When To Hire an Interior Designer: Questions to ask Yourself

When To Hire an Interior Designer: Questions to ask Yourself

After the last two years, we’ve become all too familiar with the inside of our homes, and interior designers have never been busier than ever. We ALL want some new scenery! And if you’re anything like us, we know you’ve spent some serious Pinterest hours picking out looks, inspirations, and finding that perfect end table. 

Maybe you’re struggling to put it all together yourself though, or you’re realizing that a home decor makeover isn’t as quick as those TV shows make it seem. We’ve talked to many clients who, though they may have had a wonderful vision, weren’t quite ready for the time commitment a successful project takes. And that’s perfectly ok! We want to make sure we’re working with you during a time where this project will be able to go as smoothly as possible.

So, in order to get not only the home makeover you’ve been looking for, but also the experience you want as well, we suggest asking yourself a few questions before we get started. Designing a home is a partnership between designer and homeowner, so we want to make sure that we all start on the same page. Trust us, when it comes to a home makeover, hiring an interior designer is worth it.

Do I have a Clear Vision?

Our clients typically fall into one of three categories. Those who have a clear vision and know exactly what they’re looking for down to the Pantone number of the paint; and others don’t know how to put together their mixed ideas from a home they loved online or a neat cabinet gadget in a friend's kitchen or perhaps even several completely different spaces they enjoyed here and there; or perhaps they’re the third type who doesn’t really know what they like or how to describe it.

The truth is it doesn’t matter which of these homeowners you are! Wherever you land on that spectrum, we’re here to help you create the perfect look in your newly renovated home. Some of our favorite projects start without much more than a few images and an idea. Being able to create the perfect space is an art—it evolves. We design with your input and we love the process! Every home, space, and client is unique, and that’s why when you’re hiring an interior designer, it’s important to find one that doesn’t just build you a space because it’s the current trend, but they build you a space meant for you.

What will my finances allow for?

First, don’t think of your budget as a limitation! We’re here to tell you what you can do with your budget, not what you can’t. Remember, remodeling your home is an investment. We know when to splurge so you don’t regret cutting corners and when to save and get “the look for less.” If needed, we can great your project into phases to work within your budget. We can start with your main rooms and move outwards, or perhaps we find a way to gradually improve the entire home over time, instead of all at once.

No matter what the size of your budget, hiring an interior designer will make sure that you’re utilizing your money in the most effective way possible. We have strategies and services suited for a range of budget levels.

What kind of time do I have?

This is the biggest reason we see people abandoning what could have been a great home improvement project: they just don’t think they have the time. And to be fair, home improvement TV shows and magazines have given a LOT of us wrong impressions when it comes to how much time it takes to complete a home renovation project, even with the help of an experienced interior designer. So, it’s important to get a feel for the scope of the project and the time allotted before we begin! This allows us to think strategically about where we want to start renovating, and how much time we have to work within.

How involved do I want to be?

A renovation is a big project, and it can be a little stressful. It can be VERY stressful if you don't hire the right interior designer. We’re here to give you a beautiful home, but we want you to have a great experience while we do it. Everyone has a different management style, and we want to make sure that we fit our strategy around what works for you. Maybe you like a hands-off approach, and you’re more of a big picture person. Perfect! We’ll do our thing, delegate to our interior design team, and meet with you for budgets and design approvals. Or, perhaps you want to be more involved in the day to day operations. That's great too! More input from you is never a bad thing, and it helps us refine even the smallest detail to give you the dream home you’ve been working for. 

When am I ready to hire an interior designer?

You tell us! Take some time to think about these questions and check out our blog post How Do You Know When You’re Ready to Hire an Interior Designer? When you’re ready to transform your home give us a call! Hiring an interior designer is a very personal process, and we want to make sure we have the perfect scope of work for the project; These questions help us determine that and tailor our process accordingly. We’re here to deliver a successful project, and we think success isn’t only measured by the end result, but by the experience we give every client along the way. 

Don’t think you’re ready to hire an interior designer?

No problem. We can start your project when you are ready. When starting anything new a little bit of doubt or anxiety is normal, but schedule a free discovery call to chat about your ideas or any hang-ups. We can help clarify the process and what your project will take, and answer any questions you have. Keep in mind good design takes time so it’s better to get started a little earlier than you think. We hope we can help give you some valuable information that helps you on your path to your new living space!

Want to save this blog post for later? Be sure to save this to your Pinterest Interior Design Tips Board!

Interior Design: Best Tips to Decorate Your Living Room

Interior design is all about layering and mixing things you love—colors, patterns, furniture, and decor pieces—in a cohesive way and if done well, it will draw you into the space. As one of the most multifunctional spaces in your home (a spot for friends and family to gather, a place to relax, etc.), the living room should be designed to draw you in. Our best design tips for decorating your living room can help make that happen! 

