When you’re edging up to a major remodel or new construction project, so many questions emerge, from picking paint to pure practicalities. Unless money is no object, you’re probably interested in spending yours in the most efficient and effective way possible, and it can be hard to know which big-ticket items or services are worthwhile expenditures.
While you’re adding everything up, it can be tempting to skimp by forging ahead alone, trusting your taste and trying your best to communicate your vision to a rotating cast of contractors and installers. After all, every little bit counts, right?
Imagine walking into your new kitchen and feeling that it was truly built for how you cook, or seeing your new bathroom and marveling at thoughtful details that make the space both functional and luxurious. Hiring a designer to understand your intentions and translate them into beautiful spaces can get you to an excellent result with less friction—and it can be a great value, too!
An interior designer doesn’t simply set the scene for your finished project. Savvy designers are industry professionals with a wealth of connections and knowledge that can save you both time and money while delivering a better final result, tailored specifically to your needs and wants as a client.
Below are five major advantages you’ll experience when you hire an interior designer—some of them may surprise you!
1. You’ll Save Money
While it may seem counter intuitive to spend money to save money, when it comes to construction projects, your designer’s services could easily pay for themselves before the build is complete. Experienced interior designers know industry trends, and how to add value to your home, so they can help you understand where to spend your money to maximize impact while minimizing the bottom line. Your designer can help you make informed decisions about quality materials that offer both durability and “wow” factor, ensuring that your investment dazzles both you and potential buyers along the way.
Your interior designer’s job is to assimilate your tastes and priorities into a vision that respects your budget, though that’s far from all they do! You can draw on their expertise to avoid expensive mistakes like poor installations or project slowdowns. Every build is its own special case, but interior design professionals get to know the quirks and complexities of everything from stately old homes to shiny new condos, so they can anticipate (and avoid) some of the most common errors that add up to more expense.
2. You’ll Save Time
Time is money, right? Part of how your designer saves you money is by creating schedules and timelines to keep workflow moving. This is especially important for complex rooms like kitchens and bathrooms, where coordination between carpenters, electricians, plumbers, tilers, and painters all come into play. Each builder or installer has their area of focus, and depends on the others to complete work in a precise and punctual way. An interior designer knows when things need to be done, and how to sequence them to ensure that your cabinet deliveries and appliance installations aren’t stalled by foreseeable flaws in timing.
Your time as a client is especially valuable, too. While it can be fun to get lost in books of fabric samples or shopping around for finishes, your designer can make sure you focus on selections that are true to your desires and your home’s demands, avoiding frustration and overwhelm in the search for the best options.
3. Project Management
From start to finish, an experienced interior designer can provide a roadmap for your build, helping to avoid bottlenecks and keep things moving. Contractors, architects and builders are all juggling their own scheduling concerns, and having a liaison to help coordinate can reduce the headache of managing workflow. And, if problems present themselves, it’s incredibly valuable to have someone to troubleshoot issues as they arise to resolve them quickly. Inevitably, there will be some surprises, as buildings differ from drawings and shipments get waylaid; getting to the best answers without wasting time is a great way to reduce stress—and cost!
4. Connections & Sourcing
Have you ever found yourself trawling through Yelp, trying to figure out who can come repair this, or to get a quote on that? Your designer already knows contractors and installers that can be trusted to see projects through, and will give you a sense of their professionalism—while helping you understand as a client what they need, too.
Furthermore, where you find materials matters; even if two shops carry the same item, there may be a big difference in their reliability when it comes time to deliver. Interior designers have existing relationships with showrooms and wholesalers, and know their offerings well. That means that they can not only source everything you need to complete your project, they can often give you options you didn’t know existed, or that aren’t available to the public. Your designer’s eye for quality, and along with a network of trusted sources, ensures that your finishing touches will be expressive and exceptional.
5. It’s Going to Get Done Correctly
If you’ve never done a kitchen remodel before, it’s hard to know where to begin. Do you need to choose your cabinets first, or your appliances? How much storage do you need? Are there codes and building inspections to consider? And what about bathrooms?
Especially if you’ve had difficult construction experiences in the past, feeling that you can remove guesswork is very real advantage your designer can offer you. Knowing when you need permits, and how to prevent shoddy work from ever happening, ensures that your end result will be solid—both literally and legally.
And, don’t forget that “wow” factor! The same attention to detail percolates through from boring and bureaucratic through to balanced and beautiful. Your designer’s creativity can merge your ideas and daydreams into real rooms that feel finished and fabulous, letting your personality shine while delivering impressive polish to the end result. By understanding your preferences, an interior designer can link their knowledge of hidden gems and skilled professionals to the demands of your space and budget so that function and aesthetic are a given.
In the end, having a set of trained eyes on your design intentions can reduce costs, save time, eliminate stress, and connect you to a rich network of resources to make sure your project is done well, and beautifully! Having a liaison with an artistic sense of architecture’s fine points will level-up your renovation and create lasting value. Don’t hesitate to get in contact to find out how to get started on a new design, or to ask about aligning your ideas with a vision that meets your personal and practical needs.
Still wondering about how a design professional can make your project successful? Feel free to ask us!