Why Compassionate Design?

Welcome to my new website! And the new focus for my interior design business. After enjoying my work with many residential design clients in New York and beyond over the past 15 years, I’ve narrowed my focus to this very specific niche. Since many have asked me “why compassionate design,” I figured this would be the perfect first post for this new site.

I guess it started with a client I had about seven years ago. A wonderful woman about to begin her retirement, with a child in college and some thoughts on “what next.” When I first visited her apartment, I found it comfortable and cozy. Yet upon learning more about her, her career, and her ambitions, I realized the space didn’t fit who she really was. After extensive discussions, it was clear that she wanted to “live in place” in this home and had to make it truly work for her and her empty nest. 

As we started to work together, I learned a lot about my client’s experiences, her work, her role as a single parent, and her travels. She had travelled with her daughter a lot. On a trip to Morocco she found some wonderful objects, including a beautiful handmade rug. My client told me the story of visiting the merchant with her daughter and enjoying Moroccan tea as she looked at their wares. It was clearly a highlight of the trip. 

So where was the rug?

Well, it lived in storage. Along with a second rug she bought on the same trip.

Almost every project I have ever worked on starts with the story of an object – something that is significant to my client in a way they may not have even realized. And it is often with that object that we start the process, either through color, furnishings, or the “mood” for the new space. These rugs became our inspiration for ideas that sparked and spread from there. It was a fun and uplifting start.

We reconfigured the kitchen and drew up a plan for new features as she aged, but the most meaningful work was examining together the  many precious objects, books (eventually displayed in a beautiful new bookcase), and various papers and “life items” that had accumulated that she no longer needed to hang onto. As with many projects, it was a multi-step process, but even more so given the significance of this life stage.  When things got too emotional, we paused for another time or day.   Decluttering and reassessing of items is often as important as the traditional design process with these clients and must be given the space it needs in the process. Conversations about objects and what they mean can reveal so much about any client, their past and  future needs.  I’ve helped many people decide which things needed to remain in their lives and which could go, even some of the most stubborn “collectors”.

Compassionate, empathic-centered design is something that is not talked about a lot in our industry. Pretty pictures and large budgets dominate the conversation. Don’t get me wrong, beauty is required and is what people hire us for. But combining the need for a beautiful, comfortable space with this life stage is a multi-pronged effort. It takes patience and listening as much as designing and planning. So, after realizing this was truly where my heart was in the design field, my new, refined focus was born.

I look forward to working with many more clients looking to downsize, live/age in place and move to assisted living, with our careful guidance along with that of family and friends. It’s a difficult time but also, for many, a truly wonderful time. And we hope to make it even more so through our compassionate design.

~ Kayne

Still not sure? Let’s chat!