Why should you hire an interior designer?

One thing most investors will agree on is the fact that it is always desirable to hire an interior designer. Why? Because only an expert can save you from making mistakes that can cost you a fortune.

If you don’t have much experience in home décor and interior design, that you should consider hiring someone who knows how to elaborate an action plan to the smallest details and who knows where to get the best products and services and who are the best contractors. Investors will advise you on buying or investing in a property, but the interior designer knows exactly what and where to look and where to find the most suitable prices. Occasionally, he will see the potential of old furniture and suggest its renovation instead of buying the new one. You can always expect new solutions that will sometimes break the rules, but brighten up your home.

Recently, interior design services have become very popular, sometimes even necessary. People have come to understand the importance of hiring a professional for space planning to make it more functional and comfortable. The interior designer creates an artistic image of the space, chooses the shape, colors, lighting and material texture. Sometimes he will make his own piece of furniture and decorations, but will also suggest buying already made furniture and equipment. At the same time, during his work, designer must closely collaborate with architects, engineers and builders. His role lies not only in the visual improvement of the interior, but also in the optimization and matching all the aspects of decoraton in order to make the interior suitable for use and meet all the needs for which it was intended in the first place.

The direct formation of a design solution is based on many factors. The most important ones are the space itself (geometric shape, size and structural elements) and its functional purpose (business premises, space for entertainment, medical treatments, education, living etc.). All design elements are arranged in series, starting from visual ones (color, light, shape), tactile (surface, volume, textures) to acoustic ones (noise, echo…). An experienced interior designer has an aesthetic, practical and technical understanding of all these elements.

Every interior designer must also consider one important element – people who will use the space and how they respond to different design elements, not only individually, but also as a group (for example, when receiving guests).

The designer must have a wide technical knowledge of the objects and material used in interior desigin: furniture, lighting, floor and wall coverings, wall decorations, garnishings, curtains, tools, equipment, etc. In addition, he must be familiar with different decorating styles, art and architecture, as well as their historical values.

The interior designer provides a variety of services, including:

• Individual consultations in defining project goals and tasks;
• Preparing a technical assignment for an interior design project based on client’s requirements;
• Development of conceptual design according to functional and aesthetic possibilities of the given space;
• 3D visualization of individual ideas and the whole project design;
• Creating floor plans, drawings and specifications of works;
• Selection and specification of floor and wall covering and other materials to be used in furnishing;
• Layout of furniture and equipment;
• Monitoring and management of craft and final works;
• Purchase of equipment, furniture and decorations;
• Design and monitoring the production of individual furniture pieces and interior details;
• Lighting design and choosing the lighting fixtures
• Final space decoration, etc.

What does an interior designer really do?

1. The first thing you need to do is to closely look at the real estate for which the project will be designed. Fill out the questionnaire which will help the designer to draw up the project assignment. It is a document which needs to be signed by the contracting entity. In this procedure, the designer gets informed of the specific requirements of the client, the number of family members, the purpose of their stay, activities they wish to undertake in the space, will they be having guests, etc. The interior designer must also find out the technical conditions needed for his work: will there be a conversion of the space, which are the load-bearing walls, how and where the communications are connected, etc. Based on the technical assignment, he will determine the volume of work and make his offer. After the client’s decision, the designer will start with work.
2. The second part is the essence of creating an interior, a process when the designer creates the concept of the whole interior design, which he must visualize, sketch and present to the client using the 3D projections or pictures.  If the client approves the conceptual design, the designer can select the materials and elements needed for realization of the idea. In creating the chosen style, every detail plays an important role: colors, materials, textures, shapes and many more. The interior designer must make an accurate list of the necessary materials, furniture, equipment and decorations, with a note where all of this can be bought.
3. Certain contractors and craftsmen realize the designer’s creative idea. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare all technical documentation. It usually includes layouts and hand sketches of everything the designer visualized, but with exact dimensions.
4. The next step is supervision. The interior designer supervises the work of craftsmen and contractors, how accurately they perform the work according to the designer’s ideas and project documentation. However, the control in not a mandatory part of interior designer’s process and it is only performed if it is agreed with a client or at the designer’s direct request.
5. The last and favorite step of every interior designer is the decoration of the space. It is also an essential part of the project realization because it gives the client a complete picture of the space as the designer visualized it. Give your interior designer freedom and trust in choosing the tiniest details because this is what gives your home an artistic touch.

It is very important to understand that the interior designer helps you in creating an artistic image of interior décor based on your ideas and requirements. You should be able to describe those concepts as precisely as possible to your designer, so he could help you with the realization: arrange the space properly, decide what to emphasize, choose comfortable furniture, highlight the most important details and hide the imperfections of the space.

Your Vesna and Katja,
HOME & CO