In the past, interior designers ordered almost every piece of furniture or decor from trade vendors on behalf of their clients, and billed them an hourly rate plus charges for purchases—typically, wholesale plus a markup or retail minus a discount. Then, it would take the merchandise months to be fabricated and delivered.

Obviously, homeowners were exhilarated when other resources emerged, such as HGTV shows, hip housing magazines, and online idea sites such as Houzz and Pinterest, allowing them to take a more active role in home design. The latest iteration to shake up the process is online companies that employ staff designers or freelancers with the goal of simplifying the designer-homeowner partnership and allowing the act of home furnishing to became transparent, faster, and more affordable.

The process typically works like this: Homeowners begin by filling out an online questionnaire to match them with the right professional. The survey covers personal preferences based on clients choosing their favorite product and design photos. Homeowners also enter their room sizes and a budget, which covers the company’s hourly rate or project fee, plus the cost of furnishings from online sources such as Wayfair, CB2, and Crate and Barrel. The design professional they’re matched with suggests purchases and room layouts, often without setting foot on the property. “Think of it as a variation on online dating,” says Chicago designer Tom Segal of Kaufman Segal Design.

Interactions with the designer can happen via email, phone, instant message, Skype, and sometimes in-person meetings. Before the homeowner signs off on a project, they are provided a floor plan or 3D rendering, which shows how to arrange the furnishings once they arrive. Since the first companies emerged in 2012, many have grown and added locations. “Most customers who come to us are too busy to do this on their own and are looking for an efficient, convenient way to gain a beautiful home,” says Alessandra Wood, vice president of style at Modsy, based in San Francisco.

Those were the reasons homeowner Carolina Poli decided to use New York–based Homepolish. While living in Brooklyn, she was building a house in suburban New York, working fulltime, and raising two young children. “I thought I could select it all myself but realized it was too big a job,” she says. Her designer Crystal Sinclair worked with her by phone, online, and in person. “The price was also much better than if I had worked a designer in the traditional way.” Some design firms also work with real estate professionals to stage rooms.

Here are a few online interior design firms gaining prominence.

© Dov Plawsky/Affordable Home Design

Affordable Interior Design: This New York–based firm, with branches in Washington, D.C., and London, provides online help through eight freelance designers who visit clients’ homes (unless they live far away). Founder Betsy Helmuth’s impetus was to provide affordable design that would expand her reach beyond her suburban New York design storefront. She offers two packages that each require filling out a questionnaire, sending in photos of rooms or items customers like, and supplying room measurements. Option one is $999 for a two-hour consultation for two rooms, a shopping list of up to 16 retail items with prices often discounted, two floor plans, a “mood” or Pinterest-style board, and a final presentation. The second option is a one-hour consultation for one room at $799, shopping list for up to eight items, one floor plan, mood board, and final presentation. Additional rooms each cost $599 and come with a shopping list for eight items, floor plan, mood board, and presentation.

© Sonia Carlson/Decorilla

Decorilla: Founded by Agnieszka Wilk in New York in 2012, the company now uses 10,000 designers across every state and reaches internationally as well. Decorilla also has an in-house staff who handle other parts of the job, such as coordinating delivery, dealing with returned goods, and managing construction. This company starts clients out with a questionnaire, but they can also search its website to pick a designer whose portfolio they like. The company offers three packages, from basic bronze for $499 for one room to gold for several rooms for $1,699, while offering clients access to highly experienced designers. Rather than providing one plan or rendering, four options are offered to clients with realistic renderings from two different designers. Each client also gets company discounts on more than 250 well-known brands such as Wayfair, Crate and Barrel, and Jonathan Adler. Many projects incorporate one-of-a-kind goods. Seattle designer Sonia Carlson worked on a gold-level package for eight rooms and exterior finishes for a new home in Pennsylvania. She and her client worked mostly via email and Skype, and they uploaded idea images over several months. Many pieces were sourced from Europe. For those who need less help, the company offers service starting at $75 an hour.

© Jessica McCarthy/Decorist

Decorist: Based in San Francisco, this online interior design company was launched in 2014 by Gretchen Hansen, a consumer marketing executive who found herself challenged when decorating her own home. A designer friend helped her via email, and the proverbial lightbulb went on. “If someone could help me that way, I could help others,” Hansen says. With a roster of approximately 400 interior designers, the firm handles design projects online only. After filling out a questionnaire, clients pick from three packages: the Classic Design Service for $299 per room with the industry’s most ambitious up-and-coming designers; the Elite Design Service for $599 per room with a locally established designer with regional press; or the Celebrity Design Service for $1,299 per room with a nationally recognized “A-list” interior designer. What a home owner gets: two “mood boards,” the chance to chat via instant message with the designer, a final room design board and floor plan, and a detailed shopping list. Decorist’s free concierge purchasing team members handle shopping and delivery.

