One thing people struggle with when working on the interior design of their custom dream homes is figuring out their own style. Traditional? Modern? Rustic? Modern Farmhouse? Boho? Minimalist? Contemporary? Industrial? Coastal? Scandinavian?
Honestly, the list of design styles is almost as long as a list of people who are interested in them, or scared off by them, or trying to resolve the parts they like of any number of them. It doesn’t have to be so hard!
We know that designing and building a custom dream home is a huge project for our clients. In many cases, it’s the largest investment, both physical and financial, and sometimes even emotional, they’ve ever made. As we work with clients through our design/build process, we’re privileged to learn a lot about them: why they want this dream home, how the home has to work for them, what their hopes are for the home. We also learn a lot about their individual style. Often, we’re working with couples or families, so that means we’re learning about individual styles, and coming up with creative ways to incorporate lots of different tastes and preferences.
To say nothing of the tact that all of that is before we even consider the outside inputs. Friends, extended family, coworkers—everybody with an opinion is ready to divert you from your track. Let’s not even touch on social media for now—that’s a tool that can be a great way to home in on your style, but it can also be a vehicle for you to second-guess everything you loved, or thought you loved. No matter what, for a project like a custom dream home, everyone will have an opinion to offer, sometimes whether you ask them for it or not.
We spoke with local interior designer Cassandra Doolittle from Northern Design Co. about personal style, and how to figure out what your style is. She’s an interior designer in the Brainerd Lakes area who has a long track record of helping people create stunning, personal spaces in their homes.
We asked her about different design styles, and how people can reconcile the varying aspects of those styles that appeal to them, especially with regard to interior home design.
This is one of a series of video interviews we did with Cassandra, discussing a wide range of interior design topics: her process, what her goals are for her clients, reasons to hire an interior designer, best practices for staying on budget, how to develop and incorporate your personal style, as well as some common mistakes people make that can be avoided with the help of an interior designer.
A key point from Cassandra revolved around the idea of “right or wrong” with design. Clients worry that one design choice or another—everything from room layout to surface finishes—is the “right” choice or the “wrong” choice, when really there isn’t such a thing. There’s no right or wrong design style, there’s just your style. And a good interior designer will help you realize your style in a way that makes your dream home yours.
Keep in mind that everyone has their own notion of what various design styles mean. Ask two people to describe “modern,” “rustic,” or “modern rustic” design (the last is a type especially prevalent in the Brainerd Lakes area) and you’ll hear a lot of different answers. The key is to figure out what those styles mean for you. As Cassandra notes: “It’s okay if you like five different styles. But what is it about each of those styles that you like?” That’s how an interior designer helps you develop your own style. It’s not about staying true to some outside aesthetic, although there are people for whom that is their style. But the key thing is that lots of people get hung up on specific styles or ideas, but really good interior design isn’t restricted by a single design type: it’s there to help and serve you, in your home, so it looks and functions how you want it to.
Designing and building a dream home can be as stressful as it is thrilling. There are so many choices to make, and each of them seems fraught with implications, but they all boil down to: is it right or wrong? What we’ll help you see is that there isn’t really a right or wrong, there’s just what’s right for you and your family. (Okay, obviously there are some rights and wrongs: we’re not going to build a home suited for the tropics on a northern Minnesota lake, subject to northern Minnesota winters, but nobody’s really asking for that, anyway.)
Your style is what brings you joy, something that makes you happy and comfortable in your home. That’s what we want, too.
Obviously building dream houses or dream remodels is the primary work we do—the company is called Dotty Brothers Construction, after all, but constructing dream houses is only half of our process. Before anything is built, it’s designed. That part of the process is as important as the build and is the start of us really getting to know our clients well. As we work with them to design their home, we come to understand why they want this dream home, and how they want it to work for their family for generations to come.
Designing walls, roofs, decks, porches, rooms, halls, and every other part of a home is one part of the design process, but customizing them to the customers’ needs, and helping to work out what the final finishes on those areas will look like is another, more specific type of design: interior design.
