Let GF Design Photoshop your Home Remodel Project Ideas

Happy 2013! It's been a while since I've posted anything here, but that is in no way a reflection of my workload! I keep most of my clients' work private and don't announce my connection to most projects even after they are out there in the public's view.  Many of my clients utilize me as their "secret weapon," and I absolutely love making my clients look good in front of THEIR clients!  Being a "famous" designer has never been important to me so I really don't have much interest in taking public credit for my work.  What is important to me is that I continue to do what I love and make exceeding expectations my norm!  However, I will do my best to post more here in 2013 so you don't think that I have gone out of business.  I live and breathe design 24 hours a day  It's in my blood...I just can't help it!  In fact it's so much a part of me, it often doesn't occur to me that what I'm doing might be a blog worthy post.  So, look for more from me here this year!

I'm going to start by showing one of my capabilities, which I have kept quite busy doing for clients, but also recently did for myself.  I do quite a bit of work doing some "extreme editing" in Photoshop, and have edited many photos of homes over the past couple years.  Whether it is a client trying to decide how to remodel his own home, or a Realtor looking to show prospective buyers the potential of their listings if they were to remodel, I have Photoshopped everything from paint colors to wood finishes to new materials and furniture.  It's something that I have been doing for years with my retail fixture design projects, showing new fixture design concepts in stores, but recently I have branched out into homes.

In an effort to keep the photos of my clients' homes off the web, I'll share an example that I did in my own home. Last fall I did a major remodel on my own kitchen cabinets, painting and distressing them.  (See the painting process on my other blog, here, and more details on how I achieved the 1950's style look, here.)  I had been tossing around the idea of painting our oak cabinets since we moved in 2 years ago, but my husband wouldn't budge.  Finally last summer he said that if I wanted to Photoshop it, he would look at it.  Which is what I did...and he was sold.  Behold...the power of the VISUAL!!

You can see just how close the Photoshopped image is to the actual finished cabinets above.  I did end up painting the walls too after the fact, so they don't quite match in the Photoshopped image vs the finished project.  But you can get an idea of how realistic a Photoshopped concept image can be.  I was able to get the image in my head out on paper.  My husband knew exactly what to expect, and he got what he was expecting. 

This can be an incredibly valuable tool as many of my clients have seen themselves.  With a small amount of time and money, you can have real visuals to show various options to your non-visual clients.  The ability to visualize the final product is one of the biggest hurdles that I see between designers and their clients.  Designers are visual creatures, and most of the time our clients are not.  That's why they hire us!  So let's help them see what we see.  The ability to get on the same page visually early on is so important to the success of a project.

Click here if you'd like to get in touch with me and discuss your potential photo editing project!