Do you even need a designer?? 5 Things to Consider.
This is a good question. And only you can answer it for your situation.
So, go ahead and stop reading, because I have nothing to contribute.
JK. I have stupid amounts of things to contribute. All. The. Time. So, while this is totally your decision to make, here are some things to consider when you’re trying to decide if you need to hire a designer:
Reason #1: Professional Input
That’s right, our brains are chock full of insider info and creative ideas! And we can share that knowledge with you!
So, for me specifically: what has contributed to my expertise? Let’s tally it up:
4 Years of university courses learning the principles of design and the characteristics of common materials
4+ Years of marketing and design for Smith Brothers of Berne (a custom upholstery manufacturer)
2 years doing interior design work independently
Furniture shows every 6 months to see the latest trends and shop a ton of different vendors, some who only sell to the trade
Travel to over 30 countries, which has broadened my exposure to styles and methods for creating rich environments
Bazillions of hours creating and planning my own spaces over the years (Bazillions. Fact.)
I don’t mean to brag, but what I’m basically saying is I’m very important. I have many leather-bound books, and my apartment smells of rich mahogany. …and if you let me, I can make your apartment smell of rich mahogany, too.
Ultimately, my experience has taught me where to find certain products, which vendors to rely on, how to tell if a leather or fabric is going to last where you plan to use it, and a lot of other things that can take the stress out of what is, for some people, a really confusing and frustrating process.
Reason #2: Your Time
So, I don’t want to seem ridiculous… but I spend an obscene amount of time shopping for furniture, decor, rugs, window treatments, door knobs, light fixtures, tile… oh, God, the hours I’ve spent shopping for tile! Picking out light switches recently… probably a solid 5 hours comparing the options, reading reviews, and then I took the next week to order samples from different companies so I could see which finish was the right level of matte vs glossy.
This is obsession-level shopping.
Why does it matter to you? Because you don’t have to spend your own time doing this. I’m going to keep looking for the right thing until I’m satisfied that I’ve seen the options and found the best one. And I don’t bill hourly for this. (I don’t want to have to justify to a client why I spent 5 hours looking for the perfect sconce before deciding we should use a pendant light instead.) So, if you aren’t obsessed with shopping for your home, you can pass that responsibility over to me and spend your hours doing something you like. (Or laundry, or whatever it is that you need to do.)
Reason #3: Insurance
Ideally, I would be able to guarantee perfection to all of my clients. But, real life says, “nope. can’t do it.” The reality is that things don’t go according to plan and people make mistakes. In some cases, those people are me, and that’s not always a bad thing for you.
For example:
Last summer I was helping a client choose outdoor furniture for their pool and patio that had not yet been built. I was given a copy of the builder’s plans to work from. I came up with a floor plan, my clients approved, I picked furniture, and my clients purchased it. Two months later, the patio bar was being built and we realized that I specified bar stools, but they should have been counter stools. We were well past the return window. Since it was a mistake I made, I bought them the counter stools. No charge. They kept the bar stools to give away or sell. If you make that kind of mistake on your own, you have to pay for the second set of stools. That’s what I mean by insurance.
HDC also has traditional insurance coverage for the big stuff, but we also cover you for the type of insurance that you can’t claim to an agency for compensation.
Reason #4: Your Personal Karen
Confronting people who have failed you can be awkward AF. If I’m in the mix, I’m the one who will be telling the flooring guy that he needs to come back and fix that corner with the gap. If I’m on the project, that means you don’t have to deal with returning the cabinet that arrived with a huge crack in it, or wait on hold for a supervisor to come to the phone. I’m your Karen. (Sorry to the people named Karen out there… I feel for you; a legal name change is a pain!)
So, besides helping you avoid awkward and frustrating situations, there’s another reason it benefits you to have me deal with these things: I’m not just your Karen, I’m also your manager. (As in, “I stopped listening to you, I want to speak with your manager!”)
There are some vendors who have a special team to help (and prioritize) trade professionals when they need something. There are also times where vendors try harder because they know I could bring them future business. It might not seem fair, but the reality is that as a trade professional, I will often get better service than consumers do when there are issues, and the whole conversation goes a little smoother because there is an assumption that my complaints are more valid than a consumer’s. Maybe not fair, but it’s reality, and when you’re trying to resolve problems, you want all the tools you can get.
Reason #5: Pricing
Buried the lead here, didn’t I? Let’s be frank, pricing is a pretty enticing reason to hire a designer. Most vendors sell their products at a lower price to trade professionals (including designers). I split my discounts 50/50 with my clients, so if we save, you save.
Now, I’m not going to act like there’s always a massive trade discount; but, for instance: my discount at Crate & Barrel is 20%. If a dining table is priced at $2,000, my price is $1600, and we’ll share the discount 50/50, so your price is $1800. With taxes, you’re saving $216.75. Not a massive amount, but if I gave you $216.75 right now, would you be angry about it?
That’s just an example of the math on a pretty typical retail discount. There’s also a whole world of wholesale vendors who sell to designers at steeper discounts than that. If we purchase wholesale for your project, you can expect to save a pretty decent chunk of money compared to what you’d pay buying it on your own.
(And don’t forget that this also comes with improved customer service if there are any problems.)
So, in the end, only you can say whether you would benefit from hiring a designer to help with your project, but I hope I’ve given you helpful information to make the decision a little easier.
