Renovating your existing home or embarking on a new build?
When you’re investing time and money into a large-scale project like this, it’s essential to have the right expertise on your side.
An interior designer is that expert. They are a secret weapon who can guide you through this often complicated process and save you time, money and potential hassle as they do it.
Put simply? They will make your life so much EASIER.
In this post, we’ll unpack the top three reasons an interior designer will benefit your renovation or build
#1: An interior designer will create designs that are customised to YOU.
Far from only being concerned with decorative detail or finishing touches, interior design is about creating spaces that genuinely serve a purpose.
Let’s unpack this in the context of your home. A well-considered home design means that every room performs the purpose you need it to, in a way that is both functional and beautiful.
What this actually looks like in practice for you may look very different to your friends or neighbours; after all, we all have different lifestyles, needs and family structures.
That’s why it’s so important that your interior design is customised to you and truly reflects the way you want to live now and in the future.
But when you kick off your home renovation or build, these bigger questions may often be forgotten in the hustle, as you start executing without an end goal in mind.
This is a one-way ticket to overwhelm! Not only are you more likely to be seduced by blink-and-you’ll-miss-it trends that don’t necessarily suit your space or budget, you have no overarching rationale that you can apply when making design decisions.
Working with an interior designer will ensure you have a crystal-clear vision from the get-go.
Rather than defaulting to a one-size-fits-all approach, they will help you clarify the purpose behind your renovation and define what a successful outcome looks like to you.
This foundational work all happens at the start of your project.
Any designer worth their salt will have a rock-solid briefing process, which might include detailed surveys, consultation calls and site meetings. At this stage, they’re asking you a whole host of questions – some that you may never even have considered – and helping you to articulate your preferences, priorities and lifestyle. Oh and just as importantly? They will clarify any constraints you’re working with (AKA your budget and timeframe) so that their recommendations are realistic and achievable from the very beginning.
#2: They’ll save you time and money
You don’t know what you don’t know.
This is the piece of advice everyone needs before embarking on their home renovation or build. When you haven’t gone through a similar project before, it’s very common to feel like you’re ‘flying blind’.
While winging it may be ok in other areas of life, the scale of a renovation or build means any mistakes will have a proportionately bigger impact. And that impact will directly affect your budget or timeframe… or both!
One of the biggest superpowers an interior designer can bring to your renovation or build is their ability to anticipate potential roadblocks before they happen.
One example of ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ in action? Building compliance; otherwise known as the building and zoning regulations that affect how you’re allowed to renovate or build on your property.
An experienced interior designer will quickly determine the particular regulations that impact your property and the approvals you’ll need to acquire.
Being able to identify these at the start of your project will help you allocate sufficient time and money to this key stage and avoid budget blow-outs or losing that all-important momentum.
This benefit of informed decision making also goes beyond compliance and helps you confidently make all kinds of choices throughout your home renovation or build.
Whether it’s selecting furnishings, finishes, fixtures or even coming up with the entire floor plan, it’s easy to take a scattergun approach that doesn’t consider how the design will meet your specific needs. And spoiler alert – that’s a total time and money suck. Think of it like going to the grocery store on an empty stomach and spending big, only to realise you forgot the essentials and can’t make your favourite dinner!
By contrast, working with an interior designer will save you time and money. That’s because you’re going into the process with an expert who can advise you on what will work in your specific situation (and what to leave on the proverbial shelf!)
And beyond saving you that time and money in the short-term, an interior designer will be able to advise you on how to renovate or build for longevity. They can help you maximise your initial investment by ensuring your design can evolve with you into the future and continue to meet your changing needs.
#3: An interior designer will ensure your renovation or build runs smoothly start to finish
A home renovation or build has MANY moving parts, from forming your design concept, to drafting detailed drawings, to selecting materials and furniture.
And of course, there’s the construction phase, where you’re bringing your design to life with the support of key tradespeople.
When you’re going it alone, it can be downright overwhelming to project-manage multiple people, be available for a steady stream of questions, keep tabs on your budget and trouble-shoot challenges as they arise. Especially because you have a little thing called a life to attend to (read: jobs, chores, children!)
Working with an interior designer means you have someone in your corner, advocating for your project from start to finish.
Far from being confined to the aesthetic details, an experienced designer will have a firm grasp on every phase – including construction – and how each professional contributes to the process.
This is so valuable because they can act as a project manager on your behalf, with an eye for detail and the specific experience and language they need to liaise with different tradespeople.
Not only does this avoid costly mistakes or miscommunication, it ultimately protects the integrity of your design vision.
When your interior designer has been involved from the beginning, they have an intimate understanding of your goals, your budget and what a successful outcome looks like to you. After all, it was their briefing process that helped you articulate all that in the first place!
With this knowledge in their back pocket, they can ensure your vision stays consistent, no matter how long the process or how many professionals are involved.
