choosing a designer/decorator


  #1  
Old 06-20-05, 03:43 PM
D
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: usa
Posts: 107
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
choosing a designer/decorator

I know this is a DIY forum, but if I wanted to hire a designer/decorator, any tips on selecting one? We'd like to get some ideas, but don't necessarily want to pay somebody to do all of the work, spend $$$$ on custom furniture, etc. There are so many to pick from in the phone book, how do you select one? What questions should we ask? Should we choose a designer or decorator? How much should we expect to pay per hour for consultation, sketches, etc?

thx, Don
 
  #2  
Old 06-21-05, 01:37 PM
K
Member
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 1,126
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
******this post has been edited. replies should be helpful. sarcasm is not allowed. please read the Forum Policies.
 

Last edited by Annette; 06-22-05 at 08:17 AM. Reason: non-helpful post
  #3  
Old 06-22-05, 06:35 AM
C
Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Northeast, US
Posts: 129
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
You could also consider, for far less $ perhaps, working with a local store who had designers/decorators on staff. They'll come to your house, and give you ideas for furniture styles & arrangements. Naturally, they're hoping that you will end up purchasing items from their store! But, you can always use the ideas any way you want to.

My other suggestion is to find a friend or family member whose home you admire, and ask them to offer you advice! Oftentimes, when someone loves design/decorating, they're happy to be asked and to give you their ideas!

I've done this for lots of friends & family members, and am always flattered to be asked and glad to help! I'm not offended if they don't like my suggestions, but I also try to think of THEM when I offer suggestions (not just imposing my own style onto their home). In another life, I'd have loved to go into decorating/design...but it just didn't work out that way & I'm well ensconced now in another profession. But decorating is still my love & my hobby! Any time I can share that, I embrace it!

In terms of hiring a professional, I'm sure that there are "Association of Home Decorators" type organizations, I just don't know how to get ahold of them! I'm sure when Annette chimes in, she'll be able to direct you.

Also? Try contacting a local college or university that offers design/decorating degrees, and see if they've got a program for students to go out into the community & try out their skills. This might cost you nothing! And you might get some very creative & fresh perspectives.
 
  #4  
Old 06-22-05, 07:47 AM
Annette's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Midwest
Posts: 4,017
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
someone who has received a college degree in interior design is an "interior designer". they may or may not have gone on to take an intense 2-day (very expensive) test to become ASID certified. go to www.asid.org to find out what that means.

a "decorator" is usually someone who is naturally gifted with a great decorating flair. they may have tons of experience and be wonderful at what they do. they could be working in a furniture, flooring, or decorating store as a decorator.

either an interior designer or a decorator can help you. i wouldn't worry as much about their training as i would their ability & experience. as with most college degrees, you learn more out in the real world than you ever learned in the classroom.

the 2 most important things would be:

(1) to see their work. if they're known for their over-the-top super abstract/contemporary/unique designs, they probably won't do a good job creating your warm & cozy French Country dream home. designers are people too, and, although they're supposed to be able to remove themselves & create whatever look you want, they each have their favorite styles and those will be what they do best. and

(2) to get along with their personality and be able to work with them. if they have a too-strong, overbearing personality, you may feel pressured to go along with whatever they suggest, which in the end, won't make you very happy. you need to be able to communicate well and feel comfortable telling them exactly what you want and don't want. their job is to get a feel for what YOUR decorating style is and make your home reflect that. they should not use your home as their personal showcase.

another idea would be to go to your local (probably annual) Parade of Homes tour or on a Christmas open house tour, or even to furnished model homes, etc. all those houses were decorated by local people from furniture stores, florists, & designers. if you see one that really speaks to you & comes close to what you like, ask who put it together.

definitely ask around. word of mouth is the best reference. or go to www.interiors.org. when you find one, ask for an interview. ask to just sit down with them or have them come to your home for a brief visit. it shouldn't take more than an hour to be able to tell if you'll be compatible or not. and just ask them what their various fees are. they all charge differently. some by the project, some by the hour, some by a percentage of anything you purchase. all of which depends on the size of your job.

and one last thing, "just getting ideas" from a decorator IS what you get from a decorator. that's like saying to a dentist, i don't want to pay for a real visit, i just want you to look at all my teeth & tell me if i have any cavities and if so, what exactly i need to do about them. you're paying for their knowledge and ideas, whether they formally design your house or "just give you ideas". in order for the decorator to give you ideas, they'll have to basically decorate your whole house. everything has to go together, and what you do in one room has to flow into and effects the other rooms. even to just get ideas for one isolated room would require them to come up with a handful of various schemes for you. all of which requires a lot of time. so don't be under the assumption that you can spend less by "just getting ideas" versus "hiring a designer." there probably won't be much difference.

as for this idea:
You could also consider, for far less $ perhaps, working with a local store who had designers/decorators on staff. They'll come to your house, and give you ideas for furniture styles & arrangements. Naturally, they're hoping that you will end up purchasing items from their store! But, you can always use the ideas any way you want to.
that's true, but please don't do that. i worked for a nice furniture store once and we were only paid on commission from our sales. on many occasions, people took horrible advantage of our "complimentary design service" and would work us to death, stringing us along for weeks, using us for all the ideas they could get, and then buy nothing. i had to quit because i couldn't afford to live on what amounted to minimum wage.
 

Last edited by Annette; 06-22-05 at 08:13 AM.
  #5  
Old 06-23-05, 11:50 AM
C
Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Northeast, US
Posts: 129
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Just to be clear, I wasn't suggesting stringing the store decorators along for weeks on end to get free ideas! If they make suggestions & you like them, then you indeed MIGHT want to purchase some furniture from the store, etc.

I don't really think it's something you should do if you have no money to spend. But I didn't get that impression from Don, since he was talking about hiring someone, etc.
 
  #6  
Old 07-16-05, 04:06 PM
brianajt
Visiting Guest
Posts: n/a
design help

Usually there is no so thing as hiring a cheap designer. a good idea is to get magazines and just imitate what you see. If you cannot do that, then you will need to hire a designer. Anette is completley right about stringing store designers along. I work for a store, and i won't even "design" rooms for people. I will tell people about colors, how to pick them how things make a room feel and so on, but my designs are my product. If you really are buying something from a store, feel free to use the service, but don't abuse it. good luck
 
  #7  
Old 07-25-05, 08:25 AM
C
Member
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Northeast, US
Posts: 129
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Brian, I already clarified that I wasn't suggesting stringing the store designers on to get free decorating advice! Don mentions having money to spend, and I got the impression he DID want to purchase items for his home. That said, if you don't LIKE the advice and suggestions given to you by store designers/decorators, you certainly shouldn't feel obligated to purchase something. It works both ways!

Anyway, I'd forgotten about this thread, since it's more than a month old! Don, are you still around? How'd you make out? What did you decide to do?
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: