Clients...Hold Onto the Good Ones

Some very special clients called me a couple of days ago asking me to help them put the finishing touches on their apartment which they are going to be putting on the market. I have worked on the interiors of their penthouse, but styling to sell is a whole other story. The apartment needs to feel cozy and comforting to the masses. Not too provocative, not to playful, not too quirky… just something tasteful that would appeal to a wide range of potential buyers.

So my senior designer Vané and I spent the day shopping. Yes, I have the best job in the world. Shopping with someone else’s credit card is kinda great. Granted, I don’t get to keep it for myself, and yes, there is always the chance that my clients won’t love it, but when you see eye to eye with a client like I do with these lovely people, it makes for a fun day in New York.

I met with them from about 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.  to discuss the strategy: simple, modern, sophisticated, nothing to edgy, tasteful and elegant.  From 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. we hit the shops. After checking out about 20 stores trying to find things that were available immediately (we only had 24 hours to get the items on site), we found ourselves much later with a pile shopping bags and boxes in the entry of their apartment. At the end of the day, we were looking at some very tastefully decorated rooms.

After meeting my husband and girls for dinner in the neighborhood I got home to find this email from my clients: "What an amazing amount you accomplished today! The place looks great: master bedroom is just right; cozy and neutral. Not exactly my style, but I think it hits exactly the right cozy-modern-neutral note that we need for prospective buyers. I’m so impressed at how much you managed to find: even an armchair, delivered.  Thank you so much for all your hard, last-minute work today!"

Yep, I love what I do because I sometimes get emails like this!