This woman soooooo did not deserve the considerable talents of Ron.

Wow! Hard to believe this was only $1000 for all of the changes.

Patrick--

You're so right - She's neurotic!

I sure hope Ron got a nice dividend from the Times for this so that he could get away to the Caribbean to recoup after dealing with her!

"Hard to believe this was only $1000 for all of the changes."

That's because it wasn't - It was over $1500.

Not sure "neurotic" is the word I'd use....

Mr Marvin, saints evidently do walk among us.

Why do I have the feeling that someday that room is going to end up exactly how Ron envisioned it in the first place?

It sounds like a lot of work for what doesn't look like a huge transformation. For those of you interested in interior design as a career...you WILL have clients like this.

Wow. What an ungrateful piece of work she is. A three-page article in the Times (which is a publicity boost for her too, not just him) and she can't say even one nice thing about the designer? It's probably good that she has gone into home-based web businesses that do not require a lot of human contact.

She should have gone with the cheaper IKEA Lack coffee table and purchased a new dining table instead.

"Not sure "neurotic" is the word I'd use...."

Patrick, I was being kind
(For a Change!)
;-)

I read this article and was deeply irritated by this wishy-washy woman. Especially her fear of blue paint. She had the ugliest mustard accent wall for so long. Why was she so afraid of putting a more attractive color on all four walls? Also, there's no point in buying a coffee table from West Elm vs. IKEA. The style and quality are similar enough that you can't justify paying a premium for it.

I wonder if she was being extra nit-picky because the designer wasn't charging her his usual fee? I can't imagine how much more expensive even this small change could have been, given all the changes and delays.

It's so funny, after I read this article, I wrote an entry on my website about the designer/client relationship. When you work in the service industry, you get get some "interesting characters.

Christine
www.christineschwalmdesign.com/latest-news.html

Is that coffee table really West Elm? I assumed it was Ikea. Honestly when I see white and blocky I assume it's Ikea. :)

slowdown--
re: "Wasn't charging his usual fee"... I think this project was free of charge. Even more mystifying.

And, yes, Virginia, clients like this do exist, and they are precisely the ones that won't work with hourly rates...

It's hard to understand why clients hire designers and then second guess every stinkin' point. And while I understand budgets, giving a designer a very specific parameter, and THEN changing the budget after the fact is an EXTREME waste of a designer's time... which is just disrespect (professional AND personal).

I find it funny this woman wanted a more grown-up home. I don't think it was the wall color that was immature...

this shows that makeover sponsors like the NYT or an HGTV show should vet their entrants. most people would be so grateful for even the slightest bit of expertise and creativity that a designer could bring to their homes that Mr Marvin's charitable/publicity act would not end up being a total waste of his time. look at all the good Brad Pitt's org is doing in New Orleans. at least the article highlighted his patient and calm nature - hopefully he'll get lots of clients so it'll be worth it in the end. no good deed goes unrewarded :)

yes, agree that she is the client from hell and ron marvin is a saint. I like everything except the clunky coffee table.

Yeah, the coffee table was $300 (West Elm) vs. $20 (IKEA) and it looks just like the IKEA one. Why even bother?

The client used her profession (photographer) as an excuse for why she was so picky and demanding. I wonder if that's really the case or if she'd be annoying no matter what she did for a living. Are designers, artists, architects, etc. more difficult clients than those who aren't?

slowdown, in answer to your question--I'd say yes, people with a strongly developed aesthetic sense are probably more picky about the color, composition and overall feeling of their rooms. On the other hand, they aren't all rude like this woman. I have worked in creative roles for years and been the "last word" on photo shoots, page layouts, and similar endeavors--but I believe in being nice, at work and in my personal life. In fact, I think my experience makes me more sympathetic to other creative types who are following their muse when they design or make something, whether it's a custom cake or a landscape plan or a handmade piece of furniture.

The thing I find most odd about this story is, if this woman was so picky and discriminating, why didn't she do everything herself? I personally would never hire a decorator and I'm not sure I'd even accept the services of a free one, because decorating is a creative outlet for me and I am confident about my choices.

I cannot believe how ungrateful this woman is! She couldn't say one nice thing about the designs and had to second guess every idea that was presented to her. She doesn't deserve Ron's talents. Hopefully, after reading this article, people will think twice before hiring this so called "creative" talent as a photographer.

What a tendentious article. As a European I always thought of the New York Times as a quality newspaper. Was I wrong! But apparently this writing 'style' works quite well - as you all hate the woman/photographer. Ever heard of a story having different sides? The NYT obviously hasn't.

I don't understand why everybody on this site has such strong opinions about a woman they only know through a bad newspaper article. Really, I'm amazed!

