Hey all…
Do you think interior designers and decorators are only for the rich? Think again! Because when you hire a professional designer decorator, you invest in your time, in your money and in your energy. Why? Because we save you time, money and energy through out the design process.You hire a us to save you from costly mistakes, soaring budgets, cheap materials, and shoddy trades.
Avoid costly mistakes…
Ever buy something (say a dining table) only to get it home and it doesn’t fit? Or it doesn’t look right in the room? Or it is the wrong colour wood stain? Or the chair fabric clashes badly with the wallpaper? Ever try to return it? So you live with it….cringing every time you sit at the table, bemoaning all the money you spent on it.
Decorators take the guess work out of the design. We know what works and what doesn’t. We know how frustrating – mentally and physically – it can be to figure out what all goes together and how to create a cohesive look. We know colour. We know product. We know to take measurements, locate the outlets, how high your ceiling is, and a whole other list of things you never thought of. This is what we do.
Avoid budget woes…
So you have a pot of money to spend on the renovation of your family room. You have big plans for this room – new furniture, a built-in with TV and fireplace, wood floors, fabulous lighting, etc. So you begin to buy furniture (a wee frustrating because you can’t agree on what to get – see above), hire a cabinet maker for the built-in (you get the quote from that and have a heart attack but you are already invested because you gave them a downpayment for the design); the flooring is coming in at much more than you expected (the labour costs how much??? And you already tore up the old carpet!). Electricians, painters, plumbers….oh my!! Your budget is blown and you now have to tap into your line of credit. You get nervous and start making cuts – ‘no lighting in the built-in, we’ll forgo the new TV and use the 24 inch that was already here, we’ll just do the flooring in the room and not the hallway, etc, etc.’ The whole project has turned into a disaster. You thought you had enough money!
Hiring a decorating for a design consultation to talk about your project would have revealed that you don’t have the budget…yet. We could give you estimates on what things could cost. For example, the built-in is $12000, but add the lighting and it’s additional $3000-4000. Was that in your budget? We show you how realistic your budget is so you don’t end up in the scenario above.
Where to spend…
Our knowledge of design – materials and products – help you to spend your money wisely. Knowing what you should splurge on, and where not to spend a lot of money could be the difference between a functional room and one that just doesn’t work. For example, definitely splurge on a sofa. You sit on it everyday so you want a quality comfortable piece that will last. You can save money on purchases like side tables, accent chairs, accessories, and lamps. It is definitely worth the splurge to get built-ins rather than s few bookcases. It finishes the room and you will be a lot happier with the end result.Knowledge of materials is also a benefit to hiring a designer. You can buy the high priced Italian porcelain for your floors or you can buy the less expensive porcelain tile from China. They are both exactly the same – porcelain is porcelain. The difference is cost is the labor. Surprised? So you decide which tile to purchase with this knowledge provided by your decorator. Otherwise, the sales person would have sold you the costly Italian porcelain!
Time, time, and more time…
Are you busy with kids? Or maybe you are both working the 9-5 game? Do you really want to spend you weekends and evenings in showrooms looking at flooring, furniture, cabinetry? I didn’t think so.
Working with a decorator will free up all this time because…(insert drum roll here)…wait for it….this is WHAT WE DO! We know where to go to source all the items you need. We have relationships with vendors that value our patronage and give us top-notch service in providing estimates for you, ordering the items for you, and dealing with product mishaps (because they do happen).
We also pull the entire design together at once. We pick everything out, present it to you, you approve and we buy. You save time because you are not looking endlessly for that rug to go with the new sofa you bought. We already did it for you in one fell swoop! And you get to see what the entire room will look like before you buy anything! Have a look at a few of my design boards here (oh and here too!). I also wrote a blog about Design Boards last year.
Who’s who…
You hire someone who is a friend of a friend who did a ‘great’ paint job on their living room . You trust your friend and the advice they give you. In fact you are grateful you don’t have to find someone to paint your kitchen. So you hire them on the spot. Later you learn s/he is not a professional painter (just some guy who paints….big difference), leaves paint dripping down your walls, and doesn’t know what a drop cloth is. Now you have wasted several thousand on a shoddy paint job.
Decorators recommend well qualified professional trades to you so you don’t have to go searching. We have usually worked with them previously on our client projects or even our own home! So you can be sure they do a top notch job. We wouldn’t recommend otherwise.
So there you have it. Now it’s time for you to decide whether you want to tackle your renovation on your own or hire a professional decorator who will save you time and money.
Cheers,
Roxanne
P.S. If you need help just contact Roxanne. I am, after all, a Professional Certified Interior Decorator and a Certified Colour Strategist. And I’d love to help you!
