Landscape Design: From panic to happy
Gregg and Ellis Landscape Designs Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington
As a landscape designer, I appreciate strong design in the landscape, smart graphic designs, and thoughtful architectural design. It’s kind of like a dance. To the observer it is effortless and creative. So, when I wanted to renovate my kitchen, I asked Sandy Hayes, interior designer, to help me. She came over, we discussed things and I felt good about hiring her. But the next day I had an inexplicable panic that caught me off guard. There had been no doubt in my mind when I first contacted her, but letting go of the design process was suddenly scary. What if I don’t like her ideas? What if her plans put me way over budget? Worry was burning a hole in my brain.
And then it dawned on me. This might be how some of my landscape design clients feel when they hire me. I listen to what a client wants, I offer to come up with different design ideas and take their budget considerations to heart. Sandy did the same. She couldn’t have said or done anything differently. I had to wrestle with my demon of worry myself.
A kitchen design might be a bit easier to explain to clients than a landscape design. Cabinets don’t grow, bloom, or even die. A good landscape designer knows plant sizes, how big to make a patio for a crowd or just a family, and tricks to help hide the neighbors. You must put a great deal of trust in a landscape designer to give you options that will work for you.
The interior designer has since sent me a couple of conceptual ideas to check out that I’m excited about. Designers have experience and ideas that people outside their business can’t imagine. Landscape designers have puzzle pieces that can take years to learn. It’s worth the fee to have someone guide you in a decision that could last a lifetime.
