Interior designer or someone else to make sense of tricky flat?

[ScribblingPixie]

Our one-bed garden flat in London started life as storage rooms & garage so has oddly shaped rooms, cupboards and spaces with supporting bits of wall sticking out. It just doesn't work like other people's flats do and whatever we do (after years of trying!) it still looks like we're squatting in makeshift spaces. We just don't have the 'vision'. Who would sort this out for us? No walls would be coming down so I'm assuming not an architect? I'm thinking that if I combine the kitchen/living room to make it a two-bed it would increase the value by about £30,000 or maybe £40,000 so that's the max I want to spend. No idea what this sort of thing costs mind you! Can anyone advise on what profession to approach & what the cost might be? Any input welcome as feeling clueless & a bit down about it.

Move the kitchen.

Do you mean like an eating nook & then the first part of the bedroom could be walk-through wardrobe, Luckydog7? That could work

I would suggest an interior architect. Not an interior designer who is basically a glorified decorator.

Yes Marelle, having looked that up that's exactly what I need. I need every inch of space to count. That's great, now I know who to look for.

I used an interior designer who was also an interior architect. She was amazing.

In London, Stokey?

Yes northeast, can DM you details

Yes please, Stokey - I'm guessing from your name that I'm just a couple of miles west

Just to correct something up thread!

Architects are architects. They take 6 plus years to train. There is no such qualification as Interior architect. You are either a qualified architect or you are not.

Interior designers might have a degree or diploma. These days they are more than capable of redesigning space where an architect is not really needed and the client wants a one stop shop. All can use CAD and the best interior designers are capable of designing interiors. They are not glorified decorators.

There is no such qualification as Interior architect
Is there not? Oh well I suppose I must have imagined this course and all the other interior architecture degrees at different universities.

courses.uwe.ac.uk/K120/interior-architecture

Interesting to see these comment about interior architects. It's a name/ term/description I've come across too. Sounds like a more technical interior designer type of professional ?!? So I did some googling (bored right now)

www.nda.ac.uk/blog/interior-designer-or-architect/

This explains things well.

For those who aren't bored and want to get to the good bit

In his blog post, Tom McCallum provides a sound explanation of what an Interior Architect actually is. He states that “Strictly speaking, interior architecture is a subject and not a profession”. As discussed above, the term ‘Architect’ is a protected job role and title, and therefore can only be designated if having studied the correct qualifications.

So unless you are qualified as an Architect you aren't able to use that word to describe yourself or your work, I think is the way I understood it.