Interior Designer wanted or not?

oxysept

Male, single, mid 30's, I know what I don't like but not so clear on what I like
Just about to close on my first house - builders finish - I managed to select a kitchen and the basic bathroom stuff is done, I will move in quickly.
I have a good job (as secure as any is in these times), but I work every hour I can (hence single). Finding time to pick carpets furniture paint tiles organising trades I don't have and it bores me..... but I do like a nice house finish, it doesn't all have to happen now but I'm afraid if I start on this project I'll do it so piece meal that i'll end up with a house like an explosion in a box of smarties :eek:.
Location - West of Ireland.

Is using an interior designer an option? - exactly what services do they provide in a normal residential setting? - what is there charging structure? any recommendations?
Either way I don't want to waste money - going at it myself and later reworking it - or paying for advice that may not be worth it.

I know its a some what frivolous issue compared to what many people are facing right now ... so I'm expecting the negative replies.

Diceicle

Hi Oxysept,

Myself and my girlfriend were in a similar situation about a year and a half ago, working a lot of hours and not having the time to dedicate to the house.

So we hired an interior designer to help us out. To be honest my girlfriend dealt with her a lot more than I did, but the dealings that I had with the designer, I found her easy to deal with and she had some great ideas.

As regards the charging structure, we were given the option of an hourly rate or fixed fee for the project. We opted for the fixed as I dont like not knowing a final figure tbh.

Let me know if you want her details and I'll PM you.

paddy147

get into the house and enjoy living in and figure out what your spaces are like.

Dont hire an interior designer yet,until you have a feel for the house,the surroundings and you get an idea of what you like.

You have all the time in the world,as its your house.

From my experience,using an interior designer for things like getting carpets laid and stuff like is money wasted.

Its something you can quite easily sort out yourself either on your own or with the help of a few friends,picking out carpets and then getting the carpet company to fit them

Des Kelly,Carpet Right,121 Flooring and the likes do great deals on hall,stairs,bedroom carpet packages that include undeerlay and fitting.

Interior desgners sometimes tend to forget that its what the clients house and not their own house,also interior designers are like architects,in that they forget about money and end up running up a massive bill in no time at all.Typical I suppose

Do it yourself over a few weekends and you will be happy and also save alot of money.

Now is a perfect time to shop for bargins in carpet,paints,furniture and all stuff that relates to house and decor.

Trust me,as I have been down this road myself recently with a house renovation and new build.Myself and my girlfriend never did any decorating before in our lives,now we are very good at it and we saved ALOT of euros too.And we feel like we accomplished something,in the fact that we designed the layout and decorated our own new house,the exact way we wanted and like it.

The trick was leaving it clutter free (barely any furniture) for a few months and getting a feel for the rooms and the spaces in the house and seeing what colours gave us the various moods and settings we wanted,also how natural daylight affects each room with regards light and shade.

Diceicle

I disagree with almost everything said in the post above but I dont have time to go into it right now, there's socializing to be done!

oxysept

Diceicle wrote: »

..... there's socializing to be done!

that's true ..... fitting out the house would eat further into the limited time that I spend at that

Paddy .. I know what's your saying ... get used of the space & make it my own.

One of the reservations I have in using some one is that the house will end up feeling like one of the many apartments I've rented over the years & not mine.

but I'm leaning towards hiring some one to help

Thanks for the replies

paddy147

Diceicle wrote: »

I disagree with almost everything said in the post above but I dont have time to go into it right now, there's socializing to be done!

Well,thats you and you personally.

But with with regards a moving into a new house,and with regards to money wastege and and money saving/cost saving ideas.

As per some of the OPs questions.


And Im speaking as a person who just had a major house renovation and big new extension built too,basicly a brand new house,as the original house was stripped back to just 4 bare walls,and even the 1st floor was taken out of it,just a shell was left.
I prefer the hands on work when it comes to the layout and how I want my interiors to look,I would much rather be in control of that than have someone else do it for me and spend out money un-necessarily too.


P.S to the OP - If you want ideas,and to also see how interior designers can spend money like its going out of fashion and also mess up rooms sometimes,then look at programes on RTE like Home Improvements or Show House and see what interior designers do to peoples new houses and blow their budgets out of the water.

