What the Client Wants vs. What the Designer Wants

Have any of you been keeping up with Design Star on HGTV? Last week when Antonio said he'd rather go home than paint another wall beige, that really struck a cord with me. What a conflict for decorators and designers everywhere! The client asked for a neutral room, but the designer gave her a blue room. Luckily they client loved the finished room, but the Design Star contestants really took a risk. Were they right to do what they did? Or should they have given the client what she asked for?

If a client says she "loves neutrals" is it because she really truly is drawn to tans and brown, or because she is playing it safe and is afraid of trying something more colorful? While we decorators and designers have to take our clients' needs and wants under consideration, we are also there to provide guidance, assurance and confidence that the client will love the finished result. It is our job to get people out of their comfort zone a bit and give them something they wouldn't have thought of on their own. Isn't that why they hire us?