You may be thinking about hiring an Interior Design Firm like Cottage & Key Design Studio. A professional Interior Designer can create a renovation design in much less time and with less stress and overwhelm than most people could do on their own.
Sure, you can DIY your own design. It usually includes sorting through hundreds of screenshots on your phone, scrolling Instagram, pinning images until 2 in the morning, saving hundreds of pictures on your cell phone. (We’ve been there!!) But creating something similar in your own home? It can feel impossible, especially when you consider the millions of options available. Just because something looks beautiful doesn’t mean it will work in your home with your existing pieces or your budget.
But don’t feel bad! Designing a space that meets your functional and aesthetic goals, all while staying on budget? AND feeling confident in your choices? It’s a hard task and is not easy for most people.
Interior designers, on the other hand, have access to years of experience in both designing and construction. This includes vetted trades, custom vendors, fabricators, trade only product lines, and reputable tradesmen (that actually show up and do quality work). Simply put, when you hire an interior designer, you are hiring an expert to solve your problem.
When it comes to hiring a full service interior designer, you’ll likely have a lot of ideas and questions. The most common questions we get are about how the whole process will unfold. Because we believe the relationships we have with our clients are the most important thing in our business and we want our clients to be fully informed, we want to make sure you ask the right questions.
While your interior designer should know and be upfront about the project process, costs, payment, project timelines, there are a few key questions we think are the most important to ask. It’s extremely important to better understand what working with your Interior Designer will really be like. Below, we explain the questions and why they are important.
What’s your design process? How much time does each part of the process take?
This question is critical to understand what to expect as you move forward working with an interior designer. Although most designers follow a similar process, it is important to understand how your designer moves from initial ideas to the completed finished space.
Here’s what you can expect when you work with our Cottage & Key Design team:
- BEFORE YOU’RE A CLIENT:
Step 01: Click here to review our Design Services and choose which best suits your needs and fill out our contact form.
Step 02: Receive our Welcome email and an Informational Packet that introduces our Design Studio, our process, and what you can expect. If you feel like our style and process aligns with you, we encourage you to schedule a FREE 15 min. Discovery call. During the call, we briefly discuss your project goals, how we can help, answer any questions about our Design Services.
Step 03: For a Whole Home Design or Renovation that requires construction and design work, we’ll schedule a 1 hour in-home or zoom call where we go into depth about your project and create a scope of services specific for your project. Three to seven business days after your consultation, we’ll create a proposal and schedule a Proposal Presentation over zoom to discuss and answer your questions in real time.
For a Kitchen, Bath, or Laundry Restoration, that requires construction and design work, we’ll schedule a 1 hour in-home or zoom call. We go into depth about your project and create a scope of services specific for your project. Three to seven business days after your consultation, we’ll create a proposal and schedule a Proposal Presentation over zoom. We prefer to discuss and answer your questions in real time.
For a Living Space Refresh we’ll take the information from our Discovery Call and create a proposal based on the scope you provide us. One to Three business days after your Discovery Call, we’ll create a proposal and schedule a Proposal Presentation over zoom. We prefer to discuss and answer your questions in real time.
For the Interior Styling Service, we’ll take all of the information from our Discovery Call and create a proposal based on the scope you provide us. One business day after your Discovery Call, we’ll create a proposal and email you a Proposal Presentation. Then we’ll schedule a call to answer your questions.
ONCE YOU’RE A CLIENT
Step 01: Design Style & Information Intake
Step 02: Designing Your Space – We review your measurements, photos, design inspo, and your questionnaire. From there, we create a space plan and present over zoom, then we begin sourcing materials and create your new beautiful space.
Step 03: Design Presentation – Whether you’re near or far, in person or over zoom, you’ll see a comprehensive design plan detailing the recommended materials, tile, and furnishings including samples and swatches.
