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As an interior designer, you’ll know this: scheduling products in a complex project can feel like the scariest, most daunting task in the world. Starting out with the complexity of finding inspiration and then sharing it for feedback with team members and clients in a productive manner, down to the hundreds of products to source, specify and track in multiple interior design projects, starting out can feel overwhelming.
But we have your back. Right from the start of the sourcing process to the scheduling and approving with clients, we’ll take you step by step on how to do this: effortlessly.
Step 1: Create a project
First step is the simplest one, click on create a project.
Once you've done that, you can list the name, client, internal reference number, address, and other details, so you never forget those important things. Also, optionally, we ask you for the style and budget of your project, so we can recommend some products. More on that later!
Step 2, Option 1: Source products from your own list of suppliers
As an interior designer, you probably already have a list of suppliers you love and have personally used in projects before. However, you’re also likely spending a lot of time writing down in Excel the particular specifications of the product, like trade price, lead time, length and width, finish etc. In order to start building your own product library to use in future projects, or simply just schedule a product directly in a particular project, you can use our chrome extension as part of our software package to clip all the information in a page in just a couple of clicks. Just like magic!
Make sure to save it directly as a product into the project you need, or to put it in your library, so you can use it later as needed. Up to you!
Step 2, Option 2: Source products from trusted and vetted suppliers
If you’re in the mood to explore and discover the marvels of British and European high-end design, we’ve got something to tell you. Through our trade portal, you’ll be able to find an ever growing list of 83 suppliers with 3500 products. All of these brands have been personally handpicked by interior architect and Portaire’s co-founder Lori Bolon, which will help you make sure everything you choose is steeped in quality and recognised craftsmanship.
Step 3: Create schedules easily!
Now that you have your project set up and your products saved, you’re ready to create your schedules! There are so many ways you can organise this. From doors, fixtures and fittings schedules to simple room by room schedules, you have total control over your schedules.
Step 4: Share your schedule with your extended team
Happy with your schedule and ready to hit the green light? You’re almost there, but not quite: your client needs to see what you’ve been working on and approve or reject your suggestions! To do that, go to the “details” page on your project and click on the upper right hand corner “share”. You’ll be able to introduce the emails and names you want to be notified. They will have access to your schedule, without information on mark-up and trade prices, so they can approve or reject everything you set out. If you’d like a view-only for someone else, feel free to do that too!
If this software is something you need, join our waitlist to be onboarded personally. We can’t wait to meet you! If you’d like to give it a ponder, you can also join our newsletter to stay up-to-date with fresh interiors content, weekly.
