What To Ask Your Interior Designer Before a House Makeover?

People look for change often as routine is boring and makes life very uninteresting and unexciting. You may have often thought about doing a house makeover too, but have held back due to several doubts in mind. There is no time to do the makeover yourself, so you want to hire someone to do it for you. And at the same time, you want it to be done with your ideas and budget in mind. There are hoards of interior decorators offering their services through many media like online, pamphlets or fliers along with your daily newspapers, advertisements inside the papers and magazines etc.

So, how do you decide and what do you ask them before finalizing on one?

Well, here is dispensing all your doubts about hiring or consulting an interior decorator for a house makeover. Ask these questions before you begin work on rebuilding, redecorating, or reshaping your house.

1. Licenses and Permissions

Ask for the interior decorator’s license to work in the neighborhood. Check whether he has permissions from the local authorities as well. Verify the identity of the person and ensure that all these documents are valid and up to date. You don’t want any legal issues to deal with later.

2. Qualifications, Experience, and References

Similarly, see the certificates of qualification. Read about the experience and the kind of work done before. Ask for sample pictures or previous projects done. Additionally, ask for references from previous clients and professions that the interior decorator would have worked with. A reputable house or apartment decorator will likely have numerous reviews online, whether posted on their own sites or places like Google, this can help to reinforce your trust in their work and alleviate any worries you might have about things not being perfect for you. You should always do the due diligence when deciding who to go with, check and refer for any problems like:

• legal tussles
• leaving unfinished work and walking out of projects
• after service follow up and support
• quality of labor and work
• violations of civil laws and regulations
• not paying the labor
• time frames
• overshooting the budget
• adherence to demands and requests
• relationship issues with clients

Find out about the experience too. Look out for any current, pending, or past complaints.

3. Wish List

Share the bucket list you have made for the house makeover. This should include the design, layout, space usage, appliances, tapestry, furniture, gadgets, themes, colors, artificial trees and plants and anything else that you want to change in the house. See the reaction and response to your list and wishes. Is he willing to comply with these or has his own fixed ideas for the makeover. It’s only fair to get him to share his ideas too. Get the danger signals from this discussion and then go ahead. After all, it’s your house.

4. Creativity and Innovation

Ask for creative and innovative ideas for the house makeover. It’s not very often that you would do that, thus make sure that the interior decorator shares plenty of ideas for you to shortlist and finalize. These ideas should be new and interesting, within your budget, and make your house look attractive too. Check the color combinations, variety of materials and designs of items, and quality of products as suggested. Look out for the ideas in styles and themes for your house.

5. Processes

Understand well the processes or work style of the professional. This includes the work hours, approach to problems, the sequence of work etc. Will he /she do everything or are you expected to do a bit of handling too? Get answers to this.

6. Budget

Once you are in concurrence with the things you want to be changed in the house, scout around yourself and see the costs. Make a budget for how much you can spend on all things. Don’t forget to include the artificial foliage like faux boxwood mat, artificial garden plants flowers etc. There should be plenty of decorative colorful plants like hanging silk plants, silk flowers, artificial coconut palm, artificial vines etc. These plants look realist and add beauty to the house.

7. Initial Visit

Ask the interior decorator if he is willing to come in for the first inspection of the house so that ideas can be listed and shared. This is the most important aspect. Have a face to face conversation which is much better than the electronic media. It helps to form opinions and take decisions when discussions have face to face on the site rather than in the agency or the professional’s office. This will also help to build a good rapport too. It will be worth paying a bit of consultation fee rather than just speaking over the phone or sending emails.

8. Time Frames

Make the time frames for the completion very clear from the beginning. Share your expectations and ask about this very clearly right at the start. You may have a function or occasion coming up and the professional may be tied up with other projects as well. Ask about any other current projects that he may be working on.

9. Labor

Enquire about the number of labor and their credentials too before doing a makeover with an interior decorator. It is important to know how many people are going to walk in and out of your house and at what times. Also, are you expected to feed them? Usually, it’s their arrangements for meals. But, clarify this.

10. Follow-ups

Ask about the follow-ups that the professional can give once the work is over. Though once you have done a makeover, you may not want any more professional advice. You can adjust or shift or rearrange things yourself. But, this is an important question to ask.

Apart from all these questions, inquire about the source of materials and their quality. These include new appliances, tapestry, furniture, electric fittings etc.

Insist on having space for faux foliage which may include fake bamboo trees and faux hedges for the balcony, terrace, or even a garden. There should be plenty of decorative colorful plants like hanging silk plants, artificial coconut palm, artificial vines etc. These plants look realist and add beauty to the house. They are also fire retardant and durable. You will enjoy their sheen in years to come.

The interior decorator, who answers all the above questions to your satisfaction, is the right choice for you.  Be confident and begin the house makeover which will make your house an even better place to live than before.