Decorating Skills- Instinct or Learnt

[rosierose]

Now that we have pondered.....lets visualise...............
Ah hmmmmmmmmmmmmm (think yoga pose)...

Visualisation...........yep so important..great point....... My BF says how can you look at something and know its going to be part of this story you have in your head....? We might be out shopping and she'll say what are you buying that for and then when I show it to her in context she says oh okay I see what you are doing there.....

Ok so I have a skill a real and valuable skill...... Yay! So can visualisation come with practice....I think so....

My prob is spatial awareness...sometimes I think a piece of furniture will be perfect in a space and then I put it in and it's Um no!.....

I also think it's experience/exposure to different designs.....when you see how diff designers do things you become more aware and open to the possibilities. It's like how being "well-read" makes you a better writer, same goes for design.........see as much as you can......you will have to become a better designer........(well fingers crossed).

[Julie-Ann]

Rosie my spatial awareness was fine tuned during the building of our house. It is a skill that can be learnt. So soon you will have 2 skills.
Very good comparison to being well read. I do find seeing other designers work expands your ideas.

[rosierose]

Looking forward to adding a new skill and plenty of new headaches to my repertoire soon

[Elements]

Everyone has articulated their thoughts very well.........
I was lucky enough to work in a position where the key element to our work was visualising of course sometimes we would have to actually move the items into place only to find out our vision was impaired
So I think there is most definately a natural element to our design abilities similarly there is the same need for any position....You can be a doctor by learning and reading and studying but a good doctor is someone that can get down to our level help us understand whats wrong and be personable, which isn't in any of their text books.
That could be said for any industry.....and thats the difference between being good at your job and being really good at your job because your a natural.
Disclaimer.....my own personal thoughts all while trying to get Mr3 to eat his vegies which doesn't come naturally at all.
Where has that parent text book gone.

[rosierose]

Well put, so decoraters need a good bed side manner...."giggles"

[Julie-Ann]

Originally Posted by rosierose

Well put, so decoraters need a good bed side manner...."giggles"

Rofl- actually yes they do. A large part of the job is selling your ideas to the clients. So you have to have good listening skills and good communication skills. And a lot of patience. I find you often have to lead a client by the hand very gently. They can often get overwhelmed by the choices available and everything that needs to be done.