Interior designer is basically the art and sciences of understanding your clients’ behavior to enable you (the designer) create functional spaces within a building. While there are tons of ways, principles and techniques to achieving an outstanding design or interior décor, famous interior designer Bunny Williams says “If you love something it will work – that’s the only real rule”.
There’s a common misconception that interior designers and interior decorators are one and the same thing but in contrast, the fact remains, an interior designer is someone with a knack for interior decoration plus an educational background to back that up. On the other hand, an interior decorator could be just anyone with a love for colors, fabrics, and textiles.
While education continues to be an important factor, the love of the art surpasses just about everything else. Being a professional is very important but being talented on the other hand can help a person stand out with or without education. Having said that, chances are that you are currently thinking or have thought about redesigning your home and in that line of thought, you have also considered doing it yourself – don’t!
Although we are not saying you shouldn’t be creative, we are saying working with an actual interior designer or interior decorator means you have a home décor that is not just beautiful but lasts long as well. Beyond the fact that you are not a professional in the art and as such should not be experimenting with a living space you intend to spend time in – here are 22 reasons you should really consider hiring an interior designer.
Save Money
Yes! Hiring a professional does save you money. Even though it sounds strange, seeing as the overall cost of decorating the room would include the designers fee and some other related expenses but then again, with the expertise a professional brings to the table, you, as the homeowner would save money as the interior designer would cut off all unnecessary excesses which you may have incurred doing it on your own.
Increase market value of your home
In addition to saving you some money, hiring an interior designer team makes you some extra money as well. Hiring an interior designer increases the value of your home on listings. Potential buyers find an interior design appealing and this by extension increases the net worth of your home. A potential buyer would much rather spend a few more dollars on a house that offers interior designs than one that doesn’t – thus placing your home above the market competition.
Interior designers can get you quality on a budget
Truth is, many people want to hire an interior designer and more often than not, their setback is largely based on the fact that they believe hiring an interior designer on a budget would be difficult if not impossible. But in actuality, if you are on a budget, then you should be hiring an interior designer. An interior designer is able to manage your budget yet effectively redesign your house. While it sounds appealing to get creative with your living space, you would probably spend long hours researching and planning the most efficient equipment, products, and concepts that would not just suit your house but also your budget. Chances are that you could get them at a more expensive bargain seeing as you are not a professional.
An interior designer has the necessary information and knows what anything is worth and the most suitable plan for your budget – this not only saves you time but also saves you money and the stress you could have gone through.
Prevents costly mistakes
This image exemplifies the need for an interior designer. A professional interior designer understands measurements. Mistakes such as this one emanate from a measurement mishap.
With living spaces, a mistake is prone to happen without proper planning and this could mean you have to destroy an already erected structure which cost time and money to erect and replace it with yet another structure which would cost more time and more money.
To avoid these things an interior designers experience and expertise should be leveraged upon.
Resources and Contacts
While designing your house yourself may seem like you are saving money, you may end up buying products at higher prices and lesser quality or even worse, you may not get the desired products and end up wasting lots of time and money during your search.
An interior designer not only has access to resources and materials at reasonable prices, they also have a wide network of people who are able to deliver top notch products and services within your budget. Seeing as it took the interior designer years of networking to acquire such valuable contacts and resources, you could simply leverage on their years of experience and give your home a better look without stress or extra cost.
The wow factor
Here’s the thing about interior decorating – there’s so much and so far your creative genius can take you; experience takes you the rest of the way. While you can always design your home whichever way you want, an interior designer can infuse the much needed wow factor and this is simply because they are a lot more versed in the art of interior decorating. Interior designers can think outside the box, merge concepts, patterns and ideas to give your room that wow factor.
Meeting Health and Safety Standards
Again, this is where professionalism comes into play!
With interior designers, you can rest assured that all government policies would be adhered to. Keep in mind that your house is not the first house they would be redesigning and even if it was, chances are that even a rookie interior designer knows more about the industry and its regulations than you do.
Preventing third party conflicts
In a home with multiple family members and a variety of room décor ideas, attempting to design the entire house by yourself could mean missing out on important details that hold meaning to each individual within the family hence you should hire an interior designer. With a professional designer, you are guaranteed a complete representation of every member request without conflicting on another’s space or ideas.
Professional Interior Designers Proffer Professional Assessment
This point goes without saying; a professional interior design has a more experienced assessment of any situation. While homeowners may exaggerate or underestimate a situation, interior designers are able to put together their expertise and years of experience to make a proper assessment of the situation.
They offer a blueprint for success for each project
In truth, without experience, you would wind up making up your decoration plan as you go. This could sometimes mean purchasing either less or more products than you require. An interior designer, on the other hand, has a fairly clear picture of the end result from the start of the project.
You get a qualified liaison
We all communicate in a certain way to people we know on a personal level, which is different from our communication to the people we don’t know so well. Regardless of how hard you try, the lingua used in liaising with electricians, contractors and carpenters and more would elude you – the interior designer, on the other hand, knows what to say, who to say it to and when to say it. The ability to communicate effectively to workers is important to the success of your project.
You get a functional well planned home
It’s easy to spot a home that was planned thoroughly on paper before the first wall was built or brought down. An interior designer redecorating or even designing a home for the first time plans the décor from start to finish. Most unplanned homes end up with improper spacing and layout. An example of a well-planned living room is as is seen in this picture.
