What is good taste?

That's a question that comes up regularly in the interior design world (and often in the art world as well). You know the saying, one man's poker-playing-dog painting is another man's Da Vinci, or something to that effect. As designers, how do we guide a client's "bad taste" into a direction which is more fitting toward "good taste"? And who defines good taste? Is it the glossy shelter magazines, the high-end manufacturers of home products?

Good designers are good psychologists, they work well with and understand people. A designer worth his or her weight in gold is one who is a good problem solver and guide. They must meet their client halfway before the journey even begins. Most importantly, they listen to their client's wants and needs. So if my client is attached to and insistent on hanging the poker dog painting, then I'm going to make that painting work, somehow, in the final design scheme.