How To Work with a Designer: Part One – Knowing What You Want

In a recent survey of interior designers by Hausera, only 23% of designers said their clients usually have a clear vision of what they want from a project. While the idea of handing everything over to a professional – either an architect or designer or even a builder – sounds like the stress-free solution, it can often mean that the stress just comes later. Even the best designers can’t read your mind, or live your life, so finding the perfect solution for you and your family will take longer and possibly never be “just right” if you haven’t taken the time to consider what style, layout, and practical needs will be best.

Style:

If you spend a large portion of your spare time deep in interior design magazines, scrolling through images on Houzz, or curating boards on Pinterest, you probably already have an interior design style that you want to emulate through your home. If not – don’t worry! There are lots of resources available to help you get an idea of what you like. Pinterest is a great place to start – search for whatever room you’re looking to design, like ‘kitchen’, and click on the ones you like – they’ll lead you to other similar images, and you can start pinning to collect and see what you’re drawn to. You can also take this quiz from an online design company, Havenly, to get a description of your style, and start searching by those terms in Pinterest as well.

Layout:

This is the area most people need help from a professional – but before you talk to a builder or architect or a designer, take the time to think about what you like and don’t like about your current set up. Be realistic about your priorities as well – you might love the idea of open plan but in reality need spaces you can close the door on to contain a mess! Or if you need everything to have a place and be hidden away at the end of the day, make sure you are building in the right storage solutions.

Budget:

This is one of the first questions you’ll have to answer, but often is one of the most daunting to understand what is required for any build work, or to make your style dreams come true. Here is a guide from Real Homes on the build side, we’ve also written about budgeting here, and you can click through to sign up for our budget calculator template or home renovations course.