Do we need an interior designer?

[Fizzlekatz]

DH and I have been planning home renovations for around 3 years. We have budgeted £100k for the works which include a kitchen extension and loft conversion as well as new bathrooms and decoration throughout.

We've got a project manager who is helping us with suppliers, builders etc and managing the works while they are ongoing. They are happy to be a sounding board for design advice and are helpful in sourcing products at a cheaper price but understandably they want to be led by us in terms of what we want.

We know what kind feel we want our home to have and have got lots of inspiration from sites like Pinterest. We know the general colour scheme and are clear on what we don't like! There are just so many decisions: fixtures, fittings, wall colours, shades of wall tiles and flooring. We're spending such a lot of money on this and I'm scared we're going to make a mistake and regret the overall finished design. Neither of us have done anything like this before.

So I suppose my question is, whether anyone has experience of using an interior designer. Was it worth it? And how much do you think it would cost for a project of our size...? Im not really keen to add even more cost to our project but at the same time we don't want to end up disappointed with the finished product.

Thanks so much for your help!

What kind of colour scheme do you like?

We did quite a lot to our house about 5 years ago and I know what you’re saying, overall I was happy with most things I chose but there was a few things I have regretted. Like the cream tiles in the hallway and kitchen. They show up everything. I wish I’d gone for a darker tile. I got so much inspiration from Instagram and overall I think I’ve done a good job.

I would say the first thing I would do is choose your kitchen design because this will carry on the same theme throughout the downstairs probably. Floors are a lot about what’s practical, i.e wood flooring or carpet.

Anyway I’m following this thread as I’d be interested to know if anyone has used a designer.

Yes with a 100k budget. If you're in the south-east there's an amazing one my friends used. She was incredible, came up with so many ideas to make it special - they managed all the contracting and kitchen installation. Just made it so easy for them.

LaurieFairyCake can you please pm me the details of your friends’ designer? Thanks x

i saw Metro wardrobes offer free designer visit in wembley and nearby areas you can book, but this is regarding wardrobes, kitchen, office and bedrooms furniture, not general interior design. but just in case you have an idea yourself it might work, and they give you renders how it can look.

I didn't because I knew the look I was going for however the process can be quite tricky to actually get there/source stuff & manage the tradespeople. Mistakes I made were not having stuff I needed at the right time & not always juggling trades people well.

Take the levels at a time so downstairs first & start with the kitchen. Do you want floors the same for the whole of downstairs? As another poster said you want it to flow so same door knobs, light switches etc. I then made moodboards for each room so I could make room special & see if it all fit well together. It also helped focus me as as inspirational as Pinterest & insta is there is a lot of choice.

Always try & combine beauty with practically, think about storage & how you want your home to work for you & how you live. Get more plug sockets than you think you will need.

Some things i learnt doing ours are.

be sure of the structural elements first, changes half way through the build add cost.
Keep things simple, build in as much clever storage as you can.
Think about light, electric and natural, make the most of it.
Floor tiles can also go on walls not the but not the other way round.
Save floor space by going as vertical with large cupboards as possible.
Allow enough space between walls, to backs of chairs tables etc cramped dining will drive you mad
I could go on, would love to set myself up as a designer...

I also think it's impossible to not regret something. My regrets are small though so I could fix them if I was really bothered.

Agree about tall storage, all my built ins go to the ceiling except my alcoves.

How much of the budget is for building work? I had a rough idea of what my ceiling was for each room so I could work out my must haves vs my compromises & I shopped around & saved where I could. My children's tall boys were £80 each from Ebay & they are beautiful, I just repainted them (not shabby chic) in a custom paint colour & changed the handles. Not worth paying hundreds for new ones. 1 sofa I bought on Ebay & has it reupholstered.

Re paint colours get some testers & paint some lining paper & hang them in the room so you can be sure you like the colour as the direction & light throughout the day can make colours very different. I think Farrow & Ball might offer a paint interior design service.

Pay attention to actual light fixtures in each room as it helps to create a nice atmosphere. All my ceiling lights are on dimmers & I have table lights, spotlights, sconces & floor lamps depending upon the room.

If you are doing kitchen, loft AND bathroom you won't have change from £100k to spend on a designer. You can do this yourself; have faith in yourself

Agree you’ll struggle to have much/any change from 100k for all of that, particularly if you’re not managing the project yourself... Here speaks the voice of bitter experience, from a fairly cheap part of the country...

Thanks everyone for your help! We want to use a lot of whites and natural woods. We've thought about making sure the theme ties through the whole house but it's just the little decisions like the precise shade of white that is throwing me. It's a really good suggestion to get lots of samples and try them out but I don't have too much time (or patience!) From the sounds of things an interior designer would likely be big bucks so we'll probably have to suck it up and put in the effort ourselves. Thanks all again.

Honestly there is no guarantee a designer would get it right or pick the same shade you would have. You know best what you like. I would use a designer if I was living abroad or had literally no time but otherwise I know I’d end up second guessing the designer’s choices so no point having one!

PS Shirting by Little Greene is a very nice white, or F&B Pointing if you want something a bit warmer

I don’t think you need a designer for achieving the look you want, but I would really recommend mapping out the space in something even as simple as ikea kitchen planner to get a good feel for how the space will feel so that you can know if your design will function for your everyday life. Play around with dining table placement and sofa placement and bookshelves and stuff. Map out where you will want your furniture and design things like plug sockets and light around that. Triple check your door swing relative to light switch placement so that you don’t end up with a switch on the wrong side of a door (speaks from bitter experience).

If you think things socket/light/window placement and hard finishes like flooring through carefully, it’s not such a big deal if you get some of the changeable bits like shade of paint wrong on the first go. If you have a piece of furniture that absolutely must stay, plan your room with that in mind. If you want a change or have your eye on a specific new piece for the space (like a new sofa), plan your room around the piece you want so that when you buy it, it’ll fit. It’s okay to leave a bare bulb or two until you get just the right light fixture.

One thing I think it might be worth paying for is a lighting designer, maybe even just on an hourly rate to go over your plans and give input or guidance. I found that the trickiest part of our build and would have appreciated a designer going through things to make sure there were no big errors in our design. As it was we just didn’t have the wiggle room in our budget, so I read up on lighting design over several weeks so that we would have the effect I wanted. It worked well but was a lot of work. So glad I did, though, as the work paid off (especially for the bathrooms and kitchen where good light is important).

but it's just the little decisions like the precise shade of white that is throwing me.

I think even with a designer you'd still need to try them on the walls, move them around, see what they look like in different lighting conditions etc. I had 15 shades of white painted on boards, moving around the room for about two weeks when I did mine and someone else may have chosen differently to me.

I’m a interior designer and Starting my MA this Oct in interior Architecture. I can answer question and advice if you want. You can PM me.
I’m based in Surrey if that’s helpful.

I think it's important that the colours in different rooms relate to each other in some way. So, same skirting colours or using one colour or tone in some way throughout the space. Though not necessarily for all the walls.

If you plan to use a white, make sure to find one which is sympathetic to the light and aspect on your home. Some whites are softer than others, even so called true whites. Personally I don't like whites with a blue undertone, such as pure brilliant white, even if it is cheap! It can make rooms seem cold.

EBay can be great for all sorts of things, as others have said. In my first home I had an "as new' solid wood kitchen, which some new home owners were ditching, because they didn't like the type of wood. I did, and anyway some years later I painted it.