Anyone used an interior designer?

[mymadworld]

We are moving into a new build and have allocated £5000 for curtains, blinds soft furnishings etc. I've got lots of ideas as a sort of look I'm after from Pinterest and the like but I know in reality I'm useless at pulling it altogether and will End up buying bits and not ending up with that polished well put-together look I'm after!

Would our budget be adequate to use an interior designer and if so how do I go about finding somebody that isn't going to expect five figure budget? My main focus will be living room, kitchen/dining room and master bedroom and whilst we don't need any major bits of furniture we will want lamps, a coffee table, pictures, cushions, rugs etc but happy to wait for some bits if we can't afford it all at once.

I don't think your budget will I'm afraid. Also think £5000 to buy all windows dressings, rugs and soft furnishings is wildly optimistic.

Oh no really . If it makes any difference curtains and blinds will be style guidance & then just fabric purchasing as my mum is a seamstress and happy to make whatever we want but that's obviously only a part of our requirements.

I guess I'm basing my pricing on places like Home Sense, antique fairs etc rather than designer (or even John Lewis types) but not sure how practical that is when working with an interior designer.
Would it make more sense to just focus on one room and get that looking great then gradually build on the rest? I can live without a completely finished master bedroom as we've got basic furniture and can get some blinds made ditto the kitchen can stay a bit sparse and undressed initially but I absolutely want a really lovely living room.

Well you will save a lot if your mum is willing to make up the curtains etc. Have you had a look on Houzz? You can get a good feel for styles you like and then you could do each room following the style as a sort of template if you're worrying about making it look 'professional'. I am sure you can do it yourself. Finding inspiration is the key.

I'd expect to do my house with that budget, but that's because I won't pay more! So you might not get top end but you can still have it looking coordinated. I've no idea what a designer charges, but there are loads of house interiors magazines out there that can provide inspiration. And no doubt plenty of mumsnetters to give their opinion!

We didn’t use an interior designer as such but did go to a local design shop where they offered advice about schemes for each room . You then bought the curtains/ wallpaper from them .
£5000 in that situation doesn’t go far.
It did give me some ideas I wouldn’t have thought of. We have paper and blinds in the hall which I absolutely love and would never have chosen on my own. But in other rooms it just didn’t work - their ideas were too “ styled” . It was easy to get carried away with their enthusiasm and choose something that seemed great at the time- only to find that it really wasn’t your taste. We are re- doing all the rooms now in a more casual relaxed style that is our own. It may look less “show home” but i am much happier with it even if there are lots of design mistakes.
Maybe if you actually pay a designer they will take more time to work out what you personally like.
We were in a new build and in a hurry to do it up at the time - in retrospect I think it is better to do 1 room and take your time for the rest of the house.
I recently did had a virtual appointment with a home designer from John Lewis. You are not under any obligation to buy anything they suggest. I didn’t use her whole scheme in the end - although did buy some of the furniture she suggested . But it really helped in terms of deciding how I wanted the room to work.

I used an e-design service a few months ago. I'd highly recommend it. She had me fill in a questionnaire, send her a floor plan and my Pinterest boards. Then we spent two hours talking through it all over Zoom and she came back a week later with a specific design and shopping list within my budget. It was incredibly helpful for focusing all the ideas I had in my head, and much less error prone than me just going out and buying 'stuff'.

It was only one room, though - sounds like you have a lot more to do. A good designer should be able to work withing your budget, especially if there are some bits you can do yourself.

We’ve used an interior designer to decorate several rooms. She started with our children’s bedrooms and our spare room. We’ve recently had an extension and she’s been involved with planning the kitchen and all the decor. She saved us money on products and was well worth what we paid her. She came recommended by a mutual friend when she was first starting up her business and we initially paid half her usual fee so she could use the photos in her portfolio. She’s done very well and has some large contracts now with housing companies but still takes on smaller projects too.
Initially we talked through what we were after, had a mutual pinterest board with ideas on, then she created a mood board with various options at differing price ranges. We bought some of the stuff ourselves but she was happy to do that too if we wanted.

I’d you can make a mood board (and you have a seamstress in the family), you can do it yourself.

Interior designers are ££££££s.

It will look much more personal if you build it up over time, anyway. Get the essentials in (curtains, blinds and lamps) and then add as you go.

I've also gone to an independent curtain places and they've been great re advising about paint colours etc.

Curtains and blinds are ££££.

I'm not sure how it would work if your mum was making them. They also sort the person to fit them which was great.

I think your budget is fine if you're prepared to spend some time and energy on it, rather than just throwing money on the problem. You don't need to buy everything new. Think about what you love and makes your heart sing to know how to decorate with pictures, etc. Make your space personal to you. And get as much second hand as possible, people need to get over just buying new everything, it's so bad for the planet.

Interior designers can be very expensive, so I think your budget might be quite stretched. John Lewis offer a free home design service which might be worth considering, I've bought curtains and blinds from them in the past (although not using the interior design service) and the quality was very good and their staff are very knowledgeable. There's no obligation to buy so you'd have nothing to lose by trying it.

I would expect to pay closer to £8k with an interior designer for what you want. I agree maybe an in-store design consultant is better but do get someone who isn't just the Saturday girl promoted otherwise it is no different to you doing it yourself!