Renovating
Working With an Interior Designer
Want to hire an interior designer but find the process confusing or intimidating? We are here to help clear the way
By the time the keys to your new home are in your hand, you’ve probably amassed quite a collection of ideabooks, pins, hashtags and bookmarks of decor you like and things you’d like to own. While you may have great ideas, you may not have the means or the time to pull it all together. With so many decisions to make before, during and after renovating, it makes good sense to let an expert lead you through it.
An interior designer is the professional who will edit and make sense of your enthusiastic ideas and make a space go from bleh to top-notch.
An interior designer is the professional who will edit and make sense of your enthusiastic ideas and make a space go from bleh to top-notch.
Be open about your requirements and priorities, budget and lifestyle and expect to be ‘interviewed’ as much as you are interviewing the designer. “It often turns out that 80% of the meeting time is spent talking about the client and their lifestyle, not the project,” reveals Eric Tan, director of Space Factor. This information is pertinent to creating a home that suits your daily life and be a place you are going to love.
Find an interior design on Houzz, see images of their work, and read client reviews
Find an interior design on Houzz, see images of their work, and read client reviews
Second meeting
You will meet again in a week or two to go through the designer’s design proposal and costing. Some designers will also show mood boards and sketches. Mark Chen from the Artistroom includes four plans in his company’s design proposal: furniture layout, reflected ceiling plan. lighting plan and electrical plan (power points). “The ceiling plan should always complement the furniture layout plan as it will definitely affect the overall outcome of the design concept. When carefully planned, the ceiling design can also act as an invisible divider between two adjoining spaces,” he explains.
This will be a working meeting where ideas are discussed and deliberated upon and all the while, the designer will be refining the design concept as they gain better insights into your requirements, likes and dislikes.
You will meet again in a week or two to go through the designer’s design proposal and costing. Some designers will also show mood boards and sketches. Mark Chen from the Artistroom includes four plans in his company’s design proposal: furniture layout, reflected ceiling plan. lighting plan and electrical plan (power points). “The ceiling plan should always complement the furniture layout plan as it will definitely affect the overall outcome of the design concept. When carefully planned, the ceiling design can also act as an invisible divider between two adjoining spaces,” he explains.
This will be a working meeting where ideas are discussed and deliberated upon and all the while, the designer will be refining the design concept as they gain better insights into your requirements, likes and dislikes.
The time following this meeting is what Tan terms “the ding-dong period”. Design and correspondingly, costing, are revised until you are satisfied. This is when you sign on the dotted line put down a deposit of 10%.
An Interior Designer Reveals: 3 Things I Wish My Clients Knew
An Interior Designer Reveals: 3 Things I Wish My Clients Knew
Work in Progress
Majority of homeowners engage their interior designer to “design and build” which means the designer will plot and coordinate every stage of your project. Interior designers we spoke to prefer this to handing over the build to other contractors or the homeowner to coordinate. Collectively, they cite responsibility and accuracy as the reasons. Hiccups along the way are inevitable and because designers have information on what things cost at their fingertips, they can work out solutions quickly for you. Their industry connections are also invaluable in material, fixture and furniture sourcing.
Majority of homeowners engage their interior designer to “design and build” which means the designer will plot and coordinate every stage of your project. Interior designers we spoke to prefer this to handing over the build to other contractors or the homeowner to coordinate. Collectively, they cite responsibility and accuracy as the reasons. Hiccups along the way are inevitable and because designers have information on what things cost at their fingertips, they can work out solutions quickly for you. Their industry connections are also invaluable in material, fixture and furniture sourcing.
To make the relationship work, you should be clear about your proposed level of input. Do you have very definite ideas and want to be closely involved in every decision, or do you prefer to give your interior designer broad strokes and make the day-to-day decisions? Discussing these will help make the partnership a happy and productive one.
Tell us
Have you worked with an interior designer? Let us know in the Comments below or review them on Houzz.
More
Find interior designers and decorators in Singapore
Browse more Singapore photos for design inspiration
Tell us
Have you worked with an interior designer? Let us know in the Comments below or review them on Houzz.
More
Find interior designers and decorators in Singapore
Browse more Singapore photos for design inspiration
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Once you’ve narrowed down the designer or designers you’d like to work with, the first meeting is called. Expect to set aside 90 minutes to two hours for this and come with your ideas (or ideabooks) and floor plan (email or share this prior if possible) and how much you want to spend. Have a list of things you want to achieve even if it’s a very rough list as it is the springboard for your conversation with the interior designer.