How designer Victoria Sass reignites her clients’ passion for the big-picture vision when spending fatigue sets in.

Renovations aren’t for the faint of heart. It’s something Minneapolis designer Victoria Sass knows well—in addition to guiding dozens of clients through the process, she has lived through a few remodels of her own. Those personal experiences have shaped the proactive way she approaches helping clients navigate the financial and psychological costs of starting a project. “Even though I should know better, I still did all the things,” she says ruefully. “If I’m subject to that, then how is a person going to feel in their first foray into construction?”

Clients are technically in the driver’s seat when it comes to decision-making, but Sass says it’s essential to acknowledge that it often doesn’t seem that way to them. “People feel really powerless in this process of being told what things cost and having to write checks,” she explains. “Especially once you step off the cliff of remodeling or building a new house and you can’t go back—like, you have to finish the floor.”