The most beautiful homes are the ones that support the rhythm of your everyday life. The layout works naturally, the details feel thoughtful, and the overall atmosphere is refined yet relaxed. When a home is designed with intention, it becomes a place that welcomes guests with ease while still offering a calm and comfortable place to land at the end of the day.
Spaces like this rarely happen by accident. They begin with a clear understanding of how you want your home to function and how you want it to make you feel.
For more than 25 years, I have helped homeowners transform their spaces into homes that feel personal, thoughtful, and deeply livable. That process always begins with what we call the Design Discovery Session.
This two-hour meeting in your home allows us to connect, explore your goals, and discuss the possibilities for your space. It often becomes the foundation for a larger design project, ensuring every decision that follows is guided by a clear understanding of your home, your priorities, and the way you live.
The session is focused and collaborative, and a little preparation beforehand can make the experience even more valuable.
1. Begin With Your Vision for the Home
Before we meet, it is important to take some time to think about the bigger picture. Do you want a welcoming space for entertaining? Are you envisioning coming home after a day outdoors to a space that feels grounded, comfortable, and effortlessly pulled together? Either way, having clarity around your vision allows us to move forward with intention.
Knowing your long-term goals shapes how we curate furnishings, layer in texture and warmth, and introduce colour in a way that feels both elevated and livable. The focus is never just on how a space looks, but on how it supports your everyday rhythms and enhances the way you experience your home.
2. Think About Your Investment Range
Most clients come into this process not knowing the investment that will be required to achieve the results they want. That is completely normal. Most homeowners simply have a sense of what they feel comfortable investing or the funds they have available for their project. Part of my role is helping you understand what is realistically possible within that range.
During our Design Discovery Session, we can discuss how far different investment levels may go and explore options if the ideal scope exceeds the initial plan. Sometimes that means prioritizing certain areas first, phasing work over time, or adjusting selections while still protecting the overall vision for your home.
A clear conversation about investment early in the process helps ensure the design recommendations remain both inspiring and achievable.
3. Consider How You Really Live in Your Space
Beautiful homes are never just about aesthetics. The most successful interiors are designed around how families actually live. Think about what currently works well in your home and what feels frustrating or inefficient.
Perhaps the family room never quite accommodates family movie nights, or the dining area feels disconnected when you entertain. Storage may be lacking, furniture may not support comfortable relaxation, or some spaces may simply feel unfinished. These “pain points” are incredibly helpful for me to understand.
The more I know about your habits, routines, and priorities, the better I can suggest solutions that improve how your home functions while ensuring the space still feels cohesive and welcoming.
4. Gather Visual Inspiration
Images are one of the most effective ways to communicate design preferences. Before our meeting, I encourage clients to collect a handful of images showing spaces they are drawn to — whether this is through Pinterest, Houzz, magazine clippings, or saved images online. You do not need to worry about identifying your “style”. Instead, we help identify common threads in your images that can inform the path forward.
Perhaps you gravitate toward lighter palettes, layered textures, natural materials, or spaces that feel calm and uncluttered. Sometimes clients are surprised to see how consistent their preferences actually are once we review these images together. This exercise allows us to quickly identify the elements that resonate with you and begin shaping a design direction that feels authentic to your home.
5. Bring Your Questions and Biggest Challenges
The Design Discovery Session is designed to be highly interactive. Many clients arrive with a list of questions about renovation ideas, colour palettes, furniture placement, or design decisions they have been struggling with. Others simply want guidance on where to begin. Both approaches are equally welcome.
Think about the areas that aren’t working for you or the rooms that feel the most unfinished. Addressing those issues lead to productive conversations during our time together. My goal is to ensure you leave the session with clarity, practical direction, a fresh perspective and a stronger sense of what is possible for your home.
6. Ensure All Decision Makers Are Part of the Conversation
If more than one person will be involved in making design decisions — whether a partner, spouse, or family member — it is incredibly helpful for them to participate in the Design Discovery Session.
Design decisions often move forward more smoothly when everyone has had the opportunity to share their priorities and preferences early on and hear our thoughts and guidance first-hand. This collaborative approach also helps ensure that the final result truly reflects the household as a whole.
A Thoughtful First Step
Following our meeting, you will receive a detailed written summary outlining the ideas, recommendations, and next steps we discussed. Many clients find this document incredibly helpful as they move forward with their project.
For most homeowners, the Design Discovery Session marks the beginning of a larger interior decorating project that we guide them through. For others, it simply provides the clarity and direction they need to move ahead on their own. Either way, it is an important first step in understanding your space, your priorities, and whether we are the right fit to work together.
If you have questions about the design process or are ready to schedule your Design Discovery Session, we would love to hear from you.
Yours,
Lori
