Key Things to Know Before Hiring an Interior Designer for Your New Home

Months of searching have paid off – you’ve finally closed on your dream home! Now the real fun begins by designing and decorating your new home to reflect your unique style and personality. For those who may not be stylistically savvy, have no fear! On average, the interior design industry in the United States has grown 2.9% every year since 2018, and it shows no signs of slowing. There are thousands of interior design professionals, such as Barge Design Solutions Dothan AL, located throughout the United States and waiting to help make your home design dreams a reality.

There are countless benefits to hiring an interior designer to assist with decorating and designing your home. A good interior designer can not only save you precious time – they can assist in maximizing the investment that is your home purchase, by ensuring cohesion throughout the home, balancing functionality and aesthetics, and even potentially increasing your home’s resale value. 

Choosing an interior designer is no minor decision, and there are quite few important factors to keep in mind prior to hiring an interior design professional.

1. Before Hiring an Interior Designer

As with any home project, proper planning prior to embarking on your project will pay off in the long run. Here are a few things you’ll want to give some thought to before searching for an interior designer to assist in revamping your home.

A. Budget: First and foremost, it is absolutely imperative to establish your budget. Giving adequate thought to the maximum you are willing (and able) to pay an interior design expert before you begin your search will save you many headaches down the road. When determining your budget, be sure to keep in mind that while most interior designers offer furniture sourcing services, there is almost always a markup fee (typically between 15 to 30% extra) in addition to the furniture cost.

B. Theme/Style: While interior designers are the experts, and they can certainly assist in stylistic choices for your space, giving some thought to your preferred design style before searching for a designer will save you time in the long run. Design styles are incredibly diverse, ranging from modern and contemporary to art deco, farmhouse, transitional, and bohemian, with many interior designers specializing in a specific aesthetic. By having an idea of the aesthetic you’d like to see in your space before starting with a designer, you’ll be able to easily narrow your search for designers by focusing on those who specialize in your preferred style.

C. Timeline: How quickly do you want or need your home redesigned? Is this a project that must be done within a quick turnaround, or is your timeframe flexible? Deciding on a goal timeline prior to searching for a designer will also be extremely helpful in narrowing your search. Simple projects, such as design-only jobs with no construction required, can range from a couple of weeks to a couple of months. For a more complex project, where major renovations are needed, or multiple rooms are being designed, the contract can take closer to a year, or more.

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2. Ready to Hire a Designer? Here’s What to Look for in an Interior Design Professional

You’ve got your budget set for your redesign project, your goal timeline, and your decorative style in mind. Now comes the exciting part – searching for your design professional! Choosing the right interior designer for you and your space may take some research and a few consultations, but the results will be well worth the effort you put in. Here are the main things to keep in mind as you narrow down your list of potential interior designers:

A. Fee Structure/Budget: A word to the wise, there is a wide variety of ways that interior designers charge for their services. It is of the utmost importance to choose a designer who has priced their services in a way that you are comfortable with, especially if you have a firm budget for your project. The most common ways that interior designers charge are as follows:

• Hourly Billing: The designer will keep a running log of the hours they’ve spent designing your home and working on your project. Typically, these designers will provide clients with a monthly invoice detailing the hours put in and the costs incurred. While this is a transparent way to price, it is important to ensure the designer’s efficiency during the hours billed.
• Fixed Price: With fixed-price interior design services, you and your designer agree on a set amount to cover the entirety of the project before it starts. This set amount is determined once you and the designer have sufficiently defined the scope of your project, but it can be difficult to calculate the fee if your designer is not overly experienced, as the designer will need to consider all expenses at the beginning of the project. Some designers use fixed pricing for their projects, but they break the project down into “phases,” so you would pay a fixed price per project phase. 
• Cost Plus: In this type of pricing model, designers charge clients the cost of materials, furnishings, and services, plus a percentage markup to cover the designer’s time and effort. A markup of around 30-35% on furniture or materials can be expected with this pricing method.

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B. Designer’s Style and Portfolio: You wouldn’t use a Philips head screwdriver for a job that requires a flathead, right? If you’ve got your heart set on a sleek, minimalistic-modern space, you don’t want to hire an interior designer who specializes in creating spaces filled with rustic farmhouse charm. Putting in sufficient research and perusing potential designer’s portfolios can save you time and money, as well as assist you in narrowing down your list of potential interior designers. 

Most designers showcase their published portfolios on their design website or utilize social media sites such as Instagram to provide more current updates of their work. While some designers prefer to master a specific style, others market themselves as deriving inspiration from their clients and the ability to utilize any style. Either way, browsing designers’ portfolios and social media sites can help you determine whether that designer will be a good fit for you and your project.

C. Reputation/Reviews: If you’re searching for your interior designer based on word-of-mouth referrals or the fact that they’re highly rated and reviewed on Google, be sure to pay attention to specific feedback voiced that pertains to you and your project. If your goal for hiring an interior designer is to save you time and stress, keep that in mind while narrowing down your list of potential designers and search for one that has consistently high reviews and receives feedback such as “this designer handled everything” or “they were very easy to work with.” Searching for a designer with reviews that directly coincide with your values in a professional relationship can potentially save you from many headaches as your project progresses.

D. Solo Designer or Design Team: While this likely comes down to personal preference, knowing whether you’d prefer a solo designer or a design team to tackle your home project will assist in further narrowing down your list of potential designers. There are pros and cons to each choice; with a solo designer, you can expect to have a single point of contact (the designer) for every piece of the process, from billing questions to choosing design specifics. With a design team, you are typically going to be able to meet a quicker deadline since you have multiple design professionals available to assist. 

E. Availability: Keeping designer availability as well as your timeline in mind while choosing an interior designer is of the utmost importance and is one of the factors that leads some clients to prefer working with a design team instead of a solo designer. If you have your heart set on working with a solo designer, be sure to compare your timeline with their calendar availability, and take note if the designer is expecting any extended leave of absence, such as a vacation, or maternity/paternity leave. If you’re leaning towards working with a design team, availability likely won’t be as much of an issue, as if one designer is unavailable, other designers on the team can pick up the slack.

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Conclusion

Hiring an interior designer is one of the best things you can do for your new home, and not only in terms of aesthetics. An experienced interior designer can transform even the blandest of spaces into a beautifully cohesive residence. Your home should be your sanctuary – doing your research, keeping the aforementioned facts in mind and finding a knowledgeable interior designer will help you take your new home to new heights.