Imagine this, you’re wanting to redesign your home, change your furniture, the overall appeal of your house, decorations, and more. But where do you start? What all do you need? Do you want it to look professional? Do you want it quiet and cozy? Do you have children to think about during this process? How do I do this in-between being a parent and my career? What about the time and money it will cost? Where do I shop?
All of these questions (and many more) are involved with planning home design, but you don’t have to do it alone, and if you hire a good interior decorator, such as this Montreal interior decorator, it’s possible you don’t have to worry about all of these stressful situations.
What to Look for in an Interior Decorator
A good interior decorator will first of all be an excellent communicator. You’re not just going to pay someone to come into your home and decorate for you without you knowing what’s going on. A good decorator will show give you a detailed plan, which will include factors such as space, lighting, time, and ultimately of course, the cost of the project and materials that will need to be in place (furniture, etc.). You want to make sure your decorator belongs to the American Society of Interior Decorators, as they test and teach interior decorators (no, this isn’t a college, but the decorator has to do plenty of work to become a certified member).
What you DON’T Want in a Decorator
You don’t necessarily want someone who’s going to charge you a flat rate either, because they often over-charge. You want a decorator who’s honest about prices and when you are getting an item (such as carpet or furniture), you don’t want to have to pay extra just so the interior decorator gets more profit per item than you pay. Flat-rate decorators usually give themselves a commission based off of what they need to get for you, and then shop cheap to get the most money in their pockets.
What you DO Want in a Decorator
You don’t have to decide on a decorator just because someone has that title. Bring in a few different decorators to “shop around” by letting them see your home, and telling them what you’d like to see changed, and they can find out things that you do and don’t like. If they don’t ask you these questions, then you may not want to hire them. You want to at least be able to give a good decorator a general idea about your style sense so they know how to do a job that is satisfactory to you.
Once your decorator is hired, and the changes start. If you aren’t in the home (or even if you are, but just in a separate space), your new decorator should give you plenty of progress reports and at least talk to you a couple times a week. Your decorator should also keep a log book (if they don’t have one, you can request that they have one so they can log daily change reports for you). This way you can exchange notes back and forth with your interior decorator (even sometimes a simple thank you here and there can go a long way with a contractor – remember, they’re freelancer’s too!)
