Function-First Interior Design

Beautiful spaces work because we design for real people and real routines, not just a perfect-looking room. We break down how function-first thinking leads to smarter layouts, better materials, and a home that still feels elevated even when life gets messy.
• Designing for the people living in the home instead of designing for the room
• Using deep client questions to guide layout, seating comfort, and material choices
• Planning around real life habits like shoes at the door, kids’ sports gear, and homework zones
• Designing for hosting and the flow of holidays, game nights, and post-dinner gathering
• Choosing performance fabrics and slipcovers that make “risky” looks like white sofas practical
• Anticipating problems early through sight lines, wear and tear, and longevity planning
If this conversation changed the way that you think about function and design, subscribe!

Transcript

Function Comes Before Beauty

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The most beautiful spaces don't just look good, they work well too. Today I want to talk about designing around something that most designers don't talk about, and that is focusing on function first. First and foremost, when you are designing a space, you need to think about designing for the people that are living in it, not just for the room. What do I mean by that? Well, there are so many decisions that go into a design process that you need to be mindful of. When we meet with our design clients, it's this like intense conversational questionnaire sort of process because we want to get to know them so incredibly intimately. I want to know is your husband six foot seven? Because if he is, we need to think about that for the sake of chairs and cushions and seating, or he's gonna be miserable and uncomfortable in the living room. We want to know how many pets you have, what kind of pets you have, and even the little details of like what color fur do they have. Because if you have a black dog like I do, that is not gonna bode well on a perfectly beautiful white sofa that has certain fabrics that's gonna stick like Velcro. These are the little details that we truly want to think about when we're designing for a space. And every one of your answers dictates the type of material we use, how we lay things out, the frame of what we're doing, and those details are really what matter. Love design, but think like a business owner? If you're ready to leave your nine to five and want to do something that's buildable and scalable, check out linden-creek.com slash franchise and see if Linden Creek is the right fit for you. Next, we want to design around real life, not your ideal life. Now it's great to say I want to teach my children and my family to always take their shoes off at the front door, and I want to make sure that we live in this certain perfect way. But rather than trying to accomplish all of that before your new furniture arrives, I'd rather we design around how you're living today in a strategic sort of way so that it functions well for you. So we want to dive into things like do your kids play soccer? And sometimes those soccer cleats end up in the living room, then we need to be mindful about the rug and the wear and tear that's gonna take place on that rug so that it can handle it. We love to know little details like if you do have children and they do their homework, are they doing it up in their bedrooms? Are they doing it on the kitchen table? Are they doing it on the kitchen island? All of these little decisions matter. And then when it comes to hosting, that's another big important factor when we're designing a home. So do you host Thanksgiving or Christmas? How many people are you trying to cram into your dining room? And then what do they do after the meal is done? Where are they congregating and sitting? Are you hosting game night on Thursday nights? How many couples are coming to that game night? All of these details matter because we want the functionality not just for your Monday through Friday, but for those special events and activities that create the memories that are actually in your home. Let me share a real life example of this with you. I worked with a client a couple years ago, and she had three children. Two of them were boys that were in soccer and active, and they had just gotten a new, beautiful dog covered in this long, gorgeous hair. And she said to me, Alisa, I want white sofas that has always been my dream. And most people look at that and go, hey, you have animals, you have children. That means no white sofas. But the reality is there are beautiful performance fabrics and white sofa solutions that can exist that are durable and practical. And so we found these gorgeous white slip-covered sofas for her home, put them all in place, designed the entire space, and then, like we do with all of our clients, we did this big HGTV reveal. And so they walked in the front door, they arrived, they saw everything, they gasped, they were excited, and the most terrifying event for the designer happened. She opened the door and the dog came running in. It was raining outside, his paws were covered in mud, and the first thing the dog did was jump on the slipcover sofa. And I will tell you, I know the metrics around that sofa say it's supposed to work, but there's nothing more terrifying than seeing this gorgeous white sofa stepped on by a dog within seconds of them coming home. The homeowner gasped, we went to the sofa to go look, and literally the little brown paws were on the white sofa and we wiped them right off. And it was that moment where you realize this is why it's so important to actually design around a function and not this ideal life where your dog is never gonna jump on the sofa. And finally, it's our job to think through the details before a problem actually exists. We want to anticipate your true needs. So we're thinking about things like sight lines. If you're sitting in a certain position in the living room, what are you looking at? Is that what you should be looking at? Is that the view that you want to be able to see? We think about the details of wear and tear and longevity. Are there pieces of furniture where maybe it does make sense to have something that isn't as durable, but it is beautiful and it's fun and it's funky, and so it's okay to let it go in three to four years when it gets destroyed? Or maybe there are pieces where they need to withstand the test of time because they're gorgeous investment pieces and it needs to withstand that wear and tear. All of these little details go into the design process. And I think what I find to be so interesting is oftentimes when people think about hiring an interior designer, they go, I want them to make my home pretty. But pretty is our second priority. First and foremost, our home and your home needs to function for you and the way that your family lives. And so making sure that you are thinking through the details and the nuances of how you truly live to dictate and determine the furniture solutions, the designs, the colors, the aesthetics that you want in your home, that's what leads to beautiful design. Thanks for spending the time with me today. If this conversation changed the way that you think about function and design, subscribe. We want to share more informational videos that are gonna help you in your design journey. Thanks for listening. This is In Good Space.