We spoke with local interior designer Cassandra Doolittle from Northern Design Co. about why you should hire an interior designer. She’s worked as an interior designer in the Brainerd Lakes area for many years, and we’ve been fortunate to work with her on a few design/build projects.
We asked her to talk about her process, and how she gets projects started. We discussed the many roles she plays for her clients—some of which we find ourselves in as well. (You might not think the construction trades require a lot of careful listening and creating thoughtful compromises, but we sometimes find ourselves acting as mediators, helping clients navigate a wave of information and external input, something Cassandra can relate to.)
This is the first of a series of video interviews we did with Cassandra, discussing a wide range of interior design topics: her process, what her goals are for her clients, reasons to hire an interior designer, best practices for staying on budget, how to develop and incorporate your personal style, as well as some common mistakes people make that can be avoided with the help of an interior designer.
As Cassandra notes, every custom design/build project boils down to relationships —the relationships that we build with our clients (no pun intended) and the relationships Cassandra develops with hers. Both for her and for our team, we’re often working on something our clients have literally dreamed of, possibly for years, so it’s important to get it right.
An important point Cassandra makes is that there can be a misconception about interior design, that it might be seen purely as interior decorating—the “icing on the cake,” as she puts it. But it’s so much more than that. Thoughtful design and space planning are a critical part of any design/build project. Getting an interior designer involved early can help inform choices made at the design stage and help ensure that the final product is one you’ll love for decades. As with all construction projects, staying within budget is easy—as long as nobody makes radical changes after the construction begins. Careful design helps work out the best way to create and organize space, and that alone will help prevent change orders later in the process. And that’s before anyone’s started picking out flooring or molding or paint or stain (or any of a hundred other choices to be made).
It’s easy to look at a blueprint or an architectural rendering and say “Yes, that great room does, in fact, look great.” But a good interior designer will help make sure that great room lives great, too. A great room with a great view probably has great big windows—a majestic vista awaits! But if there’s no place to put a couch or a comfy set of chairs, you could be stuck holding your morning coffee and standing at the window while watching the sunrise. The view can be incredible, but still not how you want to live.
To be clear, that’s something of an exaggeration. We’d never let a client get themselves into that sort of a situation in their dream home. But it’s an example of the kinds of things that can go wrong, and the type of thing that an interior designer can help prevent. We’ll touch on some of those avoidable mistakes in an upcoming video, but they can be the kind of thing that blows up a project’s budget or even just detracts a little bit from your enjoyment of your dream home. And when we’re talking about dreams, we don’t want anything that gets in the way of fully realizing them.
Bringing dreams to life is a challenge. Our goal is to take your vision and help make it real: really beautiful, really functional, and what you really, really wanted.
What to know more? Fill out the form below to get our booklet on interior design!
People hear the words “construction” and “build” and immediately their minds go to big equipment, raw materials, power tools—the process of putting up a structure. And they’re right! But our process is called “Design/Build” for a reason, and it’s not just the blueprint of a house. The final design of the interior of your custom home is the main way you and your family, friends, and guests will experience the home for decades.
That is to say, “Design” is as important as “Build.” That’s why this article focuses on the interior finishes for your dream home. These finishes cover essentially everything you’ll see and touch in your home for years to come. Do you want finished wood for your flooring? Tile? Luxury plank? The same question can apply to your walls and ceilings. It’s the look of cabinet doors, countertops, light fixtures, sinks, and faucets, but also pulls, outlets, switch plates—so many things that it can easily overwhelm people. (And what’s listed here is not even close to a complete list!)
That’s why working with an interior designer can make the process so much easier, so much more… fun. You get an expert to help guide you through these choices, one who knows how to take all of the individual things you want and love, and help shape them into a cohesive whole, where each space in your home serves its purpose, and is beautiful in its own way, but makes sense in how one room leads to the next.
Interior designers also typically have a much better and broader network of manufacturers and artisans who can help make your vision a reality. You have more to chose from, but making those choices is easier.
Not sure if you want the advice and guidance of an interior designer on your dream home? Read this guide for more insight as to why you might (or, in some cases, might not!).
What to know more? Fill out the form below to get our booklet on interior design!