© Seth Caplan/Homepolish

Homepolish: Based in New York, this firm works with freelance designers, architects, and general contractors who use the partnership to increase their exposure to new clientele and gain access to its proprietary technology and tools to run their businesses more efficiently. Since Noa Santos started the company in 2012, it has grown to a network of 1,000 professionals nationally who take on not just residential but also commercial and hospitality projects. The company also has an in-house staff of 70. Designers visit clients’ spaces but can also work by video if they live far away. Prices begin at $140 an hour with a minimum of 10 hours required; hourly rates go up to more than $300 an hour. The company touts its extensive list of trade and retail vendors, and other services such as construction management. Homepolish team members make money by time spent rather than from commissions on client purchases. “There’s no incentive to buy more expensive furnishings,” Santos says.

© Modsy

Modsy: Shanna Tellerman founded her San Francisco–based company four years ago, which now works with 200 to 300 designers. They offer service online nationwide through video and telephone calls with four design packages available: basic for $69 per room with purchases delivered in eight to 10 days; classic for $89 per room and delivery in six to eight days; premium for $199 per room and delivery of goods in four to seven days; and multiroom at $399 for up to three rooms and delivery in four to seven days. For an extra $15, home owners can have any item they already own digitally inserted into their plan to see how it will look; a substitute but similar item can be inserted for free, says Wood. Plans or renderings highlight purchases with a white dot, which, when clicked, details the product information. Designers try to give clients choices in each layout, such as a sectional or sofa or different paint palettes.

© Traci Connell/TCI Design Delivered

TCI Design Delivered: Traci Connell started her online TCI Design Delivered business after recognizing that not everybody could afford the services of her original firm, Traci Connell Interiors. That firm requires home owners to spend a minimum on each of three rooms plus a designer fee rather than hourly rate. To help them get her decorating expertise at a lower cost, Connell and her staff have priced consultations based on room type and size—$1,080 for an entryway or $1,700 for a home office, for example. The first step for clients is filling out a questionnaire, followed within six to eight weeks by receiving a “presentation box” with a furniture and material book, paint samples, a detailed floor plan, remodeling finishes, and fabric swatches. Clients make their choices and handle returns themselves. Results for the two approaches aren’t the same, however. “There’s a huge difference between doing one room online versus the traditional way where there’s constant personal interaction, access to special touches, someone to help with ordering, installation, and making returns,” Connell says.

Design the Old-Fashioned Way

While online decorating can work well, it’s not the same as having a designer visit your home and work in person, says Tom Segal, co-founder of Kaufman Segal Design in Chicago. “When we’re not in the space, we don’t see how light enters the room, plays off the ceiling, or affects other colors and furnishings, or how people use their house. We also don’t see how traffic flows into the kitchen or throughout an entire floor,” he says. Another negative that Segal cautions is many of the products offered are mass-produced, so they don’t offer the same personalized look and feel that custom selections usually do. “They may not fit the user as well. For example, a sofa or chair may not be the desired width, height, and length, or have the right firmness or give,” he says.

Yet, Segal still considers online decorating a positive trend. “It’s a good way for those who’ve never worked with a designer to start understanding the process and [those] with smaller budgets to get a room furnished and often fairly quickly,” he says. Online decorating helps to demystify the process, so if owners decide later that they are ready to take the next step, whether it’s working on more rooms or allotting a bigger budget, they can switch to a traditional design firm, Segal says. “We’re all trying to be more transparent. In my firm’s case, we charge an hourly rate and generally a 35 percent markup on the net or wholesale cost. We also get 20 percent off certain retail purchases,” he says. The bottom line is that every design company works differently, so it’s important for clients to ask about costs up front, he says.

Source:  Barbara Ballinger

© Laurie Van Zandt, The Ardent Gardener

Between smaller urban backyards and terraces and new homes being built with smaller outdoor footprints, gardens are scaling down proportionately. For example, a homeowner living in a bungalow with a small yard can still enjoy the trickling sounds of water, but it might be a bubbling fountain or spa rather than elaborate outdoor water features or a swimming pool. The same is true for vegetable gardens. Rather than planting large raised beds, one or two metal troughs or ceramic pots filled with a mix of vegetables and herbs still could provide delicious fixings for a homegrown meal.

Landscape designer Laurie Van Zandt, founder of The Ardent Gardener in Huntsville, Utah, finds her clients with smaller yards are just as happy. “Most want to putter [in the yard] but don’t want to be gardeners,” she says. More clients want to sit with a cup of coffee or glass of wine and enjoy their outdoor space than be wedded to the ongoing weeding and maintenance that larger gardens often require.

