When you hire an interior designer for your home improvement, you’re not only hiring someone who will provide great designs; you’re also hiring someone who can save you money and guide you through the design process every step of the way.
From initial design ideas to recommendations for trades and suppliers, your designer has a wealth of experience you can tap into.
Here are 6 interior design mistakes to avoid so that you get the best possible outcome for your home improvement.
Interior Design Mistakes to Avoid
1. Make Sure You Share The Same Style Preferences
Before you hire an interior designer, you need to make sure you’re choosing the right one for your interior preferences. Interior designers have different styles, from traditional to contemporary and everything in between.
It’s essential that whoever you choose shares your style preference, or you may have an uphill battle trying to reconcile your differing points of view.
Spend time researching different interior design companies and looking at their portfolio on their websites.
Social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Renotalk are also fantastic resources for familiarizing yourself with the work of different firms.
2. Be Frank About Your Budget
Be honest with your interior designer about what you want and, more importantly, what your budget is. You might think keeping your budget secret will keep costs down, but to best advise you, your interior designer will need to know exactly how much you have to spend.
This will guide you on the best way to invest your finances so that you get optimum value for money. Designers will be able to advise on what will add value and what won’t.
They will also be able to tell you where it’s worth spending on structural elements and where you can scale back (for example, on certain finishes) to ensure you stay on budget. You might find your funds don’t stretch as far as your expectations.
3. Trust Your Designer To Make Decisions
When you hire a designer, you need to trust them to make good decisions. A good architect who is experienced in home design will help you to tease out ideas and will constructively challenge your thinking.
Resist the temptation to go looking for too many opinions. Not only will having too many viewpoints leave you feeling completely confused, but you may also be undermining your architects’ position and risk damaging the working relationship.
4. Be Clear About What You Want
You know your home and will have ideas about how you want to change it. It’s essential you communicate those ideas to your designer so that they understand what your vision for your home is and can offer a solution that best suits you.
Don’t worry about influencing your designer by sharing these ideas.
The more information you can put into your brief, the better the outcome will be. Ideabooks or scrapbooks are a fantastic way to share your thoughts and describe your vision for your home.
The most important thing is to have a very clear picture of what you are ultimately trying to achieve. Whether it’s a bigger kitchen so you can entertain more guests or an additional bedroom, it’s essential you are clear about your end goal.
Don’t get too hung up on the steps involved to reach the goal. Your designer will help navigate you through the process.
5. Making Decisions Without Updating The Designer
It’s critical your architect has a clear picture of what is going on throughout the project. Any conversations or decisions made need to be communicated with everyone on the team.
Even if the decisions involve things your architect is not directly responsible for, or involved in, it’s essential they are fully informed. All decisions are likely to have implications for other elements of the project.
For example, if you are selecting specific finishes or fittings, the lead time or fitting requirements may not fit into the project’s timeline. This will then lead to adjustments being made to the whole schedule or budget.
6. Being Fickle-Minded
Once a decision has been made, be prepared to move on. The worst thing you can do is to start second-guessing and changing your mind. Chopping and changing throughout the design-and-build process is a recipe for disaster.
Not only will this cost you time and money but it may also put a strain on the working relationship between you and your interior designer. It’s essential to move confidently to the next stage once you’ve signed off on the design.
Conclusion
You must choose someone you can communicate well with.
This may be the most important of all. You will be communicating on a regular basis throughout the design process. When you hire a designer, it’s vital above all else that you get along with the person you’ve chosen to work with.
You may look for Builders.sg, a one-stop portal for owners of residential or commercial spaces to source trusted and renowned builders to construct their dream house or small commercial buildings.
Seeking Landed Property Builders in Singapore?
Builders.sg is a platform that connects property owners to trusted architects and builders across Singapore. If you live in Singapore and are looking for local landed property builders or architects, welcome to Builders.sg!
