Danielle you have raised some familiar concerns regarding understanding the costs; we often suggest to our clients who don't have an interior designer that the benefits are measurable and worthy of the investment. We work closely with interior designers and understand their respective offerings - and associated costs, which means we can refer our customers to the right affordable company/individual. In most scenarios they do end up purchasing some level of service. This is ironic for us as some clients also believe that having any form of lifestyle technology is expensive; and it is their interior designer who then refers us to help explain how our services will benefit a given project. ...and yes, the majority go on to secure services from us. For us, and many interior designers, i think the best approach is to declare that the initial meeting is free and you stand to scope the customer's requirements, suggest options and align costs. It's chargeable time we have to invest and we can always chat on the phone prior to agreeing a meeting.

Architects aren’t only useful in terms of drawings. You may know what layout you want but what does this mean in terms of planning? Could you get it within your permitted development rights? Will you need planning permission? Hiring an architect gives you a professional able to answer all these questions. Not only that, any potential planning will be covered by the architect. Saving you time and money (planning permission appeals can get costly, very quickly). They'll also be able to assess your space and recommend how to get the most out of it - meaning you get the most for your money. They’ll also be able to advise on what other professionals / next steps you might need to look into, and put you in touch with the best ones, such as structural engineers and party wall surveyors. Without these, you may be looking at huge expenses in the future, if you’re project isn’t managed correctly. If you’re worried about unreasonable architecture fees, you might consider our services. We offer one transparent fee after giving you a free consultation. You can also get an idea of what the industry in general charges with this blog: https://resi.co.uk/advice/cost-and-planning/how-much-do-architects-charge

I would leave it and do it properly. If you do it now, you will have mismatched floors with a huge gap between them with no floor and provably a hole all along where that wall is, then you have mismatched wall colours, then you'll try to tie it all together by spending money on paint, rugs, cheap make-do floor, curtains etc to tie it together.... then eventually all that will go to waste when you go your extension. All your make-do things will still never look right to you as what you actually want to do is the real thing and you will only be happy when that's done. 2 years is nothing to wait! We waited 4 years, lived with red striped wall paper, green carpet etc and done it right.

Hi, please don’t take this the wrong way but from your questions, I presume you’ve not diy-ed a patio before? 10 x 3 metres is a large patio, particularly for diy-ing. I imagine a patio that size is costly to have laid professionally, so I wouldn’t say don’t do it yourself, but do think very carefully about whether it’s worth waiting to get it done professionally, or whether there are other options. There seems to be conflicting advice out there regarding whether you can have a patio level with your indoor floor. Lots of people do, although you may well need to install a drain across the doorway so think about where that will drain away to, eg whether you’d need to create a soak away in the garden. Also, if you do go ahead, do lots & lots of research - there is loads of advice out there, eg on YouTube, ‘how to’ info sheets from the likes of Wickes, etc & make sure you calculate the quantities of materials you’ll need properly, eg hardcore for your foundations, even if it seems excessive. We block-paved our drive and calculated that we’d need 8 dumpy bags of hardcore for a space around half the size of your patio. I thought it was far too much but it was all needed once compressed. Lots of planning, checking & prepping should help it to be a successful project if you do choose to go ahead. Good luck!