Dillow: How long are you going to be in your home? From a resale standpoint, I like to determine whether the job is going to bring a return.
Gregory: What kind of decorating services do you need? I ask who they are and how they live.
Rentz: They usually ask me how I work, what the process is. Then I ask them where they are in the project; what is their goal?

Dillow: Always satisfying the client's needs first. I once showed a lady how to upholster a headboard. I'm a hands-on designer. It's all about the customer.
Gregory: My clients come to me for good color flow. I often use "Pizazz" by Robert Allen. It's a mini-stripe fabric perfect for upholstery and window treatments and comes in different colors.
Rentz: I don't really have a style. I'm complimented on that. Everything I do is more about my client than me. I'm careful not to reproduce what someone else has done.

Dillow: For a Parade of Homes I decorated a house in Greenville, N.C. Later, it was bought by a newlywed couple who wanted to furnish it from scratch. The challenge was to get a balance of different personalities.
Gregory: Finding antiques for an 1840s Federal-style house in Buckingham County.
Rentz: Finding the people to do the things that I would like to do. There's nothing worse than waiting months for something and not getting what I expected.

Dillow: It was a renovation of an old house in Bath, N.C., where I had to rip out the floors from the inside because of termite damage. I had to think outside the box.
Gregory: I was asked to create a focal point in a corner of a powder room. I stenciled a 21-color vase of flowers in the corner.
Rentz: There's nothing that surprises me. I've never run across anything so outrageous that it couldn't be done. Getting a piece of furniture on the top floor of a building with no freight elevator is difficult.

Dillow: I like to do great rooms and kitchens because they are the heart of the family.
Gregory: I really enjoy designing a family room or great room the most. It's the space where you spend the most time as a family. It's also the space where you entertain.
Rentz: There isn't a specific one.

Dillow: In Charlottesville, on a horse farm.
Gregory: On the French Riviera.
Rentz: Near the water, wherever that would be.

Dillow: I don't have favorite color combinations for people's homes. I go strictly by what my clients like. Then, I bring the best of the color wheel together with the color they like.
Gregory: I try to find out what colors work for the client.
Rentz: I like color a lot. I try to stay away from the very trendy and what may become dated. I use a neutral palette, then add color as accents.

Dillow: Comfortable and cozy. I live in a country cottage.
Gregory: Eclectic. I like sleek, cleanlined furniture, but I also have antique furniture. I like to collect local artists' work, and I like color.
Rentz: Very casual, livable. I have art and antiques, but you wouldn't be afraid to put your drink down. It's touchable. It's not "don't touch me."

Dillow: Two matching Oriental lamps I bought a long time ago. If the house caught fire, I'd grab them first.
Gregory: I'm not such a material girl, but I collect and frame Arthur Rackham [a British illustrator of the Edwardian period] book illustrations.
Rentz: There's nothing I couldn't live without.

Dillow: The furniture market [in High Point, N.C.] determines trends in furniture design and color. The next market is in October.
Gregory: For color trends, blues and browns are really strong. Earth and sky, which are comforting and worldwide. Gold and gold tones - not brass, but painted finishes. Brushed nickel is going out. Animal prints, especially faux fur, are hot. Black and white. Navy blue. The urban eclectic look.
Rentz: Less clutter, more minimalist. Cleaner lines. Not contemporary, just simplified.