The Design Process: From Conception to Completion

Install days are full of moving parts, complex details and tight deadlines––design teams must be fierce and flexible!

Pictured: Gabby Vivian Counter Stools

Like a well-choreographed dance, a great interior installation appears seamless in its grace and simplicity. Of course, every designer understands that even the most organized projects will encounter last-minute mishaps.

The most skilled designers conceal the chaos, masterfully scrubbing for evidence of effort. Their clients arrive to a champagne toast, wide-eyed with joy as they glide through a new space filled with fresh flowers, crisp linens, and spotless surfaces. But what really happens behind closed doors? Today, designer Jaimee Rose pulls back the curtain on designer install day.

Inside Installation Day with Jaimee Rose Interiors

With coast-to-coast projects, Jaimee Rose, principal of Arizona-based Jaimee Rose Interiors, and her tenacious team are experts when it comes to eleventh-hour problem solving and executing a flawless install.

Radiant Reveal: Jaimee Rose selected Gabby’s golden Clay Chandelier for this master bathroom.

Installation Day Checklist

With so many crucial “checks and balances” to remember, install days can easily slide into tricky territory. But Jaimee and her team have pre-install prep down to a science. Below, she lists 8 checklist items her team always addresses before installation day.

1. Days before the install, the Purchasing Manager runs expediting reports to verify that all items are accounted for and will make it on the install team’s truck.

2. Extra helpers are hired. Jaimee likes to have “a runner for the day, an art installer, a stylist to help us with all those shelves, and a few more bodies just to keep things moving.”

3. Clients (and pets!) are asked to leave for the day. “We don’t want the pets to escape with all those open doors,” says Jaimee.

4. The install kit is triple-checked to make sure all the essentials are in stock.

5. They gather extra pillows, accessories, and bedding––anything that might “make the moment”.

6. Flowers and champagne are purchased for the client gift. This is a celebration, after all!

7. Floorplans are printed for every room. These will be taped to each door, so the movers know where to place important items

8. Everyone gets a good night’s sleep, except Jaimee, who will likely be “running around” sourcing coffee table books, pillow inserts, and “extra pretties” for install day

Designer’s Toolkit: Installation Essentials

These important items are always in Jaimee’s arsenal for designer install days.

In the bedroom, linens are pressed & pillows are fluffed after passing designer “tryouts”. Featured: Alexis Chest.

Look inside any install kit, and you’ll find tools, cleaning supplies, and a few unique tricks of the trade. Jaimee shares what’s inside hers: “Our kit holds everything from felt pads and lamp cord clips to furniture touch-up pens and even a mini paint roller.”

She also can’t live without “extension cords (in multiple sizes), trash bags, Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, paper towels, glass cleaner, plastic drop cloths, drapery hooks, picture wire, about a thousand nails, and screws, a full toolset, and a mini steamer.”

Her favorite item? A mini Dyson hand-vacuum––“That baby is essential!”. Also on the packing list is an awesome playlist. Jaimee keeps the team moving and shaking to ‘Uptown Funk’, blasting “all the Bruno Mars” throughout the house.

Team Effort: Managing an Interior Design Installation Day

Jaimee hopes her clients will experience a feeling of cheerful calm during the home reveal, explaining, “I want it to feel like elves came and worked silent miracles.” And in a sense, this is true! No interior design installation is complete without a diligent team––these are Jaimee’s special “elves”.

How does Jaimee manage a team of sixteen? “Everyone has a job,” she explains. Typical tasks include bed steaming, bookshelf styling, and “cord control” for lighting fixtures. Jaimee humbly describes her own installation day role as a “floater”. As director of the design ensemble, it’s her job to circulate the residence, directing staff members, answering questions, and providing hands-on assistance when needed.

A touch of greenery completes this dining room featuring Gabby’s iron and linen Ward Dining Chairs.

Marvelous Morale: 5 Mood Boosters for Long Install Days

What puts the pep in these hardworking designers’ steps? Upbeat music, yummy snacks, a healthy lunch, and a final champagne toast. Jaimee’s newest secret weapon is a portable chair massager by Zyllion––this “lunchtime energizer” will join the JRI team on their next spring installation.

The Final Countdown: From Install to the Big Reveal

Step inside an interior design installation from designer roll-call to the final reveal.

8AM: Good morning! The team arrives bright and early. They unpack the install kit, organize the designer station, set up the snacks and the music. Jaimee says their portable Oontz speaker is an install day must-have––” It connects to anyone’s phone and you only need power, not wifi.”

9AM: Before the day begins, all floorplans are taped to the room doors and each team member is assigned a job. From art installation to shelf styling to directing the movers, there’s a crucial task for everyone. Jaimee leads the team by answering questions, distributing accessories, and managing the timeline.

11AM: Once the large furniture pieces are placed, the styling begins. They pile up accessories in each room and hold “tryouts” (i.e. pillow tryouts, lamp tryouts) until they’ve hit the right note. This step is a collaborative effort–– all the designers come together to voice their opinion.

1PM: Now that the design choices are final, the house is prepared for the reveal. The team works quickly to add felt furniture pads, organize cords, remove tags, fluff pillows, clean surfaces, arrange flowers, remove garbage, and get ready to welcome the clients home.

5PM: It’s showtime. When the clients arrive, everyone has vanished except the lead design team. Jaimee asks if they would like to be accompanied through the home, or experience the new look alone. Either way, the team is on-hand to answer client questions. The dazzling design reveal ends with a champagne toast!

Installation Solutions: 3 Problem Solving Tips from Jaimee Rose

•  Manage expectations. Jaimee says, “I always tell the client that while the reveal will be such a fun “Oprah” moment, they should expect that something will be missing or broken or not as planned. And I expect it to happen, too.”
•  Good installs are overstaffed. It’s also wise to have a messenger service on call––“We’ve shattered frame glass and had it repaired all before 5 p.m.”
•  Present a solution. Jaimee addresses missing elements head-on: “I make sure we have a solution and a timeline ready to present to the client as soon as they see the space.”

Worth the Wait: Orchestrating the Grand Installation Reveal

Jaimee Rose and her team work tirelessly to create an “elegant and joyful” reveal. Before the clients arrive, the home is swept of packing materials and messes. The lead design team prepares to greet the homeowners with soft music and flickering candles––“Champagne is on ice, and there are flowers, always.”

As the clients experience their new space, Jaimee allows them to take the lead, gently guiding them through the space, or gracefully stepping out if they prefer to explore the home alone. In the end, champagne is poured, they smile, laugh, and sometimes cry. Every home reveal is unique, Jaimee acknowledges, “but always, we make it special.”

Be sure to follow Jaimee Rose Interiors on Instagram @jaimeeroseinteriors. Images courtesy of Isaac Bailey Photography.

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