Hints and Tips for Hiring an Interior Designer
Hints and Tips for Hiring an Interior Designer
A fresh set of eyes coming in to see your home is often hugely beneficial when you are thinking about planning a room. Often when you are living somewhere, it’s really challenging to see how you want it to be, where to make improvements and think about its true potential, so hiring a professional Interior Designer will lead to suggestions and solutions you would never have thought about.
An interior designer will see the potential problems and the ones you are facing around layout, light, colours, patterns, items of furniture, flooring and much more and they will be able to work around these in their plans. They will have the experience and skills to visualise your finished space and will know how to achieve it.
There are lots of different reasons why you might be looking for an interior designer.
- You don’t have the time to think about your interior
- You don’t have the time, or maybe inclination to source paints, wallpaper, material, pieces of furniture and the accessories you need
- You have lots of ideas but you can’t pull them together to make a decision on your finished project
- You don’t have any ideas and you need some inspiration
- You have wasted time and money before and your rooms are never the finish and style you want
- You don’t have the time or inclination to source and manage tradespeople to see your interior projects through to fruition
Whatever your reason for using an interior designer it will save you time, money and a lot of frustration, and if you find the right one who is flexible with their services and adapts to your needs it won’t be as costly as you think.
How to Find the Right Interior Designer for you?
Interior Designers should always take time to listen to you, what you are looking for and to understand any thoughts you have before they start talking to you about suggested themes and colour schemes.
They should manage your budget, time frames and do all the research and planning, leaving you to make the decisions and enjoy the end results. Choosing the right interior designer for your project is crucial to ensure you have a result that you love. You should connect really well with them and their creative style, as well as feeling relaxed with them and able to communicate well with them to ensure they understand what you want to achieve.
Recommendations are always a really good place to start if you decide you need an interior designer but if you don’t have anyone who has any recommendation then start following people or businesses on Instagram and Pinterest and look at magazines to get a feel for the style you might be looking for. Use the internet to find interior designers in your area and look at their websites to get a feel for them and their work. This will help you get an understanding of their style which you should love before you consider working with them. Ask yourself questions;
- What is it that you like about their style?
- Do you think they would be a good fit for you?
A reputable and experienced Interior Designer will have customer reviews on their website so always take some time to read these as well as looking at their portfolio of work. Contact them and by having an initial conversation you will often know if you feel comfortable with them. You should always feel at ease and relaxed with your interior designer and enjoy being around them as this is when the best ideas are created, and you will be inspired by them, their concepts and experience. You should always ensure they are great listeners and they take your specific requirements and style into consideration.
To ensure you don’t get any surprises at the end of your project you should find out how your designer charges and their payment structure before you sign up with them. Some will want you to pay a deposit and your final payment will be due when your room is finished, and some will ask you to pay in instalments. It’s really important that you discuss your budget with them as soon as you can so they know what they have to work with.
Your initial design consultation with them should be very interactive with a good two-way conversion. The purpose of the meeting should be about getting to know you, your home, how you use your space, what you like, what you don’t like and any suggestions you may have. The initial meeting is for your interior designer to understand what you are looking for from them and this will ensure you achieve your dream finish. During your meeting, they should offer some ideas and inspirations for styles and colours and see how you feel about them, again it is all about having good conversations. They should talk to you about how they work, the services they offer, how they can help you and the budget you have.
At the end of the meeting, they should talk to you about the next steps, they should have gathered enough information to go away and work on some initial design concepts for you. They will give you timescales and you can agree when you will next get together.
Your next meeting will be all about visuals with proposed colours, materials, lighting and accessories. This is when you will start to see what your finished room could look like. Again it should be really interactive and your design scheme should be adaptable to incorporate aspects you like and anything you aren’t so keen on. At the end of your meeting you should be at the point of agreeing your design but if you’re not sure then ask for some time to think about it, reflect, get your families input and agree when you will next meet to review it.
An experienced designer will know if you’re not sure about their proposal and they won’t put pressure on you to sign it off until you are happy with it. Don’t ever hesitate to say if it isn’t what you are looking for. A good and professional interior designer will always listen to what you have said and adapt their plan to give you the finished result you want.
Your ID and How We Can Help You
We offer a friendly and professional service in the South West, Wales and the surrounding locations and our love of style, our expertise and design process will help you achieve your dream space.
We understand that choosing the right interior designer to work with is essential and we ensure you feel relaxed in our company and are inspired by our advice and suggestions. We truly believe that no house or customer is the same and we promise to tailor our services to meet your requirements.
You may just need help to sort through your ideas and for us to create a mood board to enable you to visualise your design, or you may need our help with an initial concept, or the redesign of a couple of rooms in your home. Whatever your need, we will help you achieve your goals and it really all just starts with a conversation with us.
Our business came from our belief that your home is ‘Your Identity’. We understand your home is the core of your belonging and it encapsulates who you are and we will work with you to make this a reality. We want you to come into your home and love how it looks and feels, we want it to be your safe haven and a place you love to spend time in with your family and friends, and, we want you to be proud of your home.
Our creative design process starts with you and your home as well as understanding your style. We spend time listening to your creative ideas and requirements to help us understand how you live and use your space and the times that you use it. We have a friendly, relaxed and personable approach and we understand that our relationship with you is key to our success. Our interior expertise will inspire you to make decisions that you won’t have done without us. We may be helping you with colour schemes, sourcing furniture, fabrics, lighting and artwork, redesigning an entire room, managing your interior upscale project. Whatever you need, be ready to be inspired. Our experience and passion for comfortable, usable and stylish interiors will result in a beautiful finish that you may have just dreamt of.
1. Our Concept & Design Service
You may just need advice on concepts and the layout of a room. We can suggest colour schemes, provide mood boards and offer styling ideas. This service will completely transform the look and feel of your room and the way that you use it, making you fall in love with it once again.
3. Our Project Management Service
Let us take on the most stressful part of any renovation or decoration project. We have our own trusted contractors and tradespeople that we have worked with for a number of years and we can plan, organise & execute your projects, however big or small.
2. Our Sourcing Service
When your concept is clear in your mind, you may need our help sourcing the perfect pieces for your home. Take advantage of our network of suppliers and ‘trade only’ merchants. We will find you visual samples for everything you need from fabrics to flooring, artwork to accessories, window coverings to wallpaper.
4. Our Styling Service
If putting those finishing touches to a room is something you find difficult you can benefit from our advice on styling. With our expert eye and good attention to detail, we know how to make a house a home and make it feel warm and inviting.
Whether you opt for our full turnkey service or you just need some help getting started, we are the interior designers for you.
We have the experience of working with varying budgets and we will ensure you get the most out of what you have to spend. Our concept & design service will help you with ideas bringing them to life for you, you may want to use our sourcing service, or you may need our styling service to help you with the finishing touches, whatever you need we can help.
We commit to providing you with a no-obligation proposal which will outline our suggestions, time scales and costs, working to your budget. This can include just one of the above services, a combination, or all of them, all of which utilises our expertise and collective design experience.
Whatever your journey with us is, you can trust us to give you a vision for creating a stylish, sophisticated and livable space that you will love.
Start creating your dream space today and contact us to find out more about how we can help you create your dream home and space.