7.30am

My day starts when I get up at 7.30am. I have a shower and grab myself some breakfast. It depends what I fancy really but usually it consists of a bowl of cereal and a cup of tea to wake me up while watching a bit of morning TV and the news. Then I get dressed and set off for work.

8.30am

I only live fi ve minutes away from the showroom so I take a nice leisurely stroll and arrive at about 8.40am. If I'm the first to arrive I'll open up and then spend a few minutes setting myself up for the day. Our desks are all situated in the main showroom, so I like to be in early to organise my workload and catch up on a few things before the clients arrive or the phone calls start.

9.00am

As soon as the showroom opens at 9am the phone tends to start ringing so we're busy from the beginning of the day. An average day would be me working on a brand new project. We have an initial 45 minute meeting with potential clients where I ascertain their budget and what they are looking for from their bathroom. Based on this information the next thing I do is draw up a basic room plan which usually takes a good half a day to complete.

12pm

You have to take the day as it comes really but I try and take my lunch at 12pm because it can get very manic in here and I probably wouldn't get a break at all otherwise. Because I live so close to work I walk back there to have lunch as it gives me a proper break from work.

1pm

If all is well, the basic plan should have been finished before lunch so my first job of the afternoon will be to send a copy to the installer so that he can price his side of the job up and then it's a case of putting my quote together. We
work to budgets and that really dictates which products I can choose, so when I'm planning the basic layout I already have a strong idea of which products I can use and those I definitely can't. Because I've been here for two years, as long as the showroom's been open, my product knowledge is very good and I know which price bracket certain products fall into. I then use our management system, to construct the quote for the client. Pricing some items, like bespoke products, is a bit more complicated as we have to send off for prices based on specifi cations, but everything else is on the system and it makes the process so much easier.

2pm

I usually complete this part of the job in one afternoon, so once the planning and quotation stages are complete I move on to the visuals stage, where I create the 3D drawings. We do all of our 3D visuals by freehand and it can take me a whole day to do one of these. Of course my day tends to be broken up by people browsing in the showroom, discussing projects with clients in the showroom, answering the phone and appointments with reps.

4pm

An average day normally includes a site visit to projects at the installation stage which I tend to schedule in towards the end of the day, around 4pm. The visits are important because it means I can check on the progress of an ongoing
project. I speak to the installer to see how they're getting on and check  that the client is happy with how the project is going. I will visit at the beginning of a project, probably once in the middle and then at the end so that I get to see the finished project. That's the best part of the job for me, actually seeing my creation, my ideas, come to life. Winning
the award, and getting picked as a finalist in the other category I entered, at this years Industry Awards was the icing on the cake really. It's always great receiving praise from clients for my work but to have my work recognised by a
panel of judges is a great achievement and I hope to do as well at next year's awards.

5.30pm

The showroom shuts at 5.30pm and we make appointments from 6pm to visit sites of projects that are at the initial
planning stage. We're usually there for about an hour and this is when I get the measurements, it's also helpful
for the design process for me to actually see a room so I can get a feel for the house and room, see the style
of the rest of the interiors and see if there are any unusual factors to consider, like sloping ceilings or ceiling beams for instance. Sometimes I can see a room and know exactly how I'm going to lay the bathroom out and which products I'm going to include.

7.30pm

My partner is usually in before I get home from work, so he cooks the dinner for me. After that I enjoy relaxing in front of
the TV, watching shows like Grand Designs, with a glass or two of wine.

11.30pm

I give in and go to bed around 11.30pm. I'm quite an active person and at the weekends I enjoy nothing more than
going out for long walks and as I've recently taken up skiing I try and get to the indoor slopes at Milton Keynes as often as possible.