Bestselling author Jim Collins said in his book Good to Great: “Good is the enemy of great.”

This distinction between good and great applies to interior design as well. A good design is a beautiful space that meets all of the client’s expectations. But a great design is a result of pushing clients past their comfort zones for a result that is more than what they imagined.

That’s what happened with this dining room project.

We knew our clients, who are avid travelers, wanted the space to have a Caribbean feel without using traditional blues and greens. And, because this was a new home build, the room was a blank canvas. Blank canvases test what a designer is capable of; they allow us to be true artists and imagine without limits.

We also knew this dining room would be more than a basic space to eat. It needed to be a space that fostered conversation and intrigued guests. Our vision was a space with grandeur that lent itself to entertaining.

Rather than just a display, we wanted the wine wall to be an experience. Our team envisioned glass boxes that would act as "discovery boxes,” containing collectibles and conversation starters.

The clients loved this space and said, “It [the dining room] was my favorite room from the moment I saw Lisa’s hand-drawn illustration of the room! I love that I was able to find the perfect dinnerware to compliment that room while on the London-leg of our trip to Europe for my 40th birthday, too!”

With this particular client, our suggestion to use black for the wall color was outside her comfort zone and helped her rethink how she defined a neutral palette. That is one of our roles as great designers, to help our clients color outside the lines.

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