There are few things that can turn a day around as quickly as coming home to a house that you love. There’s something about pulling into the garage, and taking a deep breath that resets your mood. That’s why choosing the right interior designer is so important.
If you try and do a home renovation or new build on your own, you could come home to a house that feels more like a disaster than a project – with no end in sight. Or, if you pick the wrong designer, you could walk through your front door and still hate your kitchen countertops.
This is why the phone call before you pick a designer matters. Here’s what we want you to know before hopping on a call with an interior designer.
We want to get to know you on a personal level
Your home should be an embodiment of who you are. To design a space that captures all the great things about you, it’s essential for us to know you. We want to know your lifestyle, hobbies, how many people will be living in the home, how often you throw parties, and how you like to spend your down time. This can help us begin outlining a home that’s stylish and substantive.
If you’re not sure how to help us get to know you, consider the following.
Bring some inspiration pieces from your own life
If you’re struggling with how to help us get to know you on a personal level, take note of a couple of pieces of furniture or decorations that you love. Whether it’s a rocking chair you inherited from your great grandma, or a couple of black and white photos you bought on your honeymoon in New York, we can learn a lot about you from the things you love.
How do you want to feel when you come home?
You can also think about the function of each room, and how you want it to feel. For example, do you have four kids that tend to run around in your kitchen? Do you want to bring in some calming and grounding elements so when you make dinner you feel at peace, even if the rest of the house is crazy?
Or are you looking for a very modern and sleek office at the front of your home to bring clients to now that you’ve started your own law practice? Do you need to make a positive first impression that instills confidence in your clients that they’ve found the right person to work with?
Knowing how you want each room to feel can also help us get to know you, and your life, better.
Figure out what you do and don’t like before the call
Knowing what you like and don’t like is the cornerstone of a successful design process. You can find a lot of inspiration throughout the internet via Pinterest, Instagram, or on interior design sites. You can also check out our previous blog posts that share different kinds of style aesthetics.
While it may feel overwhelming, do your best to think through as much as you can and reach out when you’re ready to be decisive. Or, you can leave the decisions entirely to us! Just make sure you’ve made that decision when you’re ready to start your project.
You can work with an interior designer outside of Denver, but there are some drawbacks
Despite how advanced technology is, there are still some major perks to hiring a designer in your area. First, your interior designer will be able to visit your home and get a feel for the space in person. This means they won’t be relying on your descriptions, photos, and videos. There’s something about being able to be in a space that can help an interior designer be extra creative with their designs.
Also, if an interior designer is local then they’ll be able to manage some of the in-person tasks. For example, at Spark Interiors we work with local warehouses so we can order and receive all your shipments, and verify that each order is correct. This means you don’t have to be home to sign for packages. Plus, boxes won’t be cluttering up your living space or getting damaged in the process.
We’ll deliver all the furniture and materials as they’re needed – so you won’t have to lift a finger. If you’ve got a busy job, or multiple responsibilities on your plate already, being able to hand some of these administrative tasks off to a designer is invaluable for your personal life and helps keep your project on track.
Check out our work before you schedule the call
You don’t want to hop on a call with a designer until you check out their work. This helps you save yourself some time, as you already know we’re a good fit stylistically. If you’re someone looking for a style that’s outside of our wheelhouse, we’ll likely have to refer you to someone else rather than being able to work with you (and we can easily do that via email).
For example, if you’re looking to create a funky mid-century modern home, we won’t be a great fit for you, as this isn’t a design style we normally do. Instead, we love transitional or modern homes with big pops of color and big personalities.
If you’re still looking for inspiration you can find some in our portfolio and determine if we’re a good fit for one another!
Make sure we offer the services you’re looking for
Not every interior designer does every type of interior design. Before we hop on a call, make sure that we offer the service that you’re looking for. Again, we’re happy to refer you if you need a service that we don’t offer, but that’s better suited for an email than a call.
Services we offer
- Whole-Home Furnishing
- Whole-Home Remodeling
- Window Treatments
- Residential New Construction
- Commercial Tenant Improvement
- Commercial Remodeling
- Commercial New Construction
- Smaller Design Packages
Services we don’t offer
- Color consults for fewer than 3 rooms
- “Fill-in” furnishing
- Home Staging
- Home Styling or Decorating
Set clear expectations around your budget and deadline
While you may not know exactly how much you’re willing to spend on your project, it’s a good idea to come up with a range when it comes to how much you want to spend on a project or remodel. We will ultimately help you budget appropriately, but remodeling is a significant investment (and well worth it). Most of our jobs range between $150k and $1 million.
Equally as important is knowing your timeline. While we will help you with your timeline, like your budget, if you’ve got a date that you need your project done by it’s important to communicate that with us. We want to meet your expectations, and if we can’t, we want to let you know before the project starts.
It’s smart to be flexible and open to how long the designer thinks it will take. So, start talking to designers before you’re ready to get started. A full kitchen remodel can’t be done in two weeks, or even a month. If you want a new kitchen by Thanksgiving, you should be interviewing designers in January.
If you value sustainability, you’re in the right place
Not all of our clients care about their carbon footprint, or using recycled materials, but the clients we jive with most tend to value sustainability. If you want to incorporate sustainability into your remodel or project, we’d love to help you create a more eco-friendly design. Make sure you mention this is important to you on the call.
The right interior designer is invaluable
When you’re ready to make big changes to your home, it’s likely because it doesn’t reflect you back to the world. So finding the right designer, who can infuse you into your home is no small task to take lightly. Yet, it’s very possible to find a highly qualified professional who’s excited to help you bring your vision to live.
If you’ve checked all the boxes we mentioned above, let’s schedule a call so we can learn more about you and your project.
Think your project might be better as a DIY instead of a job for a professional? Check out this blog to help you decide.
