Three top tops for interior designers working with smart technology installers

Just like interior designers, smart technology installers ‘strive to improve the environments where people live, work, relax and socialise’. 

Whilst interior designers focus on ensuring that the spaces they’re working on meet a client’s design vision through spatial planning, furniture selection, and colour suggestions, smart technology installers like us focus on enhancing the client’s experience of that design. 

We want our clients’ technology to complement their design vision, not distract from it. You can read more about our design-led approach to simplifying lives with home automation technology here. 

It’s rarely an active decision to have distracting technology in a space. Nobody wants bad internet connectivity, walls littered with control panels, or extension cables in every socket, but when technology planning isn’t considered a priority, these things can end up happening despite everyone’s best intentions.

The best projects we’ve been part of saw the architect, the interior designer, and the technology installer (us!) all pulling in the same direction. Each team knew where their discipline should take the lead and when to let another discipline guide a client’s decision making. That’s the beauty of great collaboration. 

We’re not here to step on interior designers’ toes. Our goal is to make sure their design intent is realised to its full potential. But if you’ve never worked with a smart technology installer before, it can be tricky to understand where the boundaries for collaboration lie. 

As a guide on where to begin, here are our three top tips for interior designers working with a smart technology installer for the first time:

1. Engage us in the project early.

Sometimes technology projects are led by the client and we’re introduced to the interior design team through them. This works well, as we can sit down early with the interior designer and figure out how we can match the design intent for the project to what we install in the build and why. Architects are often involved in this stage of conversation too. 

If you’re an interior designer recommending that the client engages with a technology partner, then we ask that you get us involved in the project as early as possible. Like you, we need to understand how the client wants their space to work for them - and what’s important to them and what’s not. These early conversations guide how decisions are made across disciplines down the line. 

Technology can often be tacked on to the end of a project when it’s too late to consider the details properly. That can be avoided by establishing a great collaborative team at the start of a project. 

2. Communicate constantly.

Engaging with us early is key to setting off a technology project on the right foot. Communicating constantly as the project progresses is just as crucial (we promise to do the same). 

You don’t know how we can enhance the experience a client gets from your design vision if you haven’t told us what’s happening. Likewise in that you can’t promise tech additions to a client without knowing if they’re possible, or what kind of spacing and airflow is required between-the-scenes to make the vision a reality.

For custom headboards, for example, a design-led technology approach considers cabling requirements ahead of time, so the headboard can be designed to accommodate cable routes. The alternative is a technology installer modifying a beautiful custom headboard after it’s been designed and delivered. Whilst every effort is made to mitigate mistakes, the risk of error is higher in option two.

Another element requiring essential collaboration is motorised shading. This can fall under the responsibility of either discipline. Motors are technological, after all, whilst fabrics are a focus of design. Good communication means that we know where we need to take the reins on this element, and where to step back until the shading needs to be integrated with a smart home system that sets timers for their opening and closing.

And if we can say it about ourselves, we are rather good at working out the details of how many of these elements come together practically. Where cables exit a wall/ceiling, how that connects to a curtain track or roller blind, and how to leave that serviceable for the future. Often a recessed space for track or rollers is best. These are requirements that interior designers don’t need to think about with the right technology partner on board. 

If both parties know the requirements of the design and the technology plan in a space, decisions can be made ahead of time that make life easier for everyone involved. If you’re unsure if you need our input somewhere, just ask. 

3. Trust that we want the same outcome for the client as you.

We never install technology for technology’s sake. And we aren’t going to bulldoze your ideas just to get more of our tech into a space. As mentioned before, we believe that the technology in a client’s home should complement their design vision, not get in the way of it.

You may not have come across this approach before from a technology supplier. Design isn’t always at the forefront of their minds when they’re quoting for a job. They may just be sticking to their area of expertise, but we believe there’s a better way to work that sees design and collaboration as being at the heart of every project. 

There are elements of your work that we don’t understand, and elements of ours that you won’t understand - that’s normal. If we lean into each other’s strengths we can work together to create incredible spaces that make our clients’ lives better and make us all better at our jobs. 

We’re still learning when it comes to working with interior designers, so if you have thoughts on how we can foster great relationships in the industry, please share them with us on social media or at info@epitomeliving.com. 

If you want to learn more about how to design a truly connected home, we offer BIID accredited CPD courses for interior designers. See here for information on how to book.

We’re also an industry partner member of The Interiors Association Ireland.