how to start a project in interior design

MIDWAY through my basic course in interior design, a number of projects popped up and prospective clients began making calls and inquiries, asking me if I can redo the interior of their living spaces. 

I had wanted to but i turned down most of them, and chose a select few i felt I could handle well enough. in between going to school and accepting projects, i have learned one thing: experience is still the best teacher. there are just some things that you wouldn't learn within the four walls of a classroom. getting schooled for real is getting your self out there and experience "life" for real.

consider a prospective client who made a demand for a site visit. three of us drove to her place for a consultation work and did an ocular check on the location. at the end of the day, we thought we have nailed it, only to find out the next day, we have all ended up empty handed. 

talk about expecting too much when a "verbal agreement" doesn't even mean a done deal. so  the first thing designers must do?  lay down a CONTRACT and get the client to sign. 

trust me. a WRITTEN CONTRACT would save you from a lot of disappointment later. never accept a consultation work without a written contract or do an ocular visit at your cost when all that the client does is talk, cause when it all seems good, you'd find at the end that it is the other way around.

we've spent almost nine hundred pesos each for that project for nothing. when the client was done "stealing" our concepts and figured she could do away with the designers’ fee after getting some help from Internet resources, that was when she decided she need a designer no more.

i kinda felt ashamed. i brought up that prospective project to two of my friends. well, i can do nothing but apologize. effort exerted, gas and money all went down the drain. Should have known better.

so here's a tip for budding interior designers: PUT ALL AGREEMENTS INTO WRITING. whatever, it is that you've agreed upon regarding the fees and services, make sure you have a contract at hand. it will save you from a lot of disappointments later. trust me.

dogs: man's bestfriend

i don't mean to offend anyone, but i could not stand keeping mum over it or stay a silent witness to a dog's meaningless death either. i could never keep it to myself.

in fact, it is none of my business and i am not even a dog lover. but i've seen the ugliness of human's cruelty to animals.

last night was one when you wish you could have done something but failed to stop "crazy" people from killing a dog. i couldn't have cared less, but the sight of a fallen dog, bloodied and gasping for breath, as it lay dying on the ground, was heart-rending. what's worse, that bald-headed, stocky man kept on striking the helpless dog with a big knife, as he "slaughtered" him to death like a butcher man.

I cringed at every strike, my heart wrenched as blood started spurting out of the dog's neck. and all i could do was watch from the window of my apartment on the fourth floor, peering down at a helpless dog as people gathered to cheer on the killer.

what a nasty sight. a dog need not die over striking another dog. they could have threatened the dog away. but kill him? how barbaric can people get?

i have fully recovered over that scene. the next day while off to work, i have seen the blood stain on the street leading to my office, and the picture of the guy striking at the dog flashed in mind once again. i can't fully comprehend the cruelty of people to animals. isn't that dogs are truly the bestfriend of humans?

i have heard of some saving their owners' lives from drowning or even incidents of fires. others have defended them against thieves or robbers. i find it killing a dog to save another dog isn't justifiable. 

so here i am, putting my disappointment to words. it would do the dog's death justice at the very least, and so that others would know. so for all the dog killers out there, i have a message for you. Shame on you!  

Of changing jobs and soul-searching

I haven't done much since I have gotten back from a 3-day furlough in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. That city up north was a good respite from a hectic schedule that makes life on the go a little more stressful.

I don't intend to get lazier every passing day, but since I have gotten back, I felt more inclined to do nothing at home but laze around, eating, sleeping and watching DVD marathons all day.

I was supposed to go to UST Graduate School last Saturday to enroll for my last year in my MBA. But I made use of the 10-hour bus ride back to Manila a good excuse not to wake up early, sank deeper under the covers and slept weariness away. 

Boredom is eating away at me again. I need to work on something new to get me "up and moving." The feeling of stagnation is one of the things that I detest. But motivation has not kicked in yet. And this boredom does seem like a quicksand that sucks me in. I preferred to be a couch potato, sitting in front of the TV, munching popcorn in my pyjamas while sporting a disheveled hair all day.

I don't know. Maybe it comes with age. As you grow older, your body tends to move slower. Oh, well. I could use a lot of excuses. But I don't even have the body of an obese to justify my laziness.

When you are caught in stagnation, you are thrown into a web of indecision. A lot of what ifs stop you to get out of the rut and just settle in where you are.

For somebody who has been with the Inquirer for over a decade, changing jobs is out of the question. Getting out of the confines of your security blanket feels so scary, and the uncertainty of the unknown that lies before you would look like a thick fog of doubt that you can't get through.

Taking the first step weighs on you enormously, like shaking up the whole world that you have lived in for most of your life. That little drop of change creates ripples that somehow, create a domino effect or a wave even. And the moment you discover you took the wrong turn, it will send your life into a downward spiral.

Leaving your present job is always a gamble. It needs laying down the pros and cons, and evaluating which better way to take. 

And just like the others who go on vacations for a soul-searching, I came back more confused and undecided.

So, yes. I will give myself a break. I won't go anywhere today. I'll sleep some more, do some DVD marathons, and continue sporting a disheveled hair.