Five Reasons Your Should Hire An Interior Designer For Your New Home Build Or Renovation

• “You don’t know what you don’t know.” This is very true in the interior design of a new home build or home renovation. It’s not just about selecting items you love and purchasing them. Those beautifully designed spaces that we all admire are well-planned out with the development of a complete design plan before any items are purchased or selected. This is so important with a new build. Especially if you would like the result to be an incredibly designed space. Knowing what order to select your design choices, knowing what else is going on in the rooms and adjacent spaces, and working out all the final details beforehand will lead to a smooth project, with fewer changes to be made during the build and with more ability to estimate final costs. This also means more time to make those design decisions as you are not being pressed for selections while the build is underway. There are so many details that go into a newly built home or a renovation. Knowing what items need to be selected is something that homeowners going it alone might not be aware of. For example, did you know you need to choose the color and finish of window hardware, selecting your lighting fixtures, selecting the color placement and style of lighting switches? Throughout the home, these are just a few small details that can easily be overlooked until you are asked for a final decision the day your builder needs them. Then you are rushed to make a quick decision, but if these items are considered in your original design plan, you know that in the end, everything will work well together and give you that well-designed professional look.

• “Space planning, sizing, and proportion.” These are three elements that are the most important when designing any space. Thorough knowledge of how to plan properly. You need to know not only the size of items but clearances and space needed for installation. You will also need to know what other items in the space are necessary when doing the interior design of a new build. Without the proper experience in these areas, homeowners focus on details like paint color and picking the most beautiful tile without considering these necessary elements that could really destroy your end- result.
• “Thorough knowledge of materials and their correct usage.” A professional designer has experience working with many materials and products. It would be very easy to make very costly errors in material selection if you don’t have a thorough knowledge of building materials. Two stainless steel sinks may look alike but could be made of a very different gauge of stainless steel. One could provide you with years of usage and still look great, the other could be dented and scratched with the first use. Two pieces of tile may look alike but perform differently in different applications, and so on. Why chance making these errors on your new home?
• With the ability to visualize as a designer that has been working with homeowners for 20+ years, I will tell you that most people have a very hard time visualizing how just a few elements are going to look and work together. Most people find it nearly impossible to visualize all the elements that are used to put together one room. Attempting to create a well-designed home in a new build or renovation will require the ability to visualize hundreds of elements together and how they balance and transition from space to space in a pleasing way. It is kind of like attempting the run a marathon without ever having run a mile in your life. To run a marathon, you need experience running and the proper training. Googling your way through this process is simply not the answer.

• “Knowing how to communicate your selections and all design elements to builders and other tradesmen.” Knowing how to effectively present design elements and selections to give builders, electricians, plumbers, and masons, exactly the information they need to complete the design when they need it is where most homeowner-run projects take a turn for the worst. Having the ability to use correct industry terminology when explaining what you want to builders is crucial. This alone often causes costly errors and communication breakdowns with contractors. Not having elements selected and ordered when your builder is at the point when they are ready to install them is not because the builder is impatient. All the design and selection work for a project like this should be done before construction begins. Of course, in a project like a home renovation, there might be some unknown elements that need to be designed while in progress should something unanticipated be found while opening a wall or a ceiling. When working with a designer, not only do you have their years of expertise designing, but you have their years of experience presenting all the needed information in an orderly fashion to those that need it, using industry standards that are recognized by building professionals.

Building and or renovating your home can be a stressful and confusing process for any homeowner. Taking on the role of an interior designer during this process is not something that you should expect yourself to be able to just do without the knowledge. But it’s not your fault. We are all bombarded with DIY success or so-called success stories when anyone can consider themself an expert in anything. Homeowners are sometimes made to feel like they should be able to design their own homes easily and without errors.

Savvy homeowners who want professional results hire professionals. Great interior designers will listen to your ideas and create a home that reflects your tastes and likes in ways that you would never have imagined. This will free you to enjoy the process of building or renovating your new home while knowing that an experience design expert is overseeing every selection and detail being added to your home.

Until Next Time,
Gia