible furniture placement ideas for the new home. Gail sums it up by answering the question, “Why did you establish your own decorating business?” Her response: “I want to be able to offer clients products from many different vendors so every project has a unique look...a look unique to every client.” You can contact Gail by calling 225-8045 or 770-9013, or by sending an e-mail to conofdist@mchsi.com. |
Concepts of Distinction |
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