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Design demand drops amid economic uncertainty
Michael J. Berens Interior Design, Furnishings & FixturesRecent indicators show architecture and design firms experienced a slowdown in activity during the latter part of the fourth quarter of 2018. Unstable business conditions due to concern about the pace of economic growth in 2019 and turbulence in the stock market in the months of November and December were the main reasons given for the downward trend. Firms reported clients were postponing, delaying or canceling projects as they awaited clearer signals on which direction the economy might move in the next year or two. New contracts and client inquiries also were down from the previous quarter.
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Home sales plummet in December
Michael J. Berens Construction & Building MaterialsA bad year for housing got even worse in December as sales of existing homes plunged to their lowest level in over three years. Annual existing home sales ended the year down nearly 11 percent. Due to the government shutdown, official figures on sales of new homes are not yet available, but some industry sources project those, too, fell in December. Following two months of modest growth, existing home sales (by volume) tumbled 6.4 percent in December, compared to November, hitting their lowest point since September 2015. Although December traditionally is a slow month for home sales, that was nearly twice the size of last year’s month-over-month decline.
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Allow yourself to set — and get — higher fees
Fred Berns Interior Design, Furnishings & FixturesIf you’re an interior design professional, only one person will prevent you from setting and getting much higher fees and markups in the year ahead. That person isn't a competitor, critic, or customer. That person is you. You're the one who will convince yourself that you can't charge more. You're the one who will tell yourself that clients would never pay more for your design services. And that your local market won't "bear" higher fees. And that you simply don't have the experience or expertise to substantially raise your fees. That's baloney.
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Ironing out the wrinkles in activity-based workplaces
Michael J. Berens Interior Design, Furnishings & FixturesSnowballing complaints about the deficiencies and annoyances of open-plan office spaces have pushed employers and designers to experiment with alternative workplace solutions. One model gaining in popularity is the activity-based workplace, which provides a greater variety of spaces to accommodate different types of tasks and work styles. While this approach has received favorable acceptance from employees, recent studies show additional factors need to be considered in order for these spaces to live up to their promised performance.
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The future of interior design is wellness
Lloyd Princeton Interior Design, Furnishings & FixturesIt’s that time again when members of the home décor media roll out their lists of interior design trends for the coming year. While some clients are interested in acquiring the latest look for their home, many of these so-called trends are really just fashion changes or fads that have little impact on how and what professionals actually design. The trend you need to be paying attention is wellness. It’s going to be a game-changer. Clients may not need you any longer to purchase products or pick out paint colors, but they do value your ability to make their homes safer, more comfortable and more functional.
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Remodeling market sending mixed signals as 2019 begins
Michael J. Berens Construction & Building MaterialsWill 2019 be another banner year for remodeling and renovation, or will firms begin to experience a softening in demand? As the new year gets underway, the answer seems to be that it depends on which part of the market you are looking at. Early indicators point to ongoing demand but a decrease in the size and value of projects. Results from the just-released Q1 2019 Houzz Renovation Barometer show "a mixed degree of caution about market conditions among contractors, architects and designers," states Houzz principal economist Nino Sitchinava.
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Meaningful marketing: Use wise words and avoid wimpy ones
Fred Berns Interior Design, Furnishings & FixturesSo, you're a designer with an "intuitive eye for scale and proportion." Or, you're a showroom manager who sells furniture that "connects people, technology and space." So what? What does that mean? What’s in it for me? Those are the questions that all your prospects ask, all of the time. And those are the questions that so many design professionals and industry partners fail to answer on their websites, in their social networking, and in their marketing materials.
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Housing pressures cool luxury home market
Michael J. Berens Construction & Building MaterialsMany of the same factors that are dampening the housing market overall finally caught up with the luxury home sector during the second half of 2018. Prices and inventories have begun to drop, and sales have slowed. Luxury properties were being snapped up at a near-record rate in the second quarter. While that brisk pace actually accelerated somewhat in the third quarter, the total volume of sales declined, according to Redfin’s latest luxury home report.
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Will the single-family home market find relief in 2019?
Michael J. Berens Construction & Building MaterialsHousing starts and sales of existing homes rose for the second month in a row in November, thanks to demand for multifamily properties. The single-family market, though, remained more or less flat, stymied by high prices and the rise in mortgage rates, and is on track for negative annual growth this year. Yet, already there are signs that prices are softening in some areas, and it’s possible mortgage rates will recede if the economy begins to slow down next year, as expected. Will that be enough to put the single-family market back in the black?
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‘Look the part’ and the new year will be your best year
Fred Berns Interior Design, Furnishings & FixturesThis is the time of year that companies in most every industry, in most every market set goals for the year ahead. And no matter if those firms are big or small, they often have a similar ambition: to get bigger jobs from better clients. It’s a worthy goal, to be sure, but a difficult one to achieve. So many companies work so hard to attract major projects from luxury-level clients, yet so few succeed. Why? Most don’t attract high-caliber clients because they don’t look like high-caliber companies.
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