Hiring an interior designer

7 years ago

Hi. I am looking for an interior designer to help dress a new build house. I had a consultation and have been quoted their costs without any drawings, or designs been shown. I have to commit to the cost before getting drawings and agreeing on final design. Is this normal? To complicate things, I am out of the country so have to organise everything by email

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PRO

User

7 years ago

I think i'd approach this in exactly the same manner as choosing any trade person, builder etc. Get a few quotations and ask them what the fee structure is. I can speak for the lovely Amber at AJ Interior Styling Ltd, who helps an awful lot of people on here.

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Comments (7)

PRO
Dulux Amazing Space
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Hi @Marie,

Choosing an Interior Designer can be a daunting, and at times
costly experience. It is a standard practice for Interior Designers to offer a free initial consultation to learn about the project you have in mind. Often they won't start any work on designs or drawings without agreeing a charge for the service.

I wonder whether you may be interested in our new online
interior design service? We created
Amazing Space to make home styling more personal, accessible and affordable to
everyone without the more expensive price tag of a traditional interior design
service where a designer would come to your home. Dulux Amazing Space allows
customers to have a 30 minute online video consultation with a Dulux Design
Expert who will discuss their ideas and suggestions for your new room design. Which
means it won’t matter if you are currently out of the country. After the
consultation the designer will continue to work on your scheme and ideas, making
any changes or amendments discussed in the consultation.

Within 48
hours after the consultation you will receive the following within your Amazing
Space account:

·
Personalised
Style Guide, which
is a working mood board, complete with inspirational images and a collection
product suggestions on to create the look you wanted.

·
Floor
plan of your room,
giving you ideas on how to get the best of your space with special planning and
advice.

·
Annotations
and notes from
your Dulux Design Expert, giving you guidance and expert tips on how to
really bring the scheme together.

·
Interactive
shopping list which
will take you through to the retailer’s website where you can purchase the
suggested product from, all designed to make it easier for you to source the
perfect items for your room.

·
3D
visualisation, a 3D
representation of what your room will look like once the changes have been
made.

All of this
is available for £75 per room, regardless of the size or if this is an open
plan living space (such as a kitchen / dining room). We currently have a summer
offer on where you can get all of this for £65 per room – Simply use our
promotional code SUMMER16.

We'd be
happy to discuss anything with you over the phone to see if we can help on 0115 784 2642 or on
Live chat on our website https://www.designer.duluxamazingspace.co.uk/
?

Good look
with your project - if we could be of any other help, please get in touch!
ianthy
7 years ago
I have never paid for interior design services but would be nervous of paying all of the fees without seeing at least outline ideas/mood board etc., I would have thought the payment schedule would be similar to architects, in that they are staged payments. We fitted out a new build apt some years ago in another country and could not face arriving to blank empty rooms and running around trying to shop, so we used the in-house design services of 2 local stores that we liked to complete the fit out. They both worked really well together, the fees were zero because we purchased furniture items too. Most if not all of the main stores do complimentary interior design services - my favourites are John Lewis, Habitat, Heals and West Elm.
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Definitely hire an architect or architectural technologist. You will save you money and time if you employ a good one plus they will think of things you won't have done. Ask to see their portfolio and speak to past clients. A structural engineer may be required but let the architect / technologist coordinate as they should understand what works best and will also help you appoint an engineer who they've worked with who they know is good. The architect / technologist should be able to do the interior design aspect also but if the interior design is exceptionally important yes hire an interior designer. If you hire both it'll obviously cost more money. Ideally use a qualified professional, ARB, MCIAT, BIID, IStructE, etc. Not just planning and building regulations but other legislation to consider such as party wall act and shared drains. Whoever you hire should know what to do here and advise you accordingly.. Most of all hire someone who listens to you and delivers what you want. Hope it goes well.
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Hi - thanks for taking the time out and providing an interesting response. I think its great that you are confident in your own style enough to implement them in your interiors. A lot of the clients I come across don't necessarily know what their style is and tend to stick to safe items and colours. Basically whites and IKEA! I totally agree with you on having items which appeal to you and I proactively practice this in my designs, that they need to be about you. Collecting items, art, memorabilia are all things I take into consideration and give ideas to my clients as how and where to buy them if they don't have them already. For example, a recent client of mine was French however his home had no French art work whatsoever, in my designs I suggested a few French prints and where to get them from. I too wouldn't like it if someone were to tell me what to buy especially if it was not to my taste. I always provide my client with at least 2-3 floor layout options, so the choice is always theres - my job is to use my design skills to create the best design that suits them and their lifestyle. Not to mention the 3D renderings which I love to create and are loved by my clients. They give ideas how a room can look and never forced upon. I always provide several furniture options sometimes 4 if I get carried away and again the point of it is to give the client the ideas to help achieve their goal, not to dictate to them. Plus I get up to 20% off trade stores like John Lewis, West Elm, Habitat even on paint! So clients see the huge savings they are making just by hiring a designer who provides them with not only designs but trade discounts too! Thank you so much for your question, it's so interesting to see how other people view Interior Designers.
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PRO
Create Perfect
7 years ago
Hello Marie,

I would be happy to give you a free consultation and a few sketches/ideas before you agree a price if that is what you need.

We are a fairly new interior design company so are looking to increase our portfolio at this time and your project sounds perfect. As well as recently being a Room Set finalist at Grand Designs Live, we have a wealth or experience and contacts I would love to share with you.

I would be happy to give you more information and answer any questions if you wanted to drop me a PM or email to enquires@createperfect.co.uk.

Look forward to hearing from you and hopefully working with you on your project.

Regards,

Gina Everett

Create Perfect
PRO
Amber Jeavons Ltd
7 years ago
Thank you Man about the House.. That's lovely of you! : ) )
PRO
Amber Jeavons Ltd
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Hello Marie,

Do get in touch if you would like to discuss. You should never be paying more than a deposit initially prior to contract commencement but the timescale, involvement and fee's will be discussed prior to your agreeing a contract. I offer a range of services from consulting, procurement as well as design and styling.. They cater to everyone from the home owner to the developer.. You can contact me here, through my website and I'm also on "The List" with House & Garden.

: ))
PRO
Nicola Scannell Design and Property
7 years ago
The way I would work is that I would charge a small fee for drawings but if you proceeded with the project I would set that fee off against any future charges.

Hiring an interior designer

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