Where to start with an interior designer

So you've decided to have a designer come over to look at your decorating dilemma.  If you've never worked with a design professional, you may not know what to expect.  This article is meant to give you some tools for making the most of that first meeting in terms of communicating your design wishes (please see "Up Front Budgets" for help on the financial side of that first meeting).  

A clean and contemporary bedroom featured on eurofurnitureonline.com

You've probably decided to hire a designer either because you feel that you 'have no style' or that this particular room is outside your problem solving comfort zone.  Regardless, please don't tell the designer to do "what ever they want" because you may not get what you want, but you'll have to pay any way.

How do you direct the conversation?  Do your homework.  My clients start one of three ways.  Either they have an inspiration piece they want to use to focus the room, they have a collection of images from the internet or magazines to share, or they get handed "The Book", my own collection of images for those too busy or uncertain to have started before I arrive.  

One of my clients asked me to redesign her bathroom.  She had a light fixture already chosen and purchased, and my job was to create a room around the fixture.  That was a great starting point!

Other clients have torn out 10, 20 or more pictures from design magazines and printed pictures they've downloaded from the internet.  To do something like this try typing in a search like "modern bedroom images" or "traditional kitchen images" in Google.  Then click on the "images" button right at the top of the Google search page and print out any that inspire you.  By going through these images with my client I learning what they like (or don't like) identify a common design thread and style.

Finally, many of my clients are overwhelmed before I arrive and have done practically nothing. They get "The Book."  The Book is simply a three ring binder full of images I have torn out of magazines over the years, and I have the homeowner go through with a stack of post-it notes and mark images that they love (and at least three that they hate).  From there I go through the ones marked, learn what they like and dislike, and again identify their design preferences.

I do this in addition to asking questions about their house, lifestyle, and wishes for their home.  All this is critical to making sure that 1) I understand what the client wants, 2) that my own design style is in line with their wishes so that we work together seamlessly and 3) that I am able to communicate effectively with this particular client; without effective communication the project is doomed.

Every designer that comes to your home with have their own way of running that first meeting, but the more prepared you are beforehand, the more you will get out of the meeting and the more quickly you'll know if this designer is the right designer for you and your home.