Well, we’ve made it into another year and, if anything can be said about 2015, it was an interesting year for many in the design business. As 2016 dawns, we need to be ready for much of the same. The keys to success will be follow-through, staying on top of trends, and ensuring that your online presence is up-to-date and compelling. With these things said…Did you know that 4 of 5 people who make a New Year’s resolution give up on it within 30 days?Now, I’m sure you're not one of these people, and that you never give up on a resolution – but – the odds are that you do have potential clients who fit this profile. In fact, you may have already made a pitch to someone who said they wanted to change their living or work space in the New Year. However, if they happen to be one of the 80% who inevitably won’t follow through, your time and efforts on their behalf have been wasted.
Resolve to Follow-through in the New Year
This is where following through, one of the keys to success mentioned above, will be critical to your ongoing success. Far too many people procrastinate on decisions, even truly important decisions. Making significant changes to the space in which they live or work is about as significant as it gets. When they do it as part of a New Year’s resolution, it becomes even more problematic; too many folks simply do not see it through.Overcoming this type of inertia can be difficult but, by being persistent, you can help them to reach a decision. Hopefully, they will decide to say, “Yes!” but, in a case like this, ANY decision is better than being neglected or forgotten. For more on this, check out this previous post, titled, Boosting Interior Design Sales - Overcoming Objections.Keeping up-to-date with the latest design trends, whether hot new products, colors, use-of-space trends or anything else that “everyone is talking about”, will also help you to help them to make a decision. If you're curious, here are a couple of articles predicting the hottest design trends we can expect for 2016:
And finally, as we’ve mentioned in other posts on the subject, your online identity and brand will have a massive impact on how potential clients perceive you, as well as their personal decision-making process. Click here to read those posts:
While it seems reasonable that the responsibility for making a decision rests with your client, you may need to take on that responsibility yourself, if you hope to overcome their New Year inertia. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by putting yourself out there again, reminding them of why they got in touch with you in the first place, and once again asking for the sale.How do you cope with clients who procrastinate after your presentation? Do you have a strategy to overcome client indecision that works for you? Would you like to share it?
For example, while many of the homes you see will follow the recent trend of using an open floor plan, there are some who argue that room definition will be a hot trend for 2016. For clients who do not wish to have their homes rebuilt around them, choosing alternate floor coverings throughout will help to redefine each room.Further, you can offer your clients a more diverse flavor to their home by focusing on international designs in the carpeting and rugs you choose to present. 
The window frames in this kitchen have become accents rather than distractions, preserving natural light and the view for the homeowner. Covering these gorgeous portholes to the outside world would have been a shame.
A view like the one below should never be covered. By painting the window trim, rather than covering these large picture windows, the panoramic view is preserved, allowing the homeowner to feel a part of the nature that surrounds the home.
Once again, the emphasis in this room has been placed on natural light and an open feel. These steel window frames add elegance to a modern look, while also being wonderfully resilient and durable, as well as easy to care for.Have you been able to use existing windows to make a creative statement for your clients? How has that worked for you in the past? Please share your own ideas for the creative use of bare windows to provide natural light and openness for your clients in the future. Would love to hear from you!
And yet, if a statement like this is not possible for some reason, the creative and judicious use of color as background can add depth and daring to the simplest areas of a room, as shown in the bookcase of a child’s bedroom below, 
As you can see, making a bold statement with colors does not have to lead to overpowering or outrageous looks in your client’s home. While being daring can be great fun, and some of your clients may seek that from you, it is possible to be audacious – without being impertinent or presumptuous.Did this blog post help you to be more creative in your use of colors? Have you used colors to make bold statements for your clients? How has that worked for you in the past, and how do you hope to use bold colors to make bold statements in the future?