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Forum -> Household Management
Do you use a designer if your on a budget?



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amother
Orange


 

Post Tue, Aug 22 2017, 1:46 pm
We just purchased a home and would like to decorate on a budget. We are looking for some ideas and I'm wondering if anyone could advise me if it's worth it to hire a designer for consultation which would be about $300. (I spoke with the designer already about pricing). Is it worth the money? On the one hand it seems expensive but on the other hand, choosing paint, furniture, flooring, and setting up particular rooms that need to serve more than one function by myself makes me nervous I'm going to make some mistakes that I'll regret- and that's a really expensive mistake. We're not fancy and have young kids. We just want our home to look warm and welcoming and need ideas as to how to best use the space since it is not a big house. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks so much.
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singleagain




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 22 2017, 1:49 pm
I've never decorated a home, but two general pieces of advice,

a) explain to the designer your budget/limitations, make sure designer understands your vision, and not what they think is best

b) shop around for other designers, see if someone is willing to work for less / perhaps a friend/family who is studying this, would be willing to get paid less for experience?
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 22 2017, 1:51 pm
If she really knows her stuff as well as being an expert in paint colors, it's well worth it.
Paint looks so different on the color card than it looks on the wall, and depending on lighting, sunlight... That alone is worthwhile to have an expert weigh in on.

Edited for typo.


Last edited by ra_mom on Tue, Aug 22 2017, 1:53 pm; edited 1 time in total
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singleagain




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 22 2017, 1:51 pm
also, you can make the designer's fee part of your overall budget? so it's not 1,000 for design plus 300 for the designer, but 1,000 total, 300 for designer and 700 for everything else
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amother
Tangerine


 

Post Tue, Aug 22 2017, 1:54 pm
Firstly, mazel tov on your new house. I personally, as well as my parents used a friend who is good at these things for our respective extensions (not a whole house like you). You're talking about a lot more though, and $300 sounds like a reasonable amount for a whole house. In the grand scheme of buying and setting up a house, $300 probably won't make such a huge difference, but using your space efficiently will. Good luck with it all!
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Faigy86




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 22 2017, 1:55 pm
Sometimes designers can access discounts for the actual supplies that can make their fee worthwhile. You may want to look into that.
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mommyla




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 22 2017, 1:58 pm
$300 sounds super cheap for full-home advice. Find out how many hours and what services she'll offer for that price before committing. If it's just for color consultation, then that's appropriate, but that sounds like way too little for furniture and layout consultations.
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amother
Yellow


 

Post Tue, Aug 22 2017, 1:58 pm
amother wrote:
Firstly, mazel tov on your new house. I personally, as well as my parents used a friend who is good at these things for our respective extensions (not a whole house like you). You're talking about a lot more though, and $300 sounds like a reasonable amount for a whole house. In the grand scheme of buying and setting up a house, $300 probably won't make such a huge difference, but using your space efficiently will. Good luck with it all!


$300 is an incredible deal. how many hours of time is this person giving you?

ETA I paid more than that for a paint color consultant - it was 'worth it' for me because I was extremely overwhelmed by having to pick colors for my entire house (we needed to paint every room on account of the wiring work we did). I have a small house - with small rooms.
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allthingsblue




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Aug 22 2017, 2:30 pm
Is it $300 for the consultation or for the whole house? If for the whole house, I think it's worth it as it will take a lot of the headache off of you.
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amother
Jetblack


 

Post Tue, Aug 22 2017, 2:35 pm
Many times a consult just means the actual walk through and to discuss whats needed for the job. And then once they start the actual work they charge by the hour. Find out.
I say that a decorator usually saves you time AND $$. If theyre good, they'll direct you into making smart, practical and pretty decisions.
And you wont move into your house and think to yourseld "oh that was sooo dumb, lets redo it."
Do it right the first time.
Its not a question of luxary or fancy.
Its a question of knowing what your good at.
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amother
Orchid


 

Post Tue, Aug 22 2017, 4:21 pm
I used a designer for paint colors and it was well worth it. We were also low budget but she saved me so much time and hassle.
I agree with others that you should clarify what's included in that fee. For that price I wouldn't expect more than paint for a whole house and maybe help with shades.
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amother
Sienna


 

Post Tue, Aug 22 2017, 8:07 pm
Mazal tov on your new home!
We just bought a house too.
We paid for a contractor. It was sooo worth it.
For paint colors, I figured I'll hire a painter myself.
The contractor called me to say the painter is doing a TERRIBLE job. She was. I knew she's not the most professional but this was just awful.
I called her out on it. She fixed it. Partly. I asked the contractor to fix the rest.

Also, my sister convinced me a color will be beautiful on the wall. I was so undicided, that I went with it. It was AWFUL. I had her repaint that area/room. It was an additional $650. Would have been CHEAPER to pay for a designer to choose colors.
At the end the color is beautiful bh!!! And it was the one I originally looked at.

Paint colors look very different on the walls than on the card.

Aslo, I find the forst two colors of the color book are the ones that work on walls. Anything darker looks very dreary. Thosecolors are good for small areas, like the backs of open shelving and such.


The contractor was NOT happy that I took this painter.
Contractors want the house they work on to look good. It's good for their business. For reference. So they make sure everything is done just so. They take a percentage off but they oversee everything and get things done a lot faster than if you would do the hiring yourself. And help you with decision making. After all, they do these things for a living and they know what works and looks nice.


If you are in Monroe, I would highly recommend Yoely Saal. (Talking about the other saal. Not TOP JOP. Althought TOP JOB does fantastic closets. And has brilliant ideas)
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