Interior designer, worth it?

[anythinginapinch]

I have a decent budget.
I have a gorgeous 3 bed house and only me and two cats to please. It's my forever home.

Sadly, I have no real style and absolutely no design skills and tend to buy individual pieces so my rooms never looked balanced or "finished".

Rather than continuing to make changes in an ad hoc "dear Lord let this be the magic item that pulls it all together" way, I'm contemplating using a professional interior designer.

Has anyone done similar? My anxiety is I want my home to look like me - not some show home or fashion statement, and certainly not "on trend", but it's so easy to say what I don't want than what I do want.

Any advice about how to select, brief and work with an interior designer would be very gratefully received.

If you have Instagram, search in interior accounts. If you have a colour scheme and a sense of what you would like you can put it together yourself! Do you like country/modern style? Another good account is Tobyshome. I like classic country style. I've attached a photo of my taste

I had a free visit from John Lewis, don't know if they still do this.

Personally with so many interiors online to take inspiration from I don't think it's worth it nowadays.

First I would work out what kind of style you're most drawn to - look up mid century modern, minimalism, maximalism, Scandi/Japandi, industrial, farmhouse, coastal, contemporary for example

Then set up some mood boards on Pinterest, follow some Instagram accounts, search for articles and blogs on your style. You should start to get some ideas of what you can emulate in your home.

If none of that helps then at least you'd have a basis of what style interior designer you'd want.

Does your home need to pull together?
If I had a place to myself I'd surround myself with things I loved or found interesting and to hell with the design concept!

To answer your question: a decent designer will be able to pull things you love into a coherent scheme if that's what you want. If you have the budget whatever not??

There are lots of interior designers on instagram and many of them do video consultations these days which is a cheaper option that would give you an idea if using an interior designer would work for you.

I don't think it's worth it, given the amount of resources for inspiration on Instagram or Pnterest and programs like interior-design3d.com/ where you can build a 3d model and work on space planning and color scheme.

We used one and it was worth it. The rooms feel like us on a really good day, pulled together but not obviously 'styled'

In terms of how: I made some enquiries and met a few, they discussed ideas and showed sample of their work. It was obvious which was the best fit in terms of style.

Ours had a strong character and there was sometimes some clashes. She also recommended really expensive items which she would get on discount, but I was able to source them much cheaper myself. Her idea of budget, and ours, wasn't well aligned but we got there in the end

an interior designer will charge at least double the shop price. So if regular curtains are £500, the designer will install them for you for £1000. Designer should be able to coordinate all the trades - painter / handyman etc so that the jobs get done with no hassle to you.

that is great if you are cash rich and time poor, so you don't have the time/energy/style to trek around shops / look at stuff / make a choice / regret your choice / go to another shop etc. instead, you can just tell your designer to make stuff look great, and like waving a magic wand, it will happen.

but it is expensive.

I've just signed up to Sophie Robinson's interior design course. Enjoying it so far. I only have myself to please really.

I love colour but lack confidence so I'm hoping this course helps. I don't have much money so I will be doing most things myself. I'd like to have living room, entry & hall and my office done by the end of the year.

@TheClitterati do you listen to Sophie Robinson and Kate Watson Smyth's interior's podcast The Great Indoors? It's fabulous, very entertaining and informative.

Around where we live the bigger houses can go for up to £5million, looking at them on Rightmove the poor quality interiors can be quite shockingly awful, not just a style I don't like but awful, cold heartless decor - I always think if I had that money and no taste I'd get an interior designer. Often the bigger the room the harder it is to dress.

This is all v interesting thank you.

I have money but am also rather squeaky with "unnecessarily expensive" things - so for eg I'm happy to buy say a pair of curtains from Lewis for say £250 but would weep at paying £1000 for a pair! Dining table £1000 - well no, i couldn't, but b expensive wallpaper yes I could. I'm a muddle about money and tend to spend then regret the purchase, so I'm viewing this as a "front load all the next five years of shit purchasing, into one go that works". I don't mind at all paying for people's expertise so paying a designer feels ok.

I think im shabby chic via country classic - but the shabby takes over very quickly and I sit and look and long for more of the chic.

I'm hoping I may have found someone .... will update this thread!

I hired a paint consultant and it was brilliant. She was able to give me that "finished" look that I've never achieved on my own, e.g. knowing when to paint the woodwork the colour of the wals and when to paint them a different colour.

I would recommend an interiors person based on this experience.

My only caveat to the above is to pick someone who has worked with a friend of yours whose house you like.

