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!