Turning a house or an apartment into the home of your dreams takes both time and effort. And if you really want to do it right, you’ll consider hiring a professional. After all, there are so many factors involved in the process, many of which might not even cross your mind. There’s one problem, though – many people are reluctant to hire interior designers because they’re afraid of wasting money. Fortunately, there are plenty of things you can do to ensure your budget is spent just the way you want it to be. Check out these tips for working with professional decorators!
1. Establish a budget.
Before you even start considering hiring a designer, you should take time to establish your budget for the project. It doesn’t matter how big it is – redoing your kitchen or decorating and furnishing the entire place. Either way, you’ll need to calculate how much money you’ll be able to spend. And here’s an extra tip: if you’re hiring a professional to do your entire house, you might want to consider involving them in the process as soon as you start construction!
2. Get to know your taste.
You might think that’s what a designer’s for – to tell you with which color palette to go or what kind of layout to choose. And you’ll definitely benefit from a pro’s input. However, you really need to take into account the fact that you’re the one who’s going to be living there. This means that in the end, your tastes matter the most. So get online or leaf through some design magazines, and get to know your preferences!
3. Spread out the process.
But what if you have a small budget and a huge project in mind? This still doesn’t mean you should limit yourself to the tried-and-true layouts and DIY decorations. You can always create the home of your dreams one room at a time. So before you decide against hiring a designer, try spreading out the process to see whether it’ll work with your budget!
4. Research different services.
Interior designers are just like all other contractors – they provide their clients with a variety of different services. For example, you can pay them by the hour or agree to a fixed rate. You can even negotiate how the materials will be bought. You can always leave the purchasing to the designer, but if you don’t want to pay the retail price, you can agree to buy them yourself at wholesale price. It’s completely up to you!
5. Examine the designer’s portfolio.
Once you start interviewing designers, each of them will provide you with a portfolio. You might feel tempted to just hire the nicest or the cheapest one, since there are always better things to do with your time than to leaf through someone else’s drawings. This, however, would be a big mistake. A designer’s work reflects both their competency and their taste, and you’ll need to judge both if you want things done a certain way!
6. Be clear about what you want.
And last but not least, try to be as honest as possible. If you’re not clear on what you want, your designer won’t be able to provide you with the interior of your dreams!