How To Choose an Interior Designer

The top no fail tips to choosing an Interior Designer that's best for you!

Choosing a designer is as important as any other life decision such as choosing a doctor, a babysitter for your child, or a dentist.  Although designing your house may not be life or death, it sure does impact the sanity of you and your family and should be considered an important decision.

1.)  Experience
Interior Designers come a dime a dozen, but experienced designers with a long career history may not.  It is important to inquire about credentials, and in the business of design nothing speaks louder than experience.
How long has the designer you are considering been in business, do they own their own business or do they work for someone else?  The way the economy has been over the past 5 years, if you are fortunate enough to find a designer who has been in business for over 20 years and stayed in business maintaining customers during the recession, you may have found a gem.  Many designers because of the economy were forced to work for furniture companies, or forced to find other employment all together, as unfortunate as this is it did weed out alot of the bulk leaving behind mostly designers with years and years of experience.

2.)  Pay Structure
Most designers work by the hour, but don't get hung up on the hourly rate of the designer.  An experienced designer may charge a higher hourly rate, but the job is going to get done sooner and with more ease than a newer designer that charges less of an hourly rate.
Most designers, atleast the good ones, are willing to work with you.  If the job is going to be large, and include furniture, designers have more wiggle room with prices to offer you.

3.)  Style
A good designer won't only design one particular style.   After reviewing a designers portfolio you should see all different works with different styles; traditional, asian inspired, or even country.  It is important that they are able to incorporate whatever your style is with their design expertise.

4.)  Connection
You should have a connection with your designer.
As strange as that may sound you will be spending alot of time with your designer and so it is important to have a strong relationship from the beginning.  The vibe that you get from your initial consultation and the connection you organically have is extremely important.  It is important throughout the design process that you feel as if your needs are being met and your concerns are being heard and addressed, and that you trust and respect your designers decisions these are reflective of the connection you have.