Meet Brian Hong – Interior Designer for Victoria’s Incredible Home
A design consultant with Incredible Home for seven years, Brian Hong thrives on helping homeowners reconfigure and organize their spaces through custom design storage solutions for kitchens, closets, garages, home offices and more. Hong and the rest of the team at Incredible Home are busier than ever fulfilling people’s design wish lists.
“We’re full service – we do the tear out, we put the new items in and make sure it’s 110% for them”, he says.
Our Process
Hong will travel to your home or, if you prefer, you can “meet” via a phone call or video call. For a designer, it’s always nice to be able to see how a client is currently living. Seeing the different nuances of a home can also help a designer to discover a trouble spot that may have been overlooked. Hong also enjoys visiting during the installation of larger projects and after the project is complete, to ensure everything is just as requested.
“Brian (Hong) and the office staff made the design and scheduling efficient and stress free. More than pleased with the end result,” – Barbara. B
Your initial consultation can also take place in Incredible Home’s gorgeous showroom. Located in Victoria, the showroom is packed (but tastefully organized and designed of course) with a great variety of door types, cabinetry styles, hardware, glass panel options and more.
Education
Hong has always enjoyed woodworking, drafting and sales, so design was a natural fit when it came time to choose a career. He’s been a designer for 30 years now and doesn’t see it as work. “When you really love what you do, the hours just go by,” he says.
After his design education, Hong went to work for a large closet design chain in Victoria, running the branch from 1992 until 1999. After that he moved to Vancouver and opened a new location for the chain, before moving on to a similar company focusing on closet and garage organization design.
In 2015, he moved home to Victoria and started with Incredible Home, where he’s been ever since as a key part of the design, sales and installation team. Today he specializes in home office design, closets and garage storage and custom wall units – these can be for a living room, a pantry or anywhere in a house.
Personal Life
When Hong isn’t immersed in a design project, he’s following the sun. He loves to travel, especially to sunny beaches like that of Hawaii and Mexico. He also enjoys exploring everything Vancouver Island and the BC interior have to offer, whether it’s a day hike or backcountry camping. A hardcore hiker since he was a teen, Hong has explored Vancouver Island, tip to tip, completing Cape Scott, the Juan de Fuca Trail and the West Coast trail, some multiple times.
Ideal Client
“A lot of customers don’t quite know what they want so you have to ask the right questions. Builders just want something basic, but when you get into someone’s personal space, it’s a matter of finding out what matters to them”. Explains Hong.
We ask them what they envision and what they need and make it all work for the space depending on what they’re trying to accomplish. Since the pandemic, in-person consultations have had to be adjusted a bit, but there is still plenty of communication and digging deep to find out what each client wants and needs, whether that’s sharing 3D designs over video calls, meeting at the showroom, or meeting at the client’s home.
Favourite Space to Design
“The thing I’ve done the most of is closets, so that would be my favourite, but it’s all interesting to modify the space to make it work for somebody. A lot of garages too. It’s all about controlling that clutter to create a space that works for whatever needs that person has. “A messy world is a messy mind,” he says.
Favourite Materials to Use in Design
I like working with shaker doors, but it’s about what the client’s wishes are. There’s more selection now then there’s ever been, so the choices are endless. There are ways to combine all types of colours, materials and finishes.
Advice for Homeowners Who Want to Improve the Overall Design of a Room
It’s a matter of finding out what their vision is, seeing pictures of what catches their eyes. For some people, it’s just function. They don’t want fancy drawers, it’s just a matter of getting organized. So, it can be very basic. On the other side, there are some people who want the wow factor. We can deliver both.
Contact Incredible Home Today!
As a designer in Victoria, BC, Hong would be glad to speak with you and help you find a solution to any organization or design improvements needed in your home, whether that’s for your expansive garage or tiny bedroom closet. To get started, just give our team a call or send an email to set up an initial conversation.
