We had a client in Balwyn North who wanted to renovate the garden around her existing pool.
Whenever we do a job we are always looking to design the garden in such a way as to make it uniquely theirs. Something that says – this is my garden, done the way I like it. Not just another garden that could belong to anyone.
With this client we went back and forth a bit developing a design. We presented our ideas, she responded, and through those conversations one thing kept coming up. She loved a particular style of artwork. A unique style of fish and other sea creatures, all created out of tin.
What she wanted was a wall of these fish at the end of her pool, set against a blue background. So the artwork and the pool water would work together.
The artwork she loved needed to be imported from South Africa. That meant waiting several weeks for them to get here. When they arrived, they were much bigger than we had been advised. Each fish was over half a metre long.
When we took them to the site, we walked the client out to the wall and worked through everything together. We asked her which fish she wanted in each exact position. It was very selective and very individual. This particular fish had to go into this certain spot, until the wall matched the vision we had created for her.
And that really, in the end, is the job of a designer. To listen to a client, understand what they are looking for, capture that vision in a design, and then bring it into existence in a way that makes them go – yeah! That’s exactly what I was looking for.
Now some clients come to us with a very clearly defined vision in their mind of exactly what they want. Others come with something really quite vague.
Our job is to make the concept for their garden come to life – in vivid detail. And sometimes the answer is not the literal thing they first imagined. Sometimes we offer them a different interpretation, and that ultimately is what allows the final vision to be realised. It’s very much a collaboration in the true sense of the word.
She really loved those fish. What we did for her was turn her love for them into a wall that she sees every time she’s outside relaxing by her pool. It’s her garden, just the way she likes it.
