With the floorplan locked in, it's time to make quite a few selection decisions, which can be rather overwhelming! We walk through this process with all of our clients and each one experiences decision fatigue in a different way. What makes decision fatigue even worse, is having the wrong mindset walking into these meetings. We've noticed there are some common beliefs that can wreak havoc on your anxiety if you fall into their trap! Here are some frequent misconceptions.
“A 'correct' decision means I feel fully and wholly confident.”
Decisions always involve some level of trade-offs and compromises, so they’re often coupled with a little internal conflict. Feeling doubt doesn’t mean it is the wrong decision. It’s possible - and frequent! - that my choice can have a drawback and yet remain the best option for my project.
“When it’s right, I’ll know.”
That moment of absolute peace and conviction doesn’t usually occur, so I won’t wait for it, or I’ll be waiting forever! Instead, I'll remember my initial priorities, evaluate if they’ve been met, and then give myself permission to move forward with a selection even in the absence of resounding conviction. Remodeling depends on embracing a bit of uncertainty.
“I need to run these decisions by a few friends before confirming.”
Having a trusted set of eyes to confirm choices with can be comforting, but having too many sets of eyes invariably leads to confusion. Without fail, several people - all with great taste! - will have conflicting opinions leading me to freeze with indecision. I'll trust my intuition, trust my Scovell designer…and if I still need to, I'll find just one other set of eyes, but no more! Any more than that and I’ll lose all sense of clarity.
“I want to make sure the design captures all my inspiration pictures.”
I can’t wear all the jewelry to the party. If I try to do too much…it will be too much! My space cannot incorporate every element of a design that I’ve ever found attractive. Beautiful design emerges from thoughtful curation and restraint. This may mean letting go of some long-held inspiration images that are competing for attention.
“I love these decisions…but I’m still going to keep my eyes open.”
I'll resist the temptation of endless scrolling through Instagram or Pinterest after the White Table meeting. If I look for more good ideas, I will indeed find them! But that doesn’t mean they are better than the decisions I landed on at the White Table. I'll trust the process and won’t look back!