I could write a large post about this, but will try to make it short.
Let's create an example: You have dreamt for a long time about updating your living room but you are not sure where to start, what to do.. and won't it cost "an arm and a leg"?
You don't know what to expect from a designer and might not even know what you like....
Don't worry about anything! Let's pretend, for this example, that the budget is small. (I will discuss budget further down).
I will visit your home and we will discuss everything I need to know before I can create your dream design. This starting stage is so important. I will find out everything I need to know about the living room, it's potential, your budget, dreams and needs for the space.
When I have all that information, I can get to work developing your dream space!
It's actually really fun to create a design based on a smaller budget and with many of the existing furniture staying. Why is it fun? you ask! Well it goes something like this:
As a designer, when I walk into a home, my creative mind can't help but think:
"oh, I love that sofa but it would look so much nicer surrounded by the right pillow color/pattern/textures/size...
Or: She has beautiful pieces but the flow would be better by moving them into this configuration/removing a piece/adding a piece..etc!
Or: The beautiful architecture of the room isn't showing to its' full potential and I know how to
correct that.
These are just examples of ways a room can be improved. In this example we will keep your best furniture and only buy what's necessary. I will build the new design around a correct furniture layout, new color scheme and lighting plan. This together with carefully placed decor
will totally update and refresh the living room. How do I stretch your budget? I will only spend your budget where it makes the best impact and best investment for you. It does not mean we have to buy a lot of new items. We might even use a furniture piece from another room which you don't currently use but is perfect in the living room.
Designers are trained to create the correct layout, correct sizes of all items and a color/texture/pattern scheme which will beautify the room. But besides all of these "design rules" we use, we also know how and when to break them. If that is ever needed and wanted. Any items we buy will come with a deep designer discount thus stretching your budget even more.
I promised to talk about the budget. This is such a large area that I feel it should have a post of its own. I will create a post only discussing a budget, if you are interested in that.
But here I will bring the budget up a bit:
Firstly, a budget is separate from a designer' fee. The designer's fee covers the work the designer is doing on your project and the budget is covering the project investment.
In this example above, the client wants a refresh of her livingroom and we are using many of her existing furniture. To completely pull a room together I can see this area needing a budget of $3,000-$5,000. On the other hand, to completely redo a livingroom where everything is new and we do a lot of custom items, this room can cost $40,000-$50,000.
So as you can see the range is large. It depends on; are we keeping any existing furniture? are we doing any renovations? are we choosing custom items or more affordable items? and so on.. The bottom line is: (and I feel very strongly about this!)
You don't need a large budget in order to have a beautifully designed space! There is beauty in all items and it more depends on creating the best space we can within the budget you have!
If you enjoy reading about topics like this, please contact me and let me know what you would like to read about! You can contact me via the "contact" link here on the website.