Got half way through the article, then had to abandon. I was feeling a little sick... I don't want to judge, maybe she thought she was ready to move on but secretly she didn't want to.

total bitch.

I confess to knowingly laughing all the way through this article. Before retiring after 30 years in the design biz I think I have had one of every kind of "difficult" client more than once. You vent at home to your own 4 walls and somehow remain amiable with the client.

The top 10 problem issues may have been all rolled into one with this client.

It goes with the territory. Sometimes, you can tell it's not going to be a good marriage from the first interview. If I would suspect so, I would recommend a young, just getting started designer to the client telling them this was a new designer. I would "fair warning" the new designer.

It is a real good experience lesson for them and more often than not turned out well since a new designer may be more eager to please, and their style may not be so firmly fixed as a weathered veteran designer.

The worst design experience is when the client agrees to everything and then when the project is complete they hate everything they agreed to - aaargh.

It wasn't until recently, I now take on a project or two each year to keep my hand in, that I had the perfect dream client. Everyone, all the contractors, me, the client were happy, happy, happy. She always had refreshments for the workers and bathroom access. ONE change order. We came in on schedule and she got the best from all of us. We were all working at the top of our creativity game.

"She acknowledged having found it difficult to trust Mr. Marvin’s judgment. “It was hard to be trusting because it wouldn’t be about me anymore..."

I think this bit says it all. Knowing her or not, this says it all.

Maybe it's because I am currently working with a designer for the first time but I do feel sympathetic to this woman. Just because a designer is working at no charge, doesn't mean that you just have to accept everything they suggest. She has to ultimately live in that space day in, day out and so she has to love it. Also, I can understand having a budget but then falling in love with a piece or wanting something of higher quality (not saying West Elm is higher quality than Ikea...I have no idea about West Elm quality) and deciding to splurge. I can see where it would be frustrating to have shifting parameters on a project but shouldn't designers be prepared for things like this? Are clients just supposed to blindly accept everything...even if they hate it just because the designer proposes it? These are honest questions...I want to be a good client but I also want a space and furniture that I love...not just a subjugate to someone else's vision.

Honeychile - Yes and a good designer should always have a plan B & C, should always offer a client alternatives and be prepared for sometimes a client doesn't really know what they have agreed to, and so as a designer's job is to work problems out to the clients satisfaction.

The designer is the professional and has been hired to offer the client technical expertise and advice and then to carry out the client's vision. Constant communication between designer and client is essential for a happy end to the collaboration.

As I stated before, the worst scenario is the client who does not articulate a dislike until the project is completed.

All that angst, anger, sturm and drang, for what?

the story is a poor excuse for the Times to enter into 'reality' show biz. I had to take a second look at the before picture to make sure it was 'before'. Sorry for both the designer ANd picky client, the change is barely noticeable. So they bought a new rug to place it in the same place of the old one, the chair was re-done and put back in the same place, etc, but basically the configuration of the room and placements of furniture did not changed.

A waste.

Not much change here, but that wood cabinet looked so much better before they painted it white. bummer.

Maybe I am missing something but it didn't seem like she made that many changes to his plan. I actually like the blue canvas. I do think West Elm quality is better than Ikea and most likely she felt more comfortable with it because she could walk over to the store and check it out (as opposed to going out of the city to Ikea). I'm sure most people who have a Chinese wood cabinet would ask questions before letting someone paint it white (I would). The rug he picked had a black border and she went with a green border. She probably just had lots of questions about everything along the way, but seemed very happy with it in the end. Ron Marvin did a great job with it. I'm a little jealous as I would love to have him work on my place.

Ron Marvin is the ***single*** designer that I would love to work with; I hope someday we can afford him (and that he'll be willing to come back out to California). To say that this woman, who received all of his hard work and his design insights FOR FREE, did not deserve him, is an enormous understatement.

If you read the article, the true cost was really more like $6000. It would have been $1500 if she purchased the items, did the work herself AND had the wherewithal to know how to put her things together (which she evidently could not, based on the before pictures). I must say I'm a little surprised that as a creative person herself, she was so unimaginative and fearful in her decision making.

"Had she been paying for Mr. Marvin’s services, his bill would have reached as much as $6,000: the $1,500 flat fee for the design, plus $4,500 in labor at $150 an hour. Mr. Marvin estimated that implementing the original plan would have taken 20 to 25 hours, but extensive changes she requested deep into the process added 15 hours." ~ NYTimes

I liked how Ron Marvin put the elements together, but this project seemed more of a "refinement" than a "makeover". Much improved, but essentially unchanged. The results say more about the client than the designer, so in that respect she got what she wanted ....something that wasn't someone else's vision, but a reflection of her own personality: skiddish, safe and somewhat bland.