I love these shows and designers,where they ask the person their budget, Say its 15 grand max,yet the interior designer feels its perfeclty ok to run up a bill of 25-30k,as she/he is the one whos the interior designer.But then the client is stuck with the massive bill,at the end,even when the client states from the word go,that the budget is 15k.These interior designers seem to have very selective hearing.


If you want your own personal style,then go and hire in a painter and a decorator and buy the materials yourself,or else choose the colours yourself and show them exactly what walls you want painted or papered and tell them how you want the house to look.Then go and buy some furniture that compliments the style of your house,and the colour scheme,whether its coutry style,modern chic or contemp look

That will save you alot of money too,but not take up too much of your time.

My thoughts are get into the house and get a sense of the house layout 1st,then decide what you want in the house and get the house looking nice and be happy with it.

Then you are free to hold all your parties or socializing events in it.Then all your friends can be wowed by what a stunning house you have.You will be the envy of them.

amdublin

Unless you're mad into home decor my rule of thumb would be:
Single man = get an interior designer.


I agree with you. It will end up looking like a rented house if you don't...

Enjoy your new home either way!

paddy147

amdublin wrote: »

Single man = get an interior designer.

Where did you ever come up with that one????
Stupid comment to make and state with regards being a man and being single.



Funny how I was single when I bought my house originally,yet I was able and capable of choosing stuff myself,not afraid to pick up a paint brush/roller brush and paint a few walls over the course of a few hours every week or so,when not working like crazy.

Furniture shops on a saturday or sunday morning for an hour or 2,haggle for a few minutes with the salesman in the various shops,deal done,swipe of the credit card or hand over the cash and furniture bought and free delievery.

It not something difficult to do, and its not rocket science either.

This time around myself and my girlfriend got stuck into the painting and interior design and layout of the newly refurbed and extended house,but we did and are doing it to our own exact tastes.And we both have hectic lifestyles and careers too.

amdublin

paddy147 wrote: »

Where did you ever come up with that one????
Stupid comment to make and state with regards being a man and being single.



Funny how I was single when I bought my house originally,yet I was able and capable of choosing stuff myself,not afraid to pick up a paint brush/roller brush and paint a few walls over the course of a few hours every week or so,when not working like crazy.

Furniture shops on a saturday or sunday morning for an hour or 2,haggle for a few minutes with the salesman in the various shops,deal done,swipe of the credit card or hand over the cash and furniture bought and free delievery.

It not something difficult to do, and its not rocket science either.

This time around myself and my girlfriend got stuck into the painting and interior design and layout of the newly refurbed and extended house,but we did and are doing it to our own exact tastes.And we both have hectic lifestyles and careers too.

Different strokes for different folks.

Op. If you feel confident as this poster did then do it on your own.

If not get an interior decorator.

I've single men friends who've done it themselves and as you said yourself their houses look like rented accommodation.

My advise would be use the interior designer.

paddy147

amdublin wrote: »

Different strokes for different folks.

Op. If you feel confident as this poster did then do it on your own.

If not get an interior decorator.

I've single men friends who've done it themselves and as you said yourself their houses look like rented accommodation.

My advise would be use the interior designer.

Being a man and single has nothing to do with it looking like its rented.

Its called lack of imagination and also more about a persons creativity too.

Regardless of being a man,woman,single or attached,married,or a professional builder or contractor or designer.




Being "male and single" is s stupid statement to make.

P.S-For the record,alot of new built houses and developments are finished in Magnolia,that people use to live in ,or put out to rent.

Professional builders and building companies use Magnolia as a wall finish,as its classed as a "standard" finish in a house.Also has the term "rented" look too.

amdublin

paddy147 wrote: »

Being a man and single has nothing to do with it looking like its rented.

Its called lack of imagination and also more about a persons creativity too.

Regardless of being a man,woman,single or attached,married,or a professional builder or contractor or designer.




Being "male and single" is s stupid statement to make.

P.S-For the record,alot of new built houses and developments are finished in Magnolia,that people use to live in ,or put out to rent.

Professional builders and building companies use Magnolia as a wall finish,as its classed as a "standard" finish in a house.Also has the term "rented" look too.

Grand Paddy, you know it all. Sure why don't you go off and become an interior designer or something.

