I have made the decision to use the expertise of an interior designer on my project. I haven’t worked with one before.

What sort of questions should I ask that would benefit me and my project?

One of the first questions you may ask is, how do you charge for your work on a project? Each project is different and there are a few ways designers charge for their time involved. They may charge by the hour and their rate may differ depending on their scope of work. Example, if they are pricing and sourcing online, their rate may be different than what they charge for shopping for furniture or accessories, tile or carpet. Some may have a flat rate, not dependent on administration, sourcing or shopping. You may find that your project is such that it is more favourable to be quoted an agreed contact price for the project. There is usually an initial consultation fee, as in that first meeting a lot of material and suggestions are covered that will benefit the project whether or not the interior designer is hired.

Be sure you are comfortable with being able to communicate your ideas and dreams and that you feel understood. That will a good indicator that you have found a good fit for the project.

Once I hire an interior designer, how much input will I have?

When you hire an interior designer, most will be happy to include you as much as you want. If you have a level of confidence that enables you to leave it in their hands, thats great, they will only contact you when selections or final decisions need to be made. You may feel you need to have more input and will want to meet with you interior designer at the various suppliers and have them make recommendations and you make the decision based on the knowledge they have shared. Either works well, its mostly dependent on how much time you have or want to be involved in the project or if you’d rather just hand it over to a professional.

In most instances the choice will be left up to you and your personal need for involvement.

Don’t be mislead that once you hire an interior designer the choices are taken out of your hands… the final decisions will be up to you. This is your dream, enjoy working with someone that can take the stress out of important decisions right from the start.