Home Renovation: The First Step
In our previous post, we talked about the benefits of custom home renovations. In this post, we’re going to go through the first step of renovating your home to help reduce the possible feelings of being overwhelmed with the process. All photos in this post are from our renovation projects.
Photos by Kathleen Virginia Photography.
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Renovating your home isn’t easy but with enough planning and knowledge, the horror stories often heard can be avoided. The key? Hire a knowledgeable interior designer. A good interior designer will have multiple facets of experience including knowledge of specific industries such as CAD, woodwork, plumbing, electrical expertise, and technology. A good interior designer must be two steps ahead of their contractor to anticipate any alters in the timeline, availability of supplies, etc.
And it’s not just your contractor your interior designer works with. Renovating your home is a dance between all involved (contractors, plumbers, electricians, and woodworkers, etc.), and your interior designer is the choreographer making sure everyone knows their part.
Since hiring the right interior designer is the first (and perhaps most important step), I’m here to walk you through the process of choosing one. Here are they key things to look for when hiring an interior designer:
They come highly recommended. As an interior designer, it means I did my job right and they enjoyed the process. Designing your home is emotional. You spend a lot of money renovating and you want it to look a certain way, but you’re unsure how to get there so you need to trust others to get you there. A designer who will guide you through the process is key. Ask around and talk to your friends/family to see who they have worked with.
Since renovating and designing your home can be stressful and unpredictable, hiring an interior designer with good communication and interpersonal skills is foundational. It also means they have the experience and ability to navigate an industry that many people are too overwhelmed to fully take advantage of. Asking around is the best way to know for sure you’ll be happy with whom you hired.
The designer is quick to respond. When you reach out to the designer, make sure they are getting back to you within 2 business days (or sooner). When a designer gets back to you quickly, even in the beginning, it shows they care about your project. Designers have many projects going on simultaneously, so it’s hard to answer everyone's questions immediately, but in the industry, all parties need information in a timely manner. I know how stressful it can be when you’re waiting for an answer and having a designer respond to your questions in a timely manner is critical to your project and mental health!
Make sure you get a detailed process on how the project will flow. In my letter agreement, I have my 10-step process on all of the steps it will take to get from start to finish. All of my projects run through the same steps, and it helps clients understand which phase they are working on.
Despite what it might seem, don’t choose an interior designer based on their style. You should look at their portfolio but judge it with a grain of salt. None of my projects look the same because I don’t have the same client over and over again. I have some clients who want to go more modern or some who want to go more traditional. I have some clients who have a large budget or a smaller budget. You, of course, want to be impressed with the designer's portfolio, but if it's not exactly your style, that's because the designer didn’t design that space for you. There are always different requirements, goals, aesthetics, and budgets that are being considered for every project I work on. This is why you should use this point as the very last reason to hire a designer.
