How hiring an interior designer can help you realise your dream home

A great interior designer will inspire and surprise you, but when it comes to helping you realise your dream home, what does the process involve?

Of course, the phrase ‘dream home’ means different things to any given individual. But once you’ve found the bricks and mortar, what does it take to turn the building into a space that is truly your own? This is when to call in an interior designer. An experienced, knowledgeable, and talented interior designer will know the steps to take to bring the reality of your home closer to your most idealised version of it, combining creativity with pragmatism. Read on to find out how hiring an interior designer can bring your dream home into existence.

Get an interior designer on board early

Commissioning your interior designer at the beginning of the process saves money in the long run. It ensures the result is thought through, well integrated, runs more smoothly, and prevents any decisions that might not contribute to your overall objectives. Involving your interior designer at a later stage could result in a costly false economy.

Including your interior designer in initial conversations about your expectations, desires and queries will allow you to build a foundation upon which they can elaborate to execute your brief. Ultimately, your interior designer is there to manage the logistics. The most important thing is that you enjoy the process.

The first step is finding an interior designer whose style you love. Whatever your taste, the very best interior designers can follow a brief. However, if you choose a designer whose portfolio has caught your attention, be it in your favourite magazine or on Instagram, this could be helpful in realising the kind of home you have your heart set on.

At Kelling Designs, we often find our clients come to us for the personality, colour, pattern and playfulness in our past projects. This sense of play, combined with the sophistication of design elements like bespoke joinery, upholstery and art and antique sourcing, attracts new clients and keeps established friends of the studio coming back to us for more.

Consultation

Once you have found the interior designer you want to instruct, it's time to work with them to arrive at a brief you’re both happy with. At a very basic level, they will be able to work with you on finding out what is achievable in your home, and also, design considerations you may not have realised were available to you. This could be anything from structural changes, spacial positioning, to colour or fabric suggestions that might not have made it onto your initial moodboard (or Pinterest board!).

The consultation period is also the ideal time to talk to your interior designer about your lifestyle and how you use your home. If you have children on the way, you might want you to consider stainproof fabrics and washable wallcoverings or wall paint. If you love to entertain, this could influence the layout of your dining area or kitchen, depending on whether you enjoy formal dinner parties or a more casual affair around an island counter.

There are so many layers of decisions to make around colour, shape, and positioning, which call on the skills of your interior designer. This is your opportunity to tap into those skills to prevent decision fatigue and to make the process of spending your hard-earned money fun. Your interior designer should prioritise decisions that get the best ‘bang for your buck,’ and take the strain out of ordering, making, and delivery schedules.

Working collaboratively

Whatever your goals, it’s important to keep lines of communication with your interior designer open. At a very minimum, their input should work to increase the capital value of your property. This involves good bathroom and kitchen design and ensuring any structural changes have ‘good bones’ that enhance the property’s value over time.

When it comes to art, heirlooms or significant objects in your home, you can work with your interior designer to contextualise and celebrate them. Choosing a curation of artwork for a bedroom or drawing room, for example, could impact the colours you choose for the surrounding walls or furnishings, and more technically, the kind of lighting to specify. Good art lighting can be the key to making a piece of art or a collection of works the focal point in a room.

Ultimately, instructing an interior designer will help you achieve your dream home in a more efficient, cost-effective and enjoyable way.