Pros and Cons of Hiring an Interior Designer

“Should I hire an interior designer?”

It can be hard to find definitive answers to this question because it seems like everyone has a different perspective. Some people might think that a home interior design consultant is an unnecessary expense that adds time and cost to a project. Others, however, will say that it is absolutely essential.

At the end of the day, it’s up to you as the master of your own project to make that call. Different folks may find the assistance and expertise of interior designers to be very helpful in moving a project forward, especially when you have a complicated vision of what you want your renovated space to look like.

Having said that, hiring an interior designer comes with its own distinct set of benefits and drawbacks. Considering those pluses and minuses will help you to determine if a home interior design consultant is right for you and your project. 

Pros

A Pro Will Clearly Lay Out All of Your Options

The Professional Touch

One obvious benefit of hiring a pro is that your project will get the pro treatment. A good interior designer will have years of experience and projects under their belt which means they know just how to expertly tackle most home interior design challenges.

After all, they know the ins and outs of their trade, and that means they know just how to capitalize on the strengths of your home’s interior design and minimize any weak points.

Home interior design consultants are skilled at maximizing the storage efficiency of space and finding the right materials to recreate the design of your dreams. Also, if something goes wrong, having an interior designer means you have one point of accountability which makes it easier to rectify errors or weed out any defective installations.

See Your Dreams Take Shape With an Interior Designer

Experience and Resources

Interior designers also have a good eye for practicality. They understand the importance of making a space work well and be livable as well as look visually nice. As such, they can tell you exactly which part of your envisioned design is feasible and which parts may need to be redone so that they can work in your home.

The professionals also know a whole bunch of hacks that you just won’t find outside of the trade, and so they have a number of smart methods for working around the limitations of space to make complex interior designs a reality. That’s really handy if you don’t happen to be a veteran do-it-yourself kind of homeowner.

Another benefit of experience is that it guarantees a quality job every time. A good interior designer has access to all manner of high-quality interior materials you aren’t going to find in a Home Depot, and they also have the know-how to apply them to the best use.

Plus, a reputable home interior design consultant will provide you with a list of what those materials and labor will cost before starting the project. A pro will also give you certain securities in the form of guarantees so that you have some recourse if things go wrong.

A Pro Has The Experiences and Resources to Ensure Success

A Time Saver

Giving the job of interior design to a professional means you have one less aspect to worry about as you go about your day. This will save you valuable time and energy since you won’t have to deal with any of the anxiety of being solely responsible for your own interior design.

If you aren’t a pro, completing your own interior designs will almost certainly take more time than it would for a home interior design consultant. This is because none of us are versed in the routines and techniques of the pros, and so we’re spending more time just figuring out the basics of the job before we even have a chance to get started on the project.

A skilled interior pro will be able to lay down all the groundwork for your project fairly quickly and will make it look effortless. And when you get right down to it, you just can’t beat the peace of mind. 

Get Discounts 

One neat perk of teaming up with an interior designer is that you may get access to trade discounts on certain fixtures, furniture, and other materials. This is because the quality materials and fixtures that a pro uses will often be sourced from someone that the interior designer has teamed up with.

An interior designer dedicated to customer satisfaction will have chosen a supplier that offers a good balance of quality and affordability. What that means for you as the consumer is that you may actually be able to get materials through an interior designer more affordably than if you just went and picked up similar stuff from a big box store. On top of the savings, the materials your home interior design consultant has access to will typically be of higher quality as well. 

Cons

An Interior Designer May Want to Alter Your Design

Differing Visions

This is probably one of the more common issues that can develop between a homeowner and the interior designer they hire. All people have different ideas of what looks good aesthetically, and a pro will also have ideas about what is physically feasible — and these may not align with your own house plan.

Should this kind of disagreement arise, it can cause unnecessary delays and unwanted stress. A consummate professional, however, will do their best to defuse any argument so that it doesn’t become a major obstacle. If your home interior design consultant does not believe your house plan will translate well to a physical layout, it is worth going back to the drawing board and considering if it can be changed to ameliorate this problem.

Of course, the best way to head off this issue is simply to confer with your potential interior designer beforehand to confirm that the design you have in mind is indeed doable. Confirming this before hiring them will greatly reduce the chance of any disagreements.

The Expert Services of an Interior Designer are Often Expensive

Expense 

While you may save money on materials and furniture, an interior designer is still going to require payment of their own fees, and house designer costs can be expensive. As such, a home interior design consultant may not be all that essential if your project is rather small. Smaller projects, such as changing your baseboards, tend to be simpler and you stand to save a lot of money if you can do them yourself.

But if the project is quite a bit bigger, say modernizing the design of a great room or even your whole house, an interior designer becomes far more useful. In larger-scale projects, you may not have all the expertise needed to get things right; and if this is the case, you risk adding cost in delays, mistakes, and buying stuff you don’t need. In these cases, house designer costs could end up being lower than if you did the job yourself.

Good Communication is The Solution To Most Interior Design Challenges

Work Delays 

An interior designer will usually be working with more than one client at a time. What this means is they have to juggle several projects at once, and yours may not always be a priority. Because of this, there is always a chance that your project becomes delayed if some problems pop up in the other jobs that your interior designer is helping with.

The process of devising a design, refining it, laying the groundwork, finalizing designs, and starting work is one that can take some time. In fact, it is not unusual for the process of finalizing your design to take a month or two. That process could become longer should anything unexpected pop up.

As such, it is best to budget in some time for delays in your project schedule so that you are prepared for any eventuality.