Thanks to proper spacing and layout, the furniture setting sits perfectly within the living space. Chances are that no matter how enthusiastic you are about your home’s décor, you may not be able to plan as well as an interior designer would.
Unique Ideas
Professional interior designers are always looking to surpass their last project – this means they have to continually invent and reinvent new ideas to make a client’s project stand out. Interior designers thought are often eclectic meaning they are able to combine a variety of concepts and ideas to create a unique style to your interior décor. A few examples of unique interior décor ideas are these images below.
This first image showcases a blend of black and turquoise blue along with large tiles, combine to give the room a much larger feel, as well as a touch of brown to add some balance to the décor.
Another example is this bathroom fashioned in white, gray and gold hues with an elegant presence of nature offered by the floor vase.
And finally, this image highlights the importance of an interior decorator to the fullest – the living space is evidently utilized to showcase a glamorous interior décor; color choices highlight a dynamic variance yet still stays within the confines of a natural ambiance. Sections of the entire house are adequately segmented with changing lights to highlight the transition from one space to another.
Professional Help
If you are bent on renovating your apartment all by yourself, then you would still be doing the wise thing by seeking out professional help. By leveraging on the expertise of a professional interior designer and executing their instruction and advice, you’d be able to save more money. In simple terms, these people know exactly what works.
Ability to incorporate different styles
As an amateur, your inventory of interior décor ideas is limited to your research and perhaps houses you have visited in the past. An interior designer, on the other hand, has seen tons of houses and has a fairly good idea what styles we can fuse together to give your home the overall elegant look it deserves. A professional interior designer is able to take elements of the home that could have been discarded and turn them into useful attributes/rustic parts of your home.
Knows the most suitable style for a home
Popular interior designer Lella Vignelli said “Even when I enter a space that I have to design for a client, I listen to what the space says – the walls, the windows. You cannot change what that space wants to be” – interior designers have a higher understanding of our home that surpasses our ideas.
There are tons of interior décor styles available out there and only an interior designer can effectively implement them to success. Here are a few interior designs your interior designer may infuse into your living space
- Southwestern Interior Design
- Scandinavian Interior Design
- Modern Interior Design
- Rustic Interior Design
An interior designer solves problems
Every home regardless of size is peculiar and so are its problems. Interior designers have the knowledge and technical know-how required to tackle these problems. Chances are that your problems might seem huge to you but an interior designer finds it challenging and they are often glad to tackle such situations. Interior designers can provide any style and identity you ask them to and if it isn’t feasible with your living space, they would be sure to let you know.
Your expectation is reached
Before anyone starts out on a project or task of renovating an apartment or designing a living space, they always have an image of their end product – the only problem however is, they don’t have the resources or the technical know-how to do it. The interior designers, on the other hand, have the means to achieving exactly what the client wants and in most cases, exceeding it.
They infuse current trends into your home
Designing your own home by yourself leaves you within the box of just your knowledge and seeing as interior designing is probably not your primary career; chances are that you would not be entirely savvy on the trendiest equipment, furniture, and appliances. In this day and time when it is important to build energy efficient homes, interior designers are able to draw the entire structure of your apartment, recommend the right tiles, windows and more to help you conserve energy.
Interior designers pay attention to detail
As a homeowner, you know you need a bulb but the interior designer knows you need a LED bulb – this is called paying attention to detail. Seeing as an interior designer has had more opportunities to implement their ideas, they are able to spot what detail is missing within your space; whether it’s lighting, paint color, furniture or more, interior designers know what the missing piece is.
Save you stress
Hiring an interior designer saves you the stress of executing the project yourself and because you are not well versed in the art, you would likely encounter a certain level of difficulty that the designer can maneuver easily. With an interior designer, you don’t have to multitask or attempt to execute the job strenuously – all you need do is paint a picture of what you want and watch the interior designer make it come alive!
Best color combinations
Yet again, interior designers are able to tap into their years of experience
to produce color combinations that not only suit the style and texture of the house but also colors that exemplify whatever persona you want your interior décor to have.
Having listed the following 22 reasons you need an interior designer, here are some topics you must discuss with your interior designer during your meeting with them.
Your lifestyle: A South American or a person with Red Indian heritage would be quite rooted to their heritage when it comes to interior décor thus giving them a Scandinavian décor might be off the books – it is important for the interior designer to understand your lifestyle.
Your budget: This goes without saying, it is important for your interior designer to understand just how much funds he would be allocated on this project.
Your aesthetic preferences: What works for A may not work for B so it’s best to tell the designer exactly what your taste in interior décor is.
Your space needs: While some people like a well spaced out interior décor, others want a busier décor – be sure to relay this to the designer.
Time: The interior designers need to know just how much time they have till the project is complete.
Décor Style: Just as with aesthetic and space preferences, the interior designer needs to know what style you prefer within your space.
Pricing: Alongside your budget estimate for the decoration, you need to speak to your designer to be sure his/her price fits into your budget. You can check in the chart below the average reported cost for hiring an interior designer in your area.
Design Process: A good interior designer should have a blueprint to success. Before your designer starts, these are things you must discuss with the designer.
Ask for a portfolio: Your home is precious and as such, there is no room for trial and error – ask for proof of his previous projects.
Finally, Lay all your cards on the table; be sure to tell the interior designer exactly what you want your house to look like. And if you are still not convinced you need an interior designer/decorator and you want to try doing all the heavy work by yourself then you can use our Free Interior Design Software and create your own interior design and home decor in 2D and 3D.
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