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14 June 2021, 12:44 AM | #1 |
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Anyone use an interior decorator/designer?
We bought a new construction second home in south Florida. We need beds, couches, tables, decorations. We are talking to interior designers.
Anyone have success going that route? Some of them get a “discount” or a cut on the furniture. Does that encourage them to push us to overspend? If we tell our budget, will they blow through it? Is it more prudent to go to a store like RH or Crate and Barrel and ask their designer to come up with things? It is beyond our capabilities and interest. |
14 June 2021, 01:08 AM | #2 |
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Outfitting 2 new office suites and have this same question. If I do it myself it will look like a drunk teenager stole their grandma’s checkbook and went on a thrift store shopping spree.
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14 June 2021, 02:29 AM | #3 |
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If it's beyond your "capabilities and interests" you should just hire someone.
My problem with it is you end up living in someone's elses house but some designers try to design to your tastes, if you have any. Some people don't. When you look through magazines like architectural digest it looks like some people are living in a place right out of a high end New Orleans cathouse, that some designer threw together or some minimalist thing designed by the prison system. I designed hotel interiors for a few years and being artsy fartsy it was a blast spending other people money. One thing designers do have is access to stuff you'd never see in stores and ideas that you wouldn't have thought of. Good luck.
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14 June 2021, 05:42 AM | #4 |
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Not me. I've always been the one humbly responsible. Like it or not.
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14 June 2021, 05:51 AM | #5 |
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We used a designer for a couple rooms in our house. Those rooms are still the nicest looking part of the house. Unfortunately my wife and I are not good at that.
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14 June 2021, 05:56 AM | #6 |
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Anyone use an interior decorator/designer?
Withdrawn with sincere apologies.
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14 June 2021, 06:05 AM | #7 |
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I like it a lot. Not too much furniture and decoration. Less is more.
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14 June 2021, 06:13 AM | #8 |
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Perhaps redecorate your primary/closest home, and cascade?
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14 June 2021, 06:46 AM | #9 |
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My place is very, and I mean very basic but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
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14 June 2021, 06:47 AM | #10 |
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But I must admit I love Amsterdam as well.
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14 June 2021, 06:53 AM | #11 |
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I am not aware of what a virtual staging company is.
How would that translate into decorating my house?
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14 June 2021, 06:55 AM | #12 |
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Well….. first figure out who you’re actually looking to hire. Interior decorator vs interior designer. There’s a difference. One picks furniture etc, the other is licensed by the state to insure your sh1t is straight and your space is comfortable and doesn’t burn to the ground. The more qualified is an interior designer. If you want your space to be what you want but on a higher level, hire an interior designer. Look at their portfolio and see if what they can do gets anywhere near what you dig. And yes, interior designers get discounts. Whether they pass that along to you or not is up to them. And remember, you will get what you pay for. Don’t cheap out. You’re asking someone to create a personal space for you and your family which will involve them playing marriage counselor more than you can imagine . Look for someone who looks the part. Someone comes to your house looking terrible with samples falling all over the place and their hair is a mess, that’s a hard pass. If you spend the coin and pick a good person you will have a blast creating this space.
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14 June 2021, 07:06 AM | #13 |
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14 June 2021, 07:08 AM | #14 |
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14 June 2021, 07:17 AM | #15 | |
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Quote:
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14 June 2021, 07:40 AM | #16 |
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I used one when I built an office 10 years ago.
She did everything. Wall design, bulkheads, millwork, floor material/ color/ pattern, lighting fixtures, ceiling...you name it. The stuff that she comes up with is definitely something a Joe Blow can't do. I still get compliments from people to this day. For the price of a few SS Rolex, is it worth it? I guess. |
14 June 2021, 07:44 AM | #17 |
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Use the Houzz App
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14 June 2021, 08:00 AM | #18 |
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14 June 2021, 09:50 AM | #19 |
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We have not as my wife and I really enjoy doing it ourselves. Main house, vacation house and rental all done on our own however it does require a reasonable amount of effort and interest, especially for out of state. In my experience we have had good interactions with the free design consultations from Crate and Barrel, MGBW and Pottery Barn. RH was the only place that had a timer out during the consult and at the end of one free hour they said that’s it. The other places were fantastic and we spent many interactions with them in person and via phone. All of them went above and beyond (and even gave us gifts!) so we never really felt a need to hire a dedicated interior designer for any of the places.
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14 June 2021, 11:32 AM | #20 |
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What part of Florida?
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14 June 2021, 12:46 PM | #21 |
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We went to Restoration Hardware.
Every room we picked out looks trashy. Every room she picked out looks awesome. Your mileage may vary. Every room cost the same. |
14 June 2021, 01:39 PM | #22 |
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Then after a year, look to replicate what you like at a top drawer shop like RH - and then get help with what you didn’t like. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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14 June 2021, 03:24 PM | #23 |
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Palm Beach County
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15 June 2021, 12:10 AM | #24 |
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X2.
You can filter for designers in your geographic area and then research their online portfolios. Then call couple who seem to focus on a look that strikes your fancy. Having a designer on retainer saved my wife hundreds of hours in her decision making process. And, yes, they have knowledge of furniture manufacturers well beyond what you can find at local retailers. In the meantime, use the Houzz app to mark room photos that you like so you can show the designers what you are interested in. We worked with our designer on two projects and would not even buy a picture without talking to him again. That is how much we trust his opinion. His first step was to do just what I mentioned. Create your own look book on Houzz that he can refer to. Next he created a folder with several options for each decision. Hard materials (flooring, lighting, paint, etc…), furniture and accents. Once he figured out what we liked (a style of chair, for example), he then gave use several options of that style of chairs that varied from reasonably priced to ungodly expensive. We got to pick the price point but everything was quality with all of the furnture made in the US. He advised us when to look for budget options and when to splurge on the WOW. The hardest part was trusting his judgment because he would throw stuff out there that we would never have even considered. Gold light fixtures and cabinet hardware and wallpaper for example. I though they were out of style for decades but damn they look great! All in all, he put the whole remodel package together and kept it within our budget. He also had the best subcontractors at his disposal whereas our GC’s contractors were a notch or two below in quality of work.
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15 June 2021, 12:17 AM | #25 |
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Wow!
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15 June 2021, 12:35 AM | #26 | |
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I have no idea. I worked for a private hotel builder and starting out by assisting his wife do the design. Then I took over for 4 projects. So I have no idea of what legit people charge.
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15 June 2021, 12:38 AM | #27 | |
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15 June 2021, 12:40 AM | #28 |
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15 June 2021, 12:50 AM | #29 | |
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This is what I found that was worth it. Ours had so much knowledge of suppliers that would take me forever to research on my own. I had not heard of 90% of the suppliers she recommended. We ended up with some some incredible homemade NC furniture that was not much more than the high end common retail brands but well worth it in terms of quality and not buying made in China/elsewhere. In terms of cost, some of them will go by the hour and some by a percentage. I was told the better ones prefer to go by percentage. We went by percentage and it was probably cheaper that route because my very demanding other half burned a lot of her time. |
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15 June 2021, 01:05 AM | #30 |
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We did. With an experienced and well regarded decorator. Our experience required lots of management of the professional, getting her to work with our lifestyle, versus her vision. She never asked any questions about us, our lifestyle. For us living in the space trumps the picture perfect look. I was left with little desire to get a professional involved again.
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