Every homeowner dreams of one day hiring a professional interior designer. Someone with extensive industry knowledge and the expertise to craft each room in your home to suit your personal tastes and needs.
The problem is that even for homeowners with a sizable renovation budget, a traditional interior designer doesn’t come cheap.
But thanks to technology, the cost of contracting a truly talented designer has plummeted to prices that you wouldn’t believe.
Not only is hiring online design help more affordable than ever, it’s easier, faster and, since it’s all done over the computer or with your smartphone, you can hire anyone in the country—or world for that matter!
4 Distinct Advantages
Along with massive cost savings, there are a host of other benefits to be gained from hiring an interior designer online:
- No time commitments/restraints. With no need to schedule in-home visits both you and your designer can work on your own schedule and at your own speed.
- Better prices for materials/furnishings. A professional designer will be more adept at stretching your renovation budget in ways you might not have considered.
- Flat fees. Paying a traditional designer by the hour can add up. Flat fees ensure that your final price is the same as your quoted price.
- Quick feedback. Designers who work online are able to multitask and manage many clients at one time. It’s easier to keep up on communication when you’re not driving around town from job site to job site.
How it Works
The basic process is roughly the same, regardless of which website you go with. After signing up you’ll first be asked to take a design quiz online. Questions are intelligently arranged to determine your personal design tastes.
Depending on your design style, a list of designers best suited for your project will then be recommended.
Once you have chosen a designer it’s time to upload photos and take measurements of each room you’d like to have professionally redone. All of this is completed with nothing more than your smartphone and a tape measure.
This is also the point in the process where you’ll provide customized information such as furniture you’d like to keep, specific colors or materials you’d like to see included or excluded and so on. For your kitchen and bath, it’s possible to pick out your favorite fixtures from the Consolidated Plumbing supply showroom and request that they be featured in the plans.
From here, what you receive in return varies from company to company and along different price levels. A low-end package might include 2 concept boards and a list of materials suggestions while a fully-customized plan will feature full renderings of each room including furniture placement and even a single in-home visit depending on your location.
Be sure you understand prior to purchase what level of service you have chosen.
Platforms to Consider
Four popular websites are paving the way in the online interior design industry. Take some time to get to know each platform as they work a little differently. Some designers charge by the room and others by the hour, and you can get package deals for your entire house or even pay $100 to have multiple designers vie for your business with sample ideas for one room in your home.
- West Hollywood: Laurel & Wolf
- San Francisco: Decorist
- Denver: Havenly
- New York: Homepolish
How Do I Purchase the Materials?
Designers will always suggest products that can either be found locally or via a third party vendor that will arrange for delivery.
