Reid’s Helps Clients Visualize Furniture Styles And Settings Using IRender nXt

Patricia Poohachoff is the Interior Decorator at Reid's Furniture in Thunder Bay, located on Lake Superior in Ontario, Canada.  She also owns an interior decorating and renovations company with her husband. Reid’s has been in operation since 1968 – longer than the city has been known as Thunder Bay!  Thunder Bay was formed on January 1st, 1970, through the merger of Fort William, Port Arthur, and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre.  The city is often referred to as the "Lakehead", or "Canadian Lakehead", because of its location at the end of the Great Lakes on the Canadian side of the border.  

Hello Patricia!  Please tell us about your business.
Reid’s is a large, full-service furniture store.  We sell individual pieces all the way to designing and outfitting whole houses.  And of course, we cater to all tastes including traditional, contemporary, and trending looks like modern farmhouse. We provide several design services, including renderings, to help customers choose what they want.

What sets Reid’s apart from competitors?
Besides the breadth of products and excellent customer services, the renderings I generate with IRender nXt are key to helping customers visualize what our products will look like in their space.

When did you start using SketchUp and IRender nXt?
While living in Edmonton, Alberta, I took the Residential Interior’s Program at the University of Alberta, Faculty of Extension.  Part of the curriculum was to learn hand drafting following by computer aided drafting - SketchUp was the program of choice.  I’ve been using SketchUp for over 10 years now.  IRender nXt is relatively new to me, but I was thrilled to find this program that I found affordable as well as easy to learn how to use.

How does IRender nXt fit into your sales process?
I provide my design expertise when one of our sales people requests help with a client who needs assistance deciding what they want or how they want to do something.  I use IRender to render my room designs so the client is able to develop a better idea of what it will actually look like.  

What do you like about IRender nXt?
The software is very helpful!  I am not an experienced renderer, so I use the basics but I know there is so much more I need, and want, to learn.  Our store is busy and I normally have several projects on the go at any one time, and time is limited.  If I left my designs to render for longer the quality would improve, but after even only a few passes the quality is normally good enough to seriously impress the vast majority of clients. I’m looking forward to discovering more features that will further elevate my designs providing even more upsell opportunity for us.    
My projects have included furniture and decor design for new home builds, summer cottages, lodge rental facilities and condominiums.  I have also used the software to design kitchens and bathrooms.

Are there any features in the software that you find especially useful?  What elements do you pay most attention to when you render an image? 
I love the ability to add reflection qualities to my renderings.  I often explain to customers that adding different textures or reflective types of decor like mirrors, or perhaps a touch of chrome in a room, adds important interest to the overall design. 

What kind of feedback do you get from clients?
When I give someone a clear visual of what their space can be they are always pleasantly surprised.  The comment I hear most often is “Wow - this is just like one of those renovation shows!”, or “My home can look like that?”.  The best part of the whole experience is when the items are actually in the home and we can compare the rendered design to the finished product. 

Thank you, Patricia!  It’s really interesting to see how you use renderings in your sales process and the resulting feedback you get from clients.

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