Should I hire an Interior Designer?
If you’ve never really tried designing a space, give it a go in a simple room, with minimal construction and investment, to see if you like the process. Conversely, if you have tried but been unsatisfied in the past with the process or results, you already have the proof that DIY won’t deliver. Stop beating your head against a wall.
Should I hire an Interior Designer for my project?
You go to Reddit and read mixed responses. You ask friends and get tepid advice. Your Google search only gives you ads for online design services. Articles all seem to say “it depends” - but on what?
“It depends” is, of course, the right answer. But it isn’t a very useful one. So let me provide you with more specific ponderings. The big factors here: scope, budget, time, complexity, and style.
Scope
The first thing to consider is the scope of your project. Are you just looking to upgrade some furniture? Renovate a bathroom? Select paint colors? Or are you fully gutting your home?
Lets say your scope (and budget) is limited - re-doing a bedroom, swapping some finishes, or updating your living room furniture set from the 90’s. You may be able to do this yourself. Or, you may find the best value from a single designer session, rather than full service design start to finish. Many designers offer one-time sessions to get you on the right track. In just a couple of hours, you can come away with a finish package or simple furniture plan, allowing you to complete the project yourself with professional advice. This can be a great investment and typically only costs a few hundred dollars. If you have a little more time to do things yourself, and a tighter budget, this is a great option.
For larger projects, a single session is likely not going to procure the answers you need. It may help - but it might raise more questions than answers.
Budget
Budget is, of course, a huge factor in determining whether you should hire an interior designer. If money is no object, the answer is always yes - but you likely wouldn’t have asked the question.
Generally speaking (and I do mean generally) full service design fees will encompass between 10-15% of your total budget. This means that if you have $25,000 to redo your living room, you will pay your designer between $2,500-$3,750 to design the room, select finishes and furniture, order everything, and install.
Few firms actually price by percentage of your budget. This is just a very rough estimate to give you a ballpark number. Hourly fees are more common, and range widely. In the Bay Area, hourly rates typically start at $175-250/hour. Flat fee models will be calculated based on estimated hours, but let you know the price upfront for a set scope. I will be writing a comparison of flat fee vs. hourly billing in an upcoming post.
There is a lot to consider and know about budgets (too much to say in one go). Most people - even successful and affluent people - have a budget in mind, so don’t be embarrassed about yours. Be honest from the beginning. Some designers offer a free exploration call, or you can use the above to estimate the realistic cost of a designer (always estimate high). Then, if you can, break down your budget to see if there would be enough left after design fees to properly execute your project.
Time
For many people, hiring a designer comes less from a lack of taste and more from a lack of time. Most Clients are professionals and/or parents with very full lives. Designing, ordering, tracking, and installing a project is very time consuming, and errors or oversights are expensive. Like anything, hiring a (good) professional can save you these headaches.
Here enters the omnipresent question of life: time vs. money. My suggestion here is to consider the following:
- How much free time do you (honestly) have?
- How much is your time worth to you? (if you earn a salary, there may be an actual number here, but your salary may not accurately reflect how much you value your free time).
- Do you know your style well, so that you make decisions quickly and easily?
If you have recently opened up your schedule (maybe a child has moved out, you’ve cut back at work, or you’ve given up marathon training) you may find that taking on the project yourself feels manageable. But If you haven’t had time for a full night’s sleep this month, I would caution the self-managed project. It is very easy to bite off more than you can chew.
Complexity
Scope is one thing - but complexity is quite another. Generally, a job that includes minimal renovation or construction can be considered fairly simple. You may feel more confident taking on a bedroom, small living room, or simple facelift to a powder room. The following will make a project more complex (and each additional item from this list is increasingly complicated to do well):
- Moving walls or structural elements
- Adding, removing, or moving windows or doors
- Furniture plans for large, open spaces
- Anything that involves re-routing plumbing or electrical systems
- Layout planning for new construction
- Layout planning for bathroom or kitchen projects
- Projects that involve mixing 5+ materials (flooring, tile, hardware, paint, fabrics, countertops, wallpaper, etc).
- Projects incorporating existing or historic elements
Also ask yourself, how particular are you about results? If the pattern of the tile is off, or the drapery isn’t hung quite right, or the coffee table is too small, is this the kind of thing you tend to notice?
Photo by Ellen Tanner
Style
Having good taste, and being able to actualize that taste in a room, are not the same thing. Needing professional design help doesn’t mean you have no style - it just means you need help translating it from your head into your home. Designers are versed in the language of design. Scale and color, pattern and texture, material and shape, line and symmetry, repetition and layout all play into the results. Being able to put it all together takes more than taste; it is a hybrid of art and science that makes a truly beautiful room.
If you know what you like - but find your home doesn’t feel like what you see in your head, despite your best efforts - a designer may be the best possible investment. If you don’t know what you like, a good designer will be able to help you figure it out.
That being said, maybe you still feel like you can do it - and you may be right! If you’ve never really tried designing a space, give it a proper go, in a simple room with minimal construction and investment, to see if you like the process and result. Conversely, if you have tried but been unsatisfied in the past with the process or results, you already have the proof that DIY won’t deliver. Stop beating your head against a wall and hire yourself some help.
Summary
“It depends” means, like all important decisions, that there are multiple factors to weigh and consider. Count how many of the following you answer ‘yes’ to:
Is your project large-scope?
Can you afford to hire a designer?
Do you have limited free time?
Is the project complicated?
Are you particular about the quality and finish of interior spaces?
Do you struggle to identify or actualize your own style?
If you answered ‘no’ to all of these, of course, you are all set to DIY; six ‘yes’ responses is also a no-brainer. If you are somewhere in the middle, and still feel unsure, talk to a designer (like me) to get an idea of whether hiring a designer will fit your vision for the project. Be realistic and honest, and find a designer who does the same.
Next topic: How do you choose a designer?
