Interior Designer - would you?

[HyacinthB]

Dh has booked one to come over on Friday. Am not hugely keen or open to it. His rationale is that left to our own devices and with precious little time, we still have the magnolia (unadorned) walls that were there when we moved in 4 years ago...

I don't know. Will I find myself steered in a direction I don't like... Isn't it also rather profligate (I am sure she will take quite a high percentage for her 'artistic input')

Do you think Interior designers are worth it?

I wouldn't want an interior designer to tell me exactly how to decorate my house, but it would be great to tell somebody the kind of thing I wanted and then they could go off and source all the fabric/paint, hire a carpenter. Also, I am sure a good interior designer would be able to give good advice on how to improve lighting. We have just been trying to find a small sofa. Although we found one eventually, everything we saw initially was either the wrong style, or the wrong fabric or the wrong price. A good interior designer would have a much better knowledge of how to find specific items than we would, and traipsing around shops with kids just isn't that much fun. Also, they can suggest finishes/materials that may not be available in your ordinary high street/Ikea.

Hyacinth - We were in exactly the same place as you - magnolia walls and cheapo beige carpets from when the flat was sold to us 3 years ago.

So I contacted one (admittedly not by word of mouth but from the internet but her website said that she specialised in "daunted by the blank canvas" which is exactly where we were)

I was also thinking that a designer would sort out the hassle of finding trustworthy tradesmen. We had an initial "consultation" which we paid 75 quid for and DH and I put together a mood board (don't you HATE that expression) for our meeting beforehand.

To be honest, she was very nice but didn't really have that many ideas that I hadn't already had, Plus when she sent the proposal letter through after it turned out that anything that she was sourcing for us (e.g. new taps for our bathroom) would be at her hourly rate of 75 quid. We figured that any saving she made on the items she got at trade discount would be eaten up by paying her. Plus they weren't prepared to take any responsibility for the tradesmen that they recommended (which I can kind of understand but still...) It just seemed like quite a lot of hassle and money for what's essentially a 2 bedroom flat.

So I still have magnolia walls and cheapo beige carpet. (sigh)

Please let us know how you get on- I'd love to have my mind changed on this one.

No, I take great pride in that when we do actually get around to finishing this house, it will be all our taste and choice...

Although, the last house was literally finished 2 days before we sold it....

We are planning on selling this one as soon as it is finished also, would be really nice to actually live in a house we have finished....

AnelaS,

We don't have to pay our designer for our consultation - only if we use her; which I think is a good thing (since she will have to 'deliver' in order to get our business). Tbh I would be suspiscious of anyone who wanted an upfront fee...

I'll let you know how we get on...

Can't believe she is asking for a hourly fee for sourcing, part of being a designer is to be fully familiar with products in the market, so you know what is available before suggesting it. Now if you asked for something very special... that's another thing.

The fabulous people at John Lewis offer a similar service for £200 and you can offset this cost against anything you buy from the their suggestions. Here is a link to the service.

Hyacinth.....just resurrecting this - what happened with this? How did you get on?

I WISH I had - would have saved a lot of umming and ahing!

I can understand any designer asking for a fee - certainly following an initial meeting. I get sick and fed up of meeting with prospective clients, and discussing various ideas and thoughts with them - resultant of my years of experience. They will then take our drawings and get some cheap odd job man to roughly interpret them - forget quality, or the detail which makes a project successful.

Having said this, I think design in your own home needs to be for you - although maybe if someone is really good at interpreting your taste, they could save you some time and mistakes.