The good things I did and the occupational hazards that aggravated me
A new staff member joined us the other day.
We were talking about the differences between this job and my previous one, and then something suddenly occurred to me.
He says that all the customers who come here exude a happy, positive vibe.
I thought it was a given.
That's certainly true.
Depending on the job, it's common for the person dealing with the situation to start off feeling negative.
As I work every day, I am reminded of some obvious but important things.
Happy work
Our job is to help people who want to live a happy life.
They come to our store with a positive attitude, having built a new house and all of their furniture is new, having used it for years and thinking about replacing it soon.
I also felt that it was a happy job to be able to directly feel that I was making proposals that would satisfy and surprise customers, delivering the products, and helping them start living in their homes.
Since we are not able to visit all of our customers' homes, we are very happy when they show us photos of the furniture and interior they have delivered.
If you can be there, it will be twice as exciting.
When they are pleased with it, say "thank you," and we are able to thank each other and say "thank you too!", those are the moments when I feel most glad that I work in interior design.
Rewarding
Now that I've been involved in interior design for over 10 years, more and more of my friends ask me for advice.
This is also the age when people start building new homes or purchasing condominiums.
They consult with me, give me advice, and when I come over to visit and the interior is beautiful, it makes me happy too.
I have become friendly with my customers, and I am very happy when they consult me about interior design other than furniture, even down to the smallest details.
In addition to making proposals to customers, I also find it interesting to work on interior displays at model rooms and open houses.
Not only the furniture, but also the curtains, lighting, and miscellaneous goods displays are fun.
Sometimes it feels a little tough until it's finished, but I love the excitement I feel when it's finished every time.
When I receive compliments from sales staff at home builders and customers, it makes me realize once again how glad I am to be working in the interior design industry.
Occupational disease
However, as I've been working in the interior design industry for a long time, it's almost like an occupational hazard, but I tend to judge the quality of the interior design of every place I go to, from cafes and hotels to beauty salons.
For example, if you go to a cafe and realize that the chairs are reproductions of designer chairs, you might be a little disappointed.
If I hadn't noticed, maybe I wouldn't have been so disappointed...
However, stores that put a lot of effort into their interior design tend to be good stores.
Even if you're not too particular, it's fine as long as the store has a nice atmosphere.
Because I move around a lot, I always have a hard time choosing a hair salon, but here too I always choose based on the interior design.
So it's very narrow.
It's hard to choose.
But I feel like the hair salons with nice interiors tend to have the most skilled staff. Maybe it's just me...
So, lately I've been thinking that I'm becoming a bit of a troublesome adult.
This may be an old-fashioned expression, but I am well aware that things have become complicated!
Working in interior design has made my everyday life a little more complicated.
But thanks to that (?!), I've been able to find beautiful hair salons with great skills and interiors, as well as delicious restaurants and cafes, and I'm living a happy life, so I'm grateful to have been able to work in interior design.
I would like to continue to discover various places with wonderful interiors.
(text: Shimazaki)
SHIMAZAKI AYAKO
I loved redecorating and constantly rearranging my room as a child, and before I knew it, 12 years have passed since I started working in interior design. I am the manager of two different interior design shops, and I've recently started working in the e-commerce business. I'm a bundle of curiosity, and although I have a high level of concentration, my persistence is quite low, so I'm secretly worried about writing a blog.