Remodeling your existing home or designing a new home can be an exciting but overwhelming process. Renovations require both a huge emotional and financial investment. Whether you are starting from scratch or giving a room or two a makeover, hiring a professional will streamline the process and save you both time and money, as well as give you a cohesive and beautiful design throughout your home.
Above all, the relationship with your designer must feel right, or it won't work. Remember, you're working together on your private environment. Once you decide on a designer, be sure that you clearly understand the services offered and fees implicated with those services. Designers charge in different ways. Depending on your needs and the scale of the project, a designer may combine payment types. Keep in mind, too, that not every designer offers every payment option.
A couple of ways designers charge are:
Hourly fees. Be sure to understand if this includes travel, shopping, and the like. Also ask what expenses you may be billed for during the project.
"Cost plus," where you pay retail prices for fabrics; the designer's "fee" will be the difference between what you pay and the cost of the furnishings at wholesale.
A percentage of the cost of furnishings and/or labor.
A flat fee for the entire job.
I have come across clients who had a skeptical other half. 100% of the time, I get pulled to the side during the design process by Mr. Skeptical (its usually the guys;) ), and thanked for the advice, acting as a relationship mediator, and thinking about the big picture. If you see the value of working with a designer, but it doesn’t fit into your budget, find someone that will do consultation work by the hour. Yes there is a cost involved in hiring a professional to help with your design, but the pros that come along with the services offered certainly outweigh trying to navigate on your own. Good Luck! XO
Kelsey