When you’re finished reading these interior design tips, don’t forget to check out our Best Tips to Decorate Your Bathroom and 7 Best Tips to Decorate Your Bedroom to pull your whole house together. 

Be mindful of the use of space.

Before you get started, think about what you’d like to use your living room for—Entertaining? Lounging? Define its functionality. Then you can start to think about what type of furniture you need to make that happen. 

In the picture above, we needed to create a place for the whole family to hang out, so a large sectional sofa was the perfect choice. But with a three-piece chaise sectional like this, there was very little space left for a coffee table. We paired the sofa with a round coffee table, so the family is not bumping into corners as they walk around it. We also took note of the furry family member and opted for carpet tiles that can be easily replaced if the dog ruins any of them instead of replacing a large area rug.

Decorate for comfort.

Our next interior design tip for decorating your living room is this: decorate in a way that feels comfortable to you! At the end of the day, you want to come home to a space that feels good to you, not just what is popular or trendy. The colors and the design style you choose set the mood for your living room, and the furniture you pick determines your physical level of comfort. For this living room, we intentionally picked chairs that not only look great and set a nice casual vibe, but that also feel wonderful to sink into at the end of the day.

Design around the fireplace. 

Brace yourself, we have some surprising news: the living room furniture does not always have to point toward a TV... You might find that your living room can be all the more relaxing without one. For the living room space shown above, we made the fireplace instead of the TV our focal point. We hung beautiful artwork above it and incorporated an amazing ottoman coffee table (found at a consignment store) to pull out the darker blues in the artwork and bring in just the right amount of pattern into an otherwise simple space. We also added some classy barrel swivel chairs to give our clients a cozy conversational place to hang out around the fireplace that could also be turned to watch TV when desired.

Get creative with your storage spaces.

One way to make your home look more spacious and sophisticated is to get creative with your storage spaces. For example, we absolutely love the way this custom floating cabinet turned out in our client’s living room! We felt it was the perfect modern touch to contrast with more traditional trim throughout the home. Here are a few other furniture pieces to consider selecting for additional storage space: 

• Multi-use bench with drawers or a seat that opens up

• A storage ottoman for extra blankets or pillows

• A coffee table with storage below for reading material or otherwise

• An end table with a drawer for remotes or pens, etc.

Mix up and balance your finishes.

A great way to make your home feel like it came straight out of a magazine is to decorate with a mix of finishes. Hold on, hold on—before you start mixing and matching furniture with abandon (which we do recommend over purchasing a matching set of furniture), consider the balance of the finishes around the space. For example, if you introduce a light wood like the dining table in the room above, use that finish again somewhere across the room like we did in the TV console doors. You can’t see it in the photo, but our client has a white console with a black top in their entryway, so we balanced that with the white frame of the TV console. We also added touches of black with the dark coffee table and the dining chairs to balance the black of the TV and the dark wood on the floors.

Make bold statements.

The living room is a great place to make a bold design statement and there are so many ways you can do this! 

Take our first photo for example. High contrast of the black brick fireplace in this beautiful white living room makes a bold modern statement which is softened by some pretty muted blues and punctuated with modern angular art.

Here we chose to hang very bold artwork and opted for a bold blue velvet sofa to match. 

If you’re looking to make a statement without going too bold, try giving your living room a little pizzazz by painting an accent wall. Here we chose to paint the back of the bookshelves to match the fireplace tile. Then we tied the rug in by adding some custom pillows that pull all the colors together. Which brings us to our next tip…

Use pillows to tie in other decor elements. 

Pillows have another important function beyond comfort.  Throw pillows can be used to tie other decor elements (like paintings and photographs) in your living room together. Incorporating throw pillows is one of the easiest ways to add style to your living room and can make a dramatic difference in creating a cohesive and complete look. Pro tip: let your throw pillows have their own personality, but make sure to coordinate the colors in the pillows with the colors around the room and vary the scale in the patterns you use.  Here we used a large striped mused with a solid as well as a small block print blue pillow.

Complete the look with accessories.

It’s amazing how adding accessories can make your living room feel complete. Here’s a snippet of a family room where we layered the coffee table with a tray, box to hide remotes, books and a few decorative objects that tied together the natural finishes and golden shimmer, all in the same spot. We topped it off with a little greenery to bring the home to life!

At Viève Interiors, it is our mission to help homeowners love where they live because happy homes are the most beautiful homes! If you need help creating a living room that you absolutely love to come home to, contact us! 

Save this blog post for later on your Pinterest Living Room Ideas Board!