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Insight, Swimming Pool Design

3 Things to Know When Hiring Professional Pool Designers

September 5, 2014, Author: bianchi
We don’t expect truly seasoned professionals such as doctors, consultants, lawyers, or even our plumbers to prepare their recommendations for free. Yet homeowners who want artistic pool and landscape design are increasingly settling for a business model that mistakenly intends to expedite their satisfaction by rushing through the most important step of all, as a “free service.” How is it settling? When a construction company offers the unsophisticated public “free design” in order to earn business, remember this: a conflict of interest is going on. To maximize profits, good business practices demand that non-billable activities be minimized. Time spent on your design is a necessary evil! Of necessity, the minimum effort is put into “the design” to get you to a “yes,” because construction is the only place where money is made in their proposition. When construction companies offer “free design”, there is little value placed on the aspect of the project YOU are actually going to live with when all is said and done. Compare the unspoken reality of that scenario to the level of design that was required to create your favorite resort or restaurant, the kind of dream environment that you would just love to recreate at your home!
Alila Villas Resort, in Bali
One of my favorites getaways, Alila Villas Resort, in Bali.
Do you think the level of expertise needed to pull off that kind of ambiance happened by accident at the hand of an amateur, salesperson, or a contractor posing as a qualified design professional? Certainly not! So clearly you will get a different result entirely, yet this is the path the general public is lead down each and every day. Assuming your project is at least built well, what are you going to live with for the rest of the time you spend in your home? What is it that will potentially wow (or offend) the prospective buyer of your home and your guests? That’s right, it’s the design! Fumbling the design by not giving it its proper due has proven costly both financially and emotionally for thousands of people. There is tangible angst associated with tolerating an environment that grates on ones nerves. This frustration has led many such homeowners to rip out relatively new pools and landscapes and try again, rather than endlessly enduring an awkward design.
spec home special
This “spec home special” rendered the backyard uninviting and caged in. It had no relationship to the spatial qualities of the home itself.
Professional pool designers make avoiding such travesties their life work. Creating beautiful outdoor living spaces requires at least as much skill and technique as does interior and home architecture. Whether your home is ordinary or a custom creation, the outside areas of the property will be enhanced with custom pool and landscape attention. It requires consultation, individual attention, and professional expertise.
Raised pool
By raising the pool and patio to match the interior, the fence could be eliminated!
By raising the pool and patio to match the interior, the fence could be eliminated! How can you tell if you are dealing with a design professional? Below are 3 things to look for in quality pool & landscape designers.
  • Genuine custom pool designers will ask you about the overall feel of the space itself, how you want it to feel and function, what are the issues you currently encounter living there, and how you would like it to be. They will use words like proportion, scale, symmetry, color, ambiance, texture, backdrop, foreground vs. background, rhythm, and motif, to describe the experience of being in the space.
  • Genuine professional pool designers will educate you about what will work best for the yard, and they will cite experience and visual examples to prove their point. If one of your assumptions is amiss, they will dare to respectfully show you how to achieve your intention in a better way than you could have done yourself.
  • Genuine custom pool designers will have a portfolio comprised of their own creations, and will exemplify finished environments as a whole. They will understand that the pool is like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle, that the pool is subordinate and must balance with all of the other elements around it. (This seems obvious but is actually the inverse path that 99% of the pool and landscape construction based company’s follow). Genuine pool designers and landscape designers will show how the whole space has to work together, and if any component is out of sync, they will say so and explain why.
The curvaceous lines of the home are echoed in the shape of the pool, creating a sense of continuity and belonging.
The curvaceous lines of the home are echoed in the shape of the pool, creating a sense of continuity and belonging.
The curvaceous lines of the home are echoed in the shape of the pool, creating a sense of continuity and belonging. Remember, the installation of a custom pool is an investment, and as such you need a reputable professional to handle the job. Bianchi Design is one of the most respected custom pool designers in the Phoenix, Arizona area, servicing all parts of the country. Bianchi Design has a reputation for turning ordinary outdoor living spaces into breathtaking works of art, that are both sensible and functional.