Step 04: One to Three Rounds of Revisions (Depends on which Design Service you choose)
Step 05: Curated Decor and Accessories plan for each space within the budget pre-set by you. Once completed, we’ll schedule a Presentation over zoom.
Step 06: Ordering / Procurement – We invoice and begin ordering all materials and furnishings. You’re provided with an FFE Schedule (A fancy way of documenting every item ordered) on a private Google Doc. You’ll be able to track what items have been ordered, shipped, and delivered in real time.
Step 07: Contractor or Design Packet Delivery – If we’re designing spaces that require construction, you’ll be given 2D or 3D drawings with specific measurements. This is important for all trades to properly rough in and install. This document would include items such as tile grout, tile spacing, mirror height, lighting placement/heights, literally all of the details you never knew you needed to know. We’ve got you covered! Your contractor will love you because their job just got easier and more clear. This means less mistakes and a more precise estimate of work.
If we’re styling or designing a space with no construction, you’ll receive a Design Packet which shows mock-ups of your spaces for proper item placement. There’s nothing worse than having a porch full of boxes and no clue as to which space it all belongs in. You’ll feel organized and ready to install your finished spaces.
Not sure you want to do the install yourself? No problem! We LOVE install days and we’ll be happy to bring our team and set up your space. All you’d need to do is walk in and fall in love with your home all over again… HGTV style. We can provide quotes for install based on your specific project. Just ask!
Step 08: Designer Support – Upon delivery of your Design Plan & Contractor Packet, you’ll benefit from one to four weeks of designer support depending on which Design Service you have. We’d never want to leave you hanging and want to be sure everything is just right.
How will we communicate throughout the project? How frequently will I hear from you?
You don’t want to feel left in the dark at any time during your project. We hope you never are asking yourself why isn’t my interior designer calling me? Is anything happening? Are they even working on my project?
These thoughts can be very anxiety-provoking and in our experience with our clients. It’s more often that “no news is good news”.
But, you’ll want to make sure you understand the interior designer’s process and key milestones so you aren’t worried if you don’t hear from them during a certain phase. Once you know the design process, you’ll have a full understanding of everything they’re doing behind the scenes to keep your project on track.
Another important thing to be aware of is your preferred communication style and your designer’s. If you prefer phone calls and texts but email is how your interior designer and their team communicate best, you may need to adjust your expectations OR find a designer who is readily available via phone and text.
You’ll also want to know who you’ll be in contact with throughout your project. Is the interior designer the main person you’ll reach out to if you have questions or a team member?
At Cottage & Key, we pride ourselves on our proactive communication. With weekly email updates and monthly site visits (depending on your Design Service), we ensure you’re always informed. Plus, our contractor & design packets provide easy access to project details.
Is there anything else I’ll need to pay for throughout the process?
Hopefully the interior designer’s fees are well understood right from the start. Because you don’t want any surprises down the road. Make sure you have a full understanding of all costs that will be associated with your project. It’s common, especially in projects with construction, to have a contingency budget in place in case of unplanned discoveries.
Will there be shipping and delivery charges, storage fees, travel fees, re-selection fees, hourly billing, meetings, reimbursable expenses, project management fees, installation fees, late fees, etc.? These can add up quickly and your designer should be able to provide you with this information so you know what to expect.
At Cottage & Key, we believe in transparency and have established project minimums for both design fees and budgets for furnishing or construction projects. We believe in transparency and will work with you to prepare a realistic furnishings budget for your project. While we aren’t general contractors and don’t provide bids for construction projects, we are happy to share what typical budgets have been for projects we’ve done in the past. We do have a sister construction company, Cottage & Key Homes. This company is run by Melissa’s Brother and business partner, Brent Green. Melissa and Brent work seamlessly together to ensure your design & build/renovation run smoothly and finish quickly with quality construction. Our construction services are a separate service and are exclusively available to our Design Clients.
If you’re interested in working together, please submit a Project Inquiry Form. From there, we’ll share more information about our services and pricing so you know what to expect.
Read the Comments +