Samples serve a dual purpose for designers: they offer a firsthand feel of a material you're considering, and they allow your client to mull over several options before locking in on a final choice. We met with Kyle Legemaat of Wilsonart to discuss the right time to request larger surface samples.
Listen to our discussion
But sometimes, a small sample doesn't cut it. In certain cases, you might want to ask for a bigger sample.
When choosing surface materials, such as quartz or laminate, it’s important to have perspective on the entire pattern. If a sample isn’t large enough, your client might not get the whole visual, leaving them unhappy with the final outcome.
“So many designs now in our collection have such a large-scale movement pattern to them that it’s always important to get a larger sample than what you would see in a typical sample box,” says Kyle Legemaat, specification representative for Wilsonart. Legemaat adds: “Samples in your [design] library may not have the movement you’re going to see in an overall slab or sheet. And that can be very deceiving."
A Few Tips to Consider
Small samples cut from a slab might not present all the colors in the pattern. So, it’s important to order larger samples of all designs you or your client are seriously considering.
Larger samples, though, can come at a higher price. Legemaat recommends working with your vendor rep and asking about the pattern’s overall movement on the slab, as well as looking online to see if the pattern in which you’re interested is a large-scale pattern.
“Then order larger samples [of ones] that do have patterns,” Legemaat says. “We do have solids. Maybe that’s not something you would need the larger sample for, but the rep can always help you."