© Amber Freda Landscape Design

However, gardens shouldn’t be done away with completely. Greenery in small or large doses benefits a home owner’s physical and psychological well-being, and it may also help sell a listing faster and for a better price. In New York, Amber Freda, a landscape designer who founded Amber Freda Garden Design 15 years ago, has seen her business grow steadily. “The amount of finished outdoor gardens rather than raw spaces has increased. They definitely are a selling feature, especially when they have some features such as outlets for electricity, faucets for water, and a gas line for a grill,” she says.

Making the Best Use of Space

To help your clients with small yards or terraces create a garden they love—that will also appeal to future buyers—keep the five senses in mind: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Also consider the area’s climate and the property’s terrain, soil, and amount of sun and shade. Then find out what their budget is, including installation and ongoing maintenance.  

Get inspired with these tips from garden experts, who’ve shared some of their favorite elements that can be mixed and matched.

© Michael Glassman

Edibles. Eating healthy has inspired homeowners to grow their own produce, and for some, it adds an element of fun. Though small square footage will necessitate paring down the list of possibilities, some vegetables are propagated specifically for their small size, such as tomatoes, artichokes, and carrots, says Edward Furner, a landscape architect with Mariani Landscape in Lake Bluff, Ill., outside Chicago. Certain fruit trees have also been genetically developed for smaller spaces such as peaches, nectarines, and some citrus.

To both eliminate a lot of kneeling and bending, try using galvanized horse troughs or big pots for planting since they don’t require construction, suggests Sacramento, Calif.-based landscape designer Michael Glassman, co-author with this writer of The Garden Bible (Images Publishing, 2015). Edible flowers could also be considered. To make watering easy, add drip irrigation or soaker hoses.

Fire. A fire feature is among today’s top outdoor requests. For smaller yards, a fire pit, bowl, or element built into a table can provide that romantic glow (and many are portable). Unlike fireplaces, most fire pits don’t require permission from a local municipality, though they may require a certain setback from the house. Van Zandt also suggests inexpensive tiki torches to add to the fire ambiance.

© Sun Valley Landscaping Omaha, NE, a member of the National Association of Landscape Professionals

Water. While the sound of trickling water delights many, it offers another purpose: to block other noise. These days it’s easy to find a large urn or an attractive container that can be retrofitted with a bubbler to recirculate water, as Van Zandt did for a client who had a rock collection. She stacked them together and drilled a hole so water could trickle out. Furner says he’s receiving more requests from clients for small lap pools.

One type of water feature that has lost appeal is the koi pond, due to heavy maintenance, says Glassman. For drought-ravaged areas—or for homeowners who want to cut water use—Furner suggests faux grass, which has become much more realistic in recent years. Some companies also manufacture lifelike outdoor plants, such as boxwood.

Cooking and eating. For years outdoor kitchens grew larger and larger, with higher-end models incorporating a grill with rotisserie, sink, and refrigerator—even a beer tap, pizza oven, countertops, and storage. But many found the investment overkill with access to their indoor kitchens just steps away.

When helping one client who enjoys cooking and entertaining, landscape architect Jack Carman of Design for Generations in Medford, N.J., transformed the small patio outside her cottage by staining the white concrete tan to cut the glare, then adding a grill, table with umbrella for shade, chairs, planting beds, and low-voltage lights to illuminate a path for safety.

Wildlife-friendly. The right plants will attract hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, moths, flies, beetles, and other pollinators that give back to a garden of any size, says Missy Henriksen, vice president of public affairs at the National Association of Landscape Professionals. “Choose plants that flower at different times of the year, which will vary by region,” she says. Many online guides offer information, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

© Lifescape Colorado, Denver, CO, a member of the National Association of Landscape Professionals

Soul-nourishing. A small garden can become a spiritual retreat, helping homeowners unwind and destress. Glassman built a raised platform for one client to practice tai chi. A lawn panel can offer the same option with a mat placed atop grass. Hospitals have become a good source of information since many have installed their own gardens to help patients recover and offer a respite place for family members and staff as well. The Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Md., has three rooftop gardens, including a water feature in its Mary Catherine Bunting Center.

Privacy. Shielding gardens and outdoor spaces from neighbors has become more of a priority as homeowners gravitate to urban areas and downtown suburbs. One way is to go vertical and plant along a garage, outbuilding, or fence to camouflage or block out neighboring properties. Choose perennials in colder climates to eliminate the need to replant. Glassman prefers to use an iron or wood trellis rather than grow greenery directly on a dwelling because it’s easier to perform maintenance. He favors potato, trumpet, and creeping fig vines that grow densely in his northern California climate. Another option for privacy is to plant shrubs or trees with multiple trunks. Henriksen says succulents have become a popular option. But with any choice, the homeowner should ask how big the plant will grow when it matures so that they leave enough room, Glassman says.