With the whole Insta/Pinterest phase, I've seen many people try to get into the field who are decent home decorators but not at the same level of my paint consultant.

There is a big difference between copying an image and working with the house in front of you.

So she came, had some good ideas, and is going to do one room for a start - a particularly challenging room. It's costing quite a lot and I'm bricking it - what if it's a waste of money - but on the other hand it might be fab :)

Sounds exciting, OP.

Good luck and keep us updated how you are finding the process and the end result.

Ooh can't wait to see it!!

As well as Instagram etc maybe find a home magazine which appeals to you? I love classic country house / country style /period style as I have an old cottage. I really enjoy The English Home magazine and took inspiration from that as it’s a classic look even though the houses are far grander than mine. I also like Period Living but some of the homes featured are a little too eclectic for me but many were lovely. I used to enjoy Country Homes and Interiors too but a few months ago it bizarrely suddenly switched to the bland, generic, modern look that has no character and has lost all appeal to me. Once you’ve found one you like get a subscription as print magazines have gone stupidly expensive. I also made an old fashioned scrapbook of cut out ideas which helped.

my other tip would be to find a local fabrics/ interiors shop that you like - having just extended, renovated and decorated finding a good one has been invaluable. As well as beautifully made curtains and blinds I’ve had a wealth of free advice which has been brilliant.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy embarking on making your home perfect for you and your cats 😊.

It was worth it for us. Our designer charged a fixed amount (+ VAT) for each room to cover her design fee, and a 10% uplift on any items she sourced & purchased for us but passing on any trade discounts she received. She also sorted all the ordering, unpacking/checking, issues/returns, installation etc. and coordinated with the builders and trades. She also gave us a pack containing large format print-outs of the mood boards, layouts, lighting plans, colour/fabric/furniture lists and a breakdown of all pricing.

Without her we would have never found the time or inspiration to get everything done and would have ended up with a bunch of beige rooms. Couldn't be happier

I feel simultaneously overwhelmed and underwhelmed! I have to trust that her time spent measuring, good by thro Pinterest etc will be worth it. So I'm chucking a bunch of money (I'm lucky) in the hope that she'll turn a "dead space" into an integrated "room".

Bricking it

@TheClitterati can I ask how you are finding the course. We are about to embark on a massive refurbishment of our home we have an incredible architect and I want to decorate it in a way that compliments the architecture, but I want the home to reflect us.
A bit passionate about local and British I have found a couple of jumping of points, but coming from a science background need some help as to how to bring it all together.
I think I err to colour and Sophie seems a good start.

Any update @anythinginapinch ?

I’m exactly the same about money - have a super expensive kitchen but struggle to spend the appropriate money for a nice sofa or expensive curtains. Im also hiring an interior designer for the two most public rooms.

I agree entirely with @Fingerlessmitts about great houses where no attention has been paid to pulling it together. It is a waste!

I’m also curious to hear whether the investment pays off @anythinginapinch - I’m wondering whether to get help with our imminent (massive) project which will involve refurbishing and redecorating an entire house - while I want it to feel like ‘us’ and I really enjoy choosing colours, furniture etc, the whole process takes absolutely ages and the prospect of making decisions all at the same time for not one room but a whole house, is overwhelming! Love the sound of what you’re describing @CharlotteDoyle

Update for those who asked

She understands what I need/like and pushes me a bit bit within comfort zone. Probably going to end up with a room slightly toned down from if I'd done it myself. Slightly "trendier" than me eg get rid of the carpet

Thinks big - turn the entry door around to open the other way. It will make a massive difference and I'd never have thought of it. Move ceiling lights to wall lights ...gulp

Colours are still changing- so she's now suggesting something is x colour when x colour was never mentioned (it'll be better imo). Fabric we'd agreed on turned out not right for its proposed use, so back to drawing board. That seemed a silly error imo she should have checked earlier.

She's likeable and enthusiastic but slow. Absolutely nothing has actually be done yet. Keeps remessuring which is a worry. Workers lined up for sept oct.

I'm aghast at the prices for the work and materials etc and worried that I won't like the end result. But that's because I vaccinate anyway about everything so I'm just living with that and trusting her. Gulp.

Have now decided I want an extension so why I'm panicking about £x for curtain fabric when contemplating £y for bifold doors on a kitchen extension is just silly.

It all feels abit silly now .... but that's cos nothing is yet changed.

Any update? Is your house looking better now? I’m so sorry that it is a slow process. However I would love to hire a designer too as neither of me nor my husband have a good taste plus looking stuff in the shops…too much hustle.