Selecting the Right Designer
Define Your Goals
The presence of a fresh, unbiased and professionally trained eye will result in increased beauty, comfort, organization and functionality throughout your home. However, before contacting an interior designer, think about your goals. What feelings would you like the space to evoke? What is your budget? And when would you like the project completed?
Interview Your Candidates
Settling into your newly revamped home will fill you with sensual delights – the lustrous fabrics at your fingertips and the dazzling combinations of colors – but hiring the right interior designer is still a business decision. This means it’s crucial that you interview several designers in order to familiarize yourself with their differences and find the one that is right for you. Here, some things to consider as you meet your candidates.
- Background (Education, past projects, professional affiliations)
- Duration and Deadlines (Project time frame and whether the designers other
projects would allow them to meet your timing requirements)
- Fee Structure
- Fixed Fee – The designer identifies a specific sum to cover
the costs exclusive of reimbursement of expenses.
- Hourly Fee – Compensation is based on actual time expended by the
designer or his or her staff on the project.
- Cost plus – A designer purchases materials, furnishings and
services (carpentry, workrooms, upholstery, etc.) at cost and sells to
the client at the designer’s cost plus a specified percentage agreed
to with the client to compensate for the designer’s time and effort.
- Other – Sometimes a designer will combine these fee structures,
depending on the nature/size of the project.
Hire Your Designer
Once you’ve found designers you feel are a good fit, take some time to compare estimates. Estimates may vary considerably based on the level of service and quality of materials they use. Finally, it is essential that you sign a contract that clearly establishes the parameters of the project and the responsibilities of everyone involved.