Container gardens are a third alternative. Henriksen recommends that each pot have three types of plants: a “thriller” or tall plant that makes a strong statement in form or color, a “filler” that fills the space and hides the soil, and a “spiller” that weeps over the edge. Master gardener Carole Aine Langrall, owner of The Flower Spy in Santa Fe, N.M., and Baltimore likes to limit the palette to a few hues and textures to give the illusion of more space.

© Jim Charlier

Decorative. Whether it’s hardy artwork, whimsical found objects, or wind chimes, decorative elements personalize a space. However, decorative items should be limited so they don’t overcrowd a small garden, Van Zandt says. One striking piece can create a beautiful focal point to direct the eye, says Henriksen.

But paring down isn’t for everyone. Many of the 400 amateur gardeners who open their colorful, quirky, original gardens in Buffalo, N.Y.’s annual Garden Walk Buffalo weekend event each July disregard the simplicity mantra. Graphic designer Jim Charlier, who participates yearly, recently co-authored the book Buffalo-Style Gardens (St. Lynn’s Press, 2019) with garden writer Sally Cunningham. He designed his small garden for eating and entertaining, planted a collection of climbing plants to block neighboring homes, and built a green potting shed that mimics his 1897 green Dutch Colonial-style home to hold tools. The pedigree of a garden featured on the 25-year-old tour—the largest of its type in the country—definitely helps to sell homes, Charlier says.

Up in the Air: Handling Rooftop Gardens

More attention is being paid to using all outdoor areas, including urban rooftops. But working on outdoor spaces that are high up adds additional challenges.

Make sure your clients consult a structural engineer to determine how much furniture, decking, and soil a terrace, balcony, or roof can support and how to transport those items up top. Where an elevator may not be large enough, a crane is required, which increases costs, says landscape architect Marc Nissim, owner of the Harmony Design Group in Westfield, N.J.

© Amber Freda Landscape Design

Landscape designer Amber Freda, whose eponymous firm is based in New York, helped clients with a garden in that city’s West Village neighborhood where restrictions limited them to 35 pounds per square foot. The building also didn’t have an elevator. Her solution: lightweight potting soil and custom red cedar planters.

Local weather conditions may dictate certain precautions as well. Furniture may need to be bolted down so it doesn’t fly away with strong wind gusts. Flooring needs to be durable to withstand the elements. Nissim likes ipe planks, a dense wood decking material that snaps together and doesn’t require repainting. There’s also less costly porcelain pavers that are hard and durable yet not as heavy as paving stones.

A good irrigation system should be available since water tends to evaporate faster up high versus on the ground. “Look at what grows well on a mountain and that’s often the best solution for a rooftop or high garden,” says Freda.

Dictionary.com released a list of new words and phrases added this year, and “death cleaning” was among its newest additions. Death cleaning is defined as “the process of cleaning and decluttering one’s home so as to spare others, especially family members, from the chore of it after one’s death.”

It sounds morbid, but family members who have inherited a home full of belongings following a person’s death know “death cleaning” can be a massive undertaking that can be both heartbreaking and stressful.

“We added this definition to Dictionary.com this year because it’s an interesting term that filled a gap in the English language,” Jane Solomon, linguist-in-residence at Dictionary.com, told MarketWatch. “The U.S. is often seen as a materialistic place, and I think people who are grappling with their amassed possessions crave concepts like death cleaning or the KonMari method as they seek a more minimalistic lifestyle.”

Death cleaning, both the term and practice, was popularized in the U.S. with the release of the English translation of the book “Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning” by Swedish artist Margareta Magnusson, Solomon notes. “Death cleaning” is the literal translation of the Swedish term “döstädning,” which means “to tidy, clean, clean up, clean out.”

Paige Arnof-Fenn says it took her two-and-a-half years after her mom died in 2010 to finish “death cleaning” the home—her mother was a “bit of a pack rat/hoarder,” she says. “It was exhausting,” Arnof-Fenn told MarketWatch, but added that it “also made me start to pare down my own clutter.” Her best advice: Tell everyone to “ask their parents while they are still alive a lot of questions and have them give things to their grandkids directly. It will mean a lot more to them, and you will get the stories of why the things are important.”

Dictionary.com added more than 300 new words and definitions to its website this week. Other additions included “JSYK” (an abbreviation for “just so you know”); JOMO (acronym for “joy of missing out,” which is a feeling of contentment with one’s own pursuits and activities without worrying over the possibility of missing out on what others may be doing); and “tone policing” (“a conversational tactic that dismisses the ideas being communicated when they are perceived to be delivered in an angry, frustrated, sad, fearful, or otherwise emotionally charged manner”).