Only Girl On The Jobsite

What are the first steps I need to be taking on my home renovation project? This is a question I get asked often by both interior designers and homeowners.   Before hiring a contractor, sourcing your subcontractors, or searching out the selections you are going to be making, we need to take a step back. No matter if it's a new construction, a renovation, or an addition, you must start by asking yo...

Today's episode is a bit of an addendum to a previous episode published around this time last year, Episode 15 - Why Women are Perfect for Managing a Renovation Project.   After reviewing the number of downloads this particular episode received, I realized it was an important topic that needed to be revisited. Even a year later, I still firmly believe that women possess an innate skill important f...

In this episode, I wanted to talk about something I feel is crucial to the success of managing any renovation project, and that is confidence.   Why does being confident on a renovation project matter? It establishes that you are there for a reason, receiving and sharing information as an equal team member, which is critical on any project.   Whether you are an interior designer or a homeowner wor...

In this episode, I am doing a bit of a recap and follow-up on the past two episodes surrounding the Magnolia Channel drama. I received quite a few comments and questions regarding this topic, and today I want to talk about choosing the right team members for your project and what you can (and should) expect from them.   If you haven't already done so, I encourage you to go back and listen to the l...

For the second half of this two-part series, I continue digging into the drama regarding these popular home renovation reality television shows and the lessons that can be learned from an interior designer's point of view.   In this episode, I share why working on your own renovation projects is totally different from working with clients, how to get more experience if you're still new to the indu...

A topic has come up in the home renovation space recently that I felt was important to dive into on the podcast. It is something that I have been concerned about for a long time which is these popular home renovation reality television shows. Because there is just so much to unpack on this subject, I am breaking it up into two separate episodes.   In part one of this two-part series, I am sharing...

A new year, a new paint color. Do you follow the trends when it comes to choosing paint colors? Honestly, I don't know any project you may take on that doesn't include painting.   I felt it was important to dig into this topic and how to handle all of the information coming at you, how to sample and view colors properly, and how to find the right colors for your home, no matter what project you ar...

Happy 2022!   I hope everyone was able to take a little break to enjoy the holidays and maybe entertain some friends and family. But as we start the new year, those projects we put on hold are gearing back up again.   Although I'm not one for making New Year's resolutions in my personal life, I feel like now is the perfect time to talk about the kind of resolutions that could apply to the things d...

Wow! It has been a whole year of me recording these podcasts episodes! I know some of you have experienced great loss, some of you have experienced great highs in your work, and some of you awful delays on your projects and everything in between.  I wanted to take this time to do a year-end recap because what a crazy year this has been! Find the full show notes at: https://devignierdesign.com/podc...

Let's talk relationships! No, I don't mean romantic relationships - husband/ wife, boyfriend/girlfriend…..I mean relationships on a construction project. I know I have lots of homeowners listening as well as designers listening so I want to talk about ALL these different types of relationships because they really are critical to build and maintain throughout a project. I hope this episode helps yo...

Are you feeling overwhelmed knowing you have a construction project going on, and the Holiday is approaching? First of all - it's normal! It does happen, and really no matter when your project is going on, overwhelm is a normal emotion to feel! However, I want to share with you ways to handle the stress and overwhelm you are feeling as a homeowner as well as designers in order to be able to enjoy...

Today's topic is about the supply chain issues we are facing now and how they are massively prolonging home construction projects - even furniture, furnishing, window treatments, and more. This goes for overseas products as well as those products made here in the U.S. So, what should you do? Should you move forward with your project? Wait this out? Should you start planning now? Find out in today'...

What should you expect as a woman, either as the homeowner or as an interior designer, on a construction project? Whether your role is a homeowner, requiring you to become a team member or an interior designer you are a girl in a male-dominated workplace. In today's episode, I'm sharing with you the how-to guide for women on construction sites. Find the full show notes at: https://devignierdesign....

This episode marks one year of recording this podcast! Let's be honest, I didn't know if I'd make one year, I didn't know if I'd make one month! This has been such an amazing journey that I didn't even know I'd be taking!  In today's episode, I want to share what I have learned along the way, the surprises that have come up, and again, what my ultimate goal is in having this podcast. Be sure to li...

Do have your home renovation projects planned for 2022? If not, now is the time to start! We want your project to be an exciting time! But this will also be a challenging time. We have been slugging through the past year and a half due to supply chains, shortages, delays, and that is not going to end anytime soon. So what does this mean for you? In today's episode, I talk about what you can expect...

Are you a homeowner who is gearing up for your projects to start in the new year? It can be so overwhelming to take on your own home renovation project! Wherever stage you're at, the research stage, about to kick off the hiring process of the team, the beginning stages of the projects, no matter where you're at, the overwhelm can start to kick in.  So if you are taking a project on and whatever ph...

Today I have the special pleasure of introducing a friend of mine, Jill Kalman. Jill is an interior designer helping people move from cities to the suburbs and all of the transitions and issues that come up along the way. Today we dive into how to get your home ready for the holidays which are upon as we speak and then additionally working through living with a construction site over the holidays....

I want to take a chance to re-introduce myself to those of you who are just joining! There are so many new listeners, that I truly am humbled. And I would quite frankly love to hear how you came across this podcast!  In today's episode, I am taking you back to how I became The Only Girl On The Jobsite, where went to school, the women I worked with and my inspiration for starting this podcast as we...

Have you ever experienced a project where it felt like it would just never end? It drags on and on? Ongoing projects do happen but we are in unprecedented times with a pandemic on our hands, which is dramatically impacting construction projects. In today's episode, you can find out what all this means for you, the homeowner who is diligently trying to manage a project and project supplies pivot fr...

A topic that just keeps coming up is the housing boom that's going on right now. And what that means, is you have an unusual pressure to look at a house as soon as possible, put in a bid that night, and BOOM! You've bought a house!  Which means you've bought a house that you might have seen once. So I'm going to share some things that you can be aware of while looking at a house, and some situatio...

We have sent out so many Construction Management Workbooks that are available on my website, that we wanted to get feedback on what we could add to it, or what else might be needed.  Today's topic is one element on the feedback form that we received. That topic is about completion date clauses . In today's episode, I want to discuss why I don't believe they work and shouldn't be added to your cont...

I can't stress enough the importance of hiring the right contractor for your project. There are many different sized contractors you can choose from, so it's important to get the right fit for your project. And I'm not talking about just the physical fit, I mean the right fit for you - the homeowner, the client, the one that will be managing the project day after day.  So if you are looking for a...

Value is such an important topic and I want to talk about how much value an interior designer can bring to your home renovation projects!  For homeowners I think it's gotten very hard to understand the value of my industry, the value of an interior designer. In today's episode, I will be sharing some examples of how my clients benefited from hiring an interior designer, and how I encourage other i...

Today I want to talk about setting expectations both as a designer, how to set expectations with their client, as well as a homeowner, how to set their expectations with a contractor or a designer. I will be sharing the steps that are the kind of things a homeowner should be doing so that their expectations are appropriate. They know what they're getting into, they know they can afford this, they...

Over the past few weeks, while promoting the Only Girl On The Jobsite Designer Edition , this has provided me the opportunity to talk with so many different designers and hear their experiences, hopes, and dreams to add construction management to their services or improve their services.  So, today I wanted to go over two areas that I think are difficult to being an interior designer offering cons...