How To Work With Your Interior Designer
Join the design team!
If you are thinking of hiring an interior designer, it might help you to know what an interior designer expects from you. As professional designers, we respect that we are being paid to produce a beautiful interior design for your home, but once we are hired, we prefer to think of you as a member of our design team.
Our clients hold the keys we need to unlock the very best solutions to create their dream home design. Collaboration, open communication and mutual respect between designers and clients are vital to allow great design.
Perfect Match
KINDLY is a boutique interior design studio, so we only take on a certain number of clients at any one time. As our holistic approach requires time for us to really get to know you, and learn more throughout the design process, we carefully select those clients we think we will work well with. At KINDLY you have the whole team’s input, ensuring your project is considered from all aspects and reflects what we’ve learnt from you, back into your home. For us, making a positive difference to people’s happiness within their homes is our mission. It’s why we do what we do. Like every good partnership, compatibility is key.
Take a mindful moment
We are constantly honing and tailoring our design processes and looking at how we can best communicate and work with our clients, but we often find they have given little thought to how they can best express what they are looking for, aside from the basic requirements of a home interior. They know that some areas of their home please them more than others, but often don’t take the time to work out why. Sit in the spaces you want to change and try to identify what works and what displeases you about it. Noting how you feel in a room, and how you wish you felt can often help us identify areas to target or problems that require solving prior to the aesthetics of the room being considered.
You probably know that feeling you get when you walk into a space you love and you will definitely remember a space you dislike. Once you know what you need to feel great in your home, you will never look back. Using an interior designer will help you get to that point quickly and you will avoid repeating design mistakes in your home, such as impractical room layouts, hard to maintain decoration and uncomfortable furniture.
Lifestyle Matters
In order to come up with an interior design solution that befits your use of the space beyond the aesthetic, a designer will want to know key things about your day-to-day life, your family and the lifestyle you lead (as well as the one you dream of!). In order to ensure your home resonates with you on a personal level, those small details; such as your morning routine, where all the coats and shoes get dropped after the school run, what activities you do on the weekend, how cheeky your pets are, which seat is your favourite, all contribute to valuable information in our design process.
Calculate Your Project Budget
Interior designers often bring fresh eyes to your home, and see opportunities for improvement and redesign you may not have considered. However, their creativity has to be aligned with your budget, so don’t avoid the critical question they will ask at the outset – how much do you want to invest? Often this will depend on whether you are living in your forever home, or if it is one of many steps to achieving the home of your dreams. Do look at market values for similar homes in your neighbourhood and the impact your ideas and improvements may have on the value of your home. This research will definitely help you identify the limit to the investment you are prepared to make.
This guide should give you an indication of how to prepare for working with an interior designer. The more information you can share with them, the better, as it all really helps lead to a truly personal design solution.
If you would like to explore working with an interior designer, why not find out about how we work at KINDLY and book a free consultation call with us here, or drop us an email.