Op based on the concerns you have expressed my advice would be that you should get an interior designer for your new home.

yop

Girls keep it civil or there will be a few "holidays" dished out

Everyone has different opinions, respect them please and dont start picking on others ideas.

paddy147

amdublin wrote: »

Grand Paddy, you know it all. Sure why don't you go off and become an interior designer or something.

Op based on the concerns you have expressed my advice would be that you should get an interior designer for your new home.

Im happy with the career that I have,construction and IT based.

I dont want to be an interior designer,but I do like to have a say in what and who works on and in my house and what I want done in it.

I also like to be in total control of my budget too.And I do like to get the hands dirty and get stuck and do some painting and redesign myself even with a very busy job and lifestyle.

Not afraid of it and not afraid to learn from any misstakes made,be them my own misstakes or others.Thats how you learn to get it right afterall.

Its also a great sense of pride,that you have something completed and you did it yourself too.

amdublin

paddy147 wrote: »

Im happy with the career that I have,construction and IT based.

I dont want to be an interior designer,but I do like to have a say in what and who works on and in my house and what I want done in it.

I also like to be in total control of my budget too.And I do like to get the hands dirty and get stuck and do some painting and redesign myself even with a very busy job and lifestyle.

Not afraid of it and not afraid to learn from any misstakes made,be them my own misstakes or others.Thats how you learn to get it right afterall.

Its also a great sense of pride,that you have something completed and you did it yourself too.

This isn't about you

Oxy (again!), based on the concerns you have expressed I think you are right to be leaning towards getting an interior designer.

Good luck in your new home!

paddy147

amdublin wrote: »

This isn't about you

Oxy (again!), based on the concerns you have expressed I think you are right to be leaning towards getting an interior designer.

Good luck in your new home!

You said to me "sure why dont you become a designer".So I posted my reply to you and why.


It isnt about stereotyping/type casting a "male being single" and not decorating,like you have done.:rolleyes:

oxysept

Everyone has opinions - that's why I posted here so I could to hear a few

The single & male piece in my original post ....is just that I don't have someone close to bounce ideas off of or get permission from :-) I'm not long in the area.
I did have a good friend of mine visit the house tonight - the kitchen that i picked is almost in she thought it was very well done & loved the fire place I picked.
I'm fairly handy with tools & painting I have done it in the past when needed for family & friends -
But it took a huge amount of time to do that much - & I'm picky about things being "right" - to do it right takes time & effort.
I guess my question(s) is if it is more or less hassle to engage someone else ?
What is the real value proposition of using someone? - I've seen the programs & noticed the inability to control budgets - but that's TV - and budgets is much of what I do
so if I set a budget I'm confident there won't be an overrun.... I'm always favourable to budget ... keeps the bean counters away.

yop

We bought a shed load of magazines and searched the net for various images of rooms so that we could do ours.
We visited tile showrooms, furniture stores, kitchen places etc and took pic and noted colors and styles. Then we put that down and came up with a design!

Diceicle

Just in relation to my own experience with a designer. To be fair, my experience was somewhat limited, as my OH did most of the interaction but I digress.
A point was made that if you get in an Interior Designer (ID) then your house will look like "someone elses and not your own" this is obviously madness unless you just hand a designer your keys and f.off until they're finished then you have final say in what goes in and what doesnt. A designer comes up with a concept based on a brief you give them (like many types of design jobs) they fulfill that brief, bring a fresh perspective and provide you with (what should be) years of training and experience. Look, many people have houses extensively decorated from B&Q and Dunnes Homeware section, homes accross the land with identical tack in them, if you dont mind that, or are confident in your design abilities or dont care what people think of your home then fire away, if someone wants help and professional advice....get a designer in. Simples.

I do think Paddy is missing the point slightly, its not about people not being willing to pick up a roller and get their hands dirty (a point that he seemed to make a while ago) its about having the right colour on that roller, or about having the right wallpaper, or information about where to see unique / unusual wallpaper / accessories or whatever. I know that if I were tasked with fitting out a place (even though I am quite design minded) I would have a hard time achieving the standard that our designer achieved for us. I'd probably have one of those magnolia palaces, decked out in marshmellow arm sofas and decorative lampshades from dunnes with prints from the B&Q Gallery.