Helpful Hints for Hiring a Desinger

Helpful Tips for Hiring a Designer




• Your Designer should listen: You will know if you are considering a Designer who will reflect your style by the first meeting. If the Designer does all of the talking and gives a ton of advice before listening then the chances are that the Designer’s style will be reflected and not yours. A good Designer will spend most of the time during the initial complimentary consultation listening, asking questions and taking notes. From there, he or she will have the valuable input necessary to come up with something you will love.

• Communication is key: Sometimes letting your Designer know the things you don’t like are just as important as what you do like. If you absolutely hate the color yellow or floral fabric then let that be known up front. This will save time and point your Designer in the right direction. Pointing out to your Designer something you love, such as a piece of art can be great inspiration for a room and assure that you will be happy with the end result.

• Be sure you are clear on Fees: Most designers offer some products and services. Be sure they have explained to you in a clear and easy manner how these fees work so you will not have any surprises along the way. Professionalism is just as important as creativity.

• Does your Designer Sell Products? Many times you can save a considerable amount in hourly design fees by purchasing your furnishings through your Designer. You are going to be purchasing the products for your home anyway. If your designer has direct accounts with wholesale product distributors they are able to sell products to you similar to the way a retailer would and for this reason can waive hourly fees when working with you on those products. Your Designer may still need to charge some hourly fees for things such as delivery, staging or for consultation on items they don’t sell, but you will still come out many times with better products at a fair price when purchasing through your Designer.

• Take your Designer’s advice: If after your complimentary consultation, you get the idea that the Designer has listened to your desires and can implement, then take their advice. Too often, a Designer ends up being a third wheel in a project where a friend, other or “well meaning” relative starts giving their input. Keep in mind, that the project will not look complete until the end. This is where it will take some courage to have trust in your Designer’s vision. By looking at your Designer’s previous projects you will have a good indication that your room will end up beautiful. By all means, if your Designer is off base and is going with something you totally dislike then speak up. All of the pieces make up the whole in room design and chances are it will look very different in the end than it does along the way.

• Be prepared to match the quality of furnishings to the home: One of the biggest mistakes that consumers make is purchasing a home that puts them right to the edge of their budget without considering the fact that the home needs to be furnished properly. The quality of the furnishings needs to be in line with the price of the home. You would be surprised at how many homes I walk into that are $1,000,000 + in value and they have artwork purchased from Target. I have nothing against furnishings from Target for a college dorm room or apartment, but a grown up house deserves grown up furnishings. Consider reserving a budget with this in mind when deciding where you want to purchase our home and for how much.