Before You Hire an Interior Designer, Read This
How do you choose an interior designer? Full disclosure: I wish I knew.
But I do know what I'd consider based on my years of experience in the biz. A little biased? Maybe. A self-serving exploration? Possibly. But it is something I think about often.
So here is my insider take on how to choose an interior designer—and what I would want to know before hiring one.
Once you decide to take on a major renovation or whole-home design project, I do know from experience you will spend a LOT of time with your interior designer.
We get a firsthand look at how our clients live, what they value, what they ignore, and how they invest their time and money. I know if you walk your dog or let them go in the yard. We see what comes easily to our clients and where they disagree.
I joke with my own long-time therapist that I know her clients better than she does. She’s not talking to her clients in their bedroom or in the laundry room.
Feel a little personal? It is.
And I don’t take this lightly.
Having spent my early years working in finance and then on Madison Avenue, I learned to treat our clients’ money like our own. And I do to this day. I also treat the information we glean from our time together like it’s my own diary.
The relationship we build is deep, by design. That depth of understanding is what we need to create homes that are deeply personal and meaningful.
All this to say, I know our work is what opens the door. But it’s what’s behind those pictures that truly separates us. And it’s the relationship we build together that shapes the path to that transformation of design.
So if I were choosing an interior designer for my own home, here’s what I’d pay attention to.
1. Do You Actually Like Each Other?
Our projects take about four to six months on the smaller scale, to as many as three years or more on the larger. (Consider a full restoration. It takes time.)
There will be fun conversations about beautiful things. Exciting meetings spent considering materials.
But there will also be decisions ad nauseam, budget talks and compromises, delays and snags. There will be inspired talks and hard conversations.
It takes a lot of trust, but it is our responsibility, as your designer, to build that trust along the way.
Like any first date, trust your gut.
If you both walk away feeling excited about the prospect of working together, you’re off to a good start.
And I think the best way of knowing if the designer is right for you is to meet several of them. But don't stress yourself out. I think three is a good place to start.
If you leave the first meeting thinking, “Their work is amazing, but I’m not sure that’s who I want to make 34,000 decisions with,” pay attention to that.
2. Does the Designer Want to Create Your House—or Theirs?
I don’t believe there is just one designer for each project. But ultimately, one must be selected.
So how is that done if you like the work of several? And even had a positive initial meeting with more than one?
I admire designers who have a strong point of view and a clearly identifiable style. But I also notice when the designer’s style starts to become the style of every house they work on.
I think hiring a designer to uncover and develop the best of what you and your family love—rather than what the designer loves—is rooted in that deep, personal relationship built through exploration and discovery.
Your home shouldn't feel like someone else's house.
It should feel unmistakably like yours.
3. What Is the Designer’s Process Actually Like?
We want our clients to love the outcome, but we also want our clients to really love the experience of getting there.
It is a long, sometimes tedious, often inspiring, truly enlightening and occasionally frustrating process.
I often joke with our clients entering a full gut renovation that there will come a time when they realize they don’t give a damn about the hinges on the laundry room cabinets.
But we do.
And we always will.
We care about the screw on the AC register. Seriously, we recently had crooked, protruding screws fixed on a return air vent.
Designing is creative. But a design project is a process.
There are thousands of decisions that happen between “we need a better kitchen” and the finished photographs.
Knowing you have someone who understands every step of the process, what trades to pull into a project (and those to avoid), where to splurge and where to save, when to question and when to trust—that matters.
Knowing you have someone advocating for you? That is where the real beauty resides.
Understandably, prospective clients are eager to know how long it will take and how much it will cost. I want to know this too. It helps inform so many aspects of a project.
But be cautious of someone who can tell you that upfront.
It’s impossible to know the timing and cost of something we haven’t defined.
I would encourage you instead to understand the process your designer will use to get you to that answer.
Ask:
What happens first?
How are decisions made?
What will you need from me?
Who keeps track of everything, and how?
How will I know what’s coming next?
What happens when something goes wrong?
Our firm works on the belief that the rigid structure of our process is what clears the path for the creative freedom we need.
When everyone knows what’s happening next, what decisions must be set in stone, and what we can continue to refine along the way, we can focus our energy most effectively on the creative decisions that make the work meaningful, personal and lasting.
4. What Does the Designer Want to Know About You?
When we meet a new client, we aren’t actually that interested in how they define their style.
Not out of the gate anyway.
We want to know how they live and how they use their house now, even if we are building something new or planning a gut renovation.
What’s working?
What’s driving them nuts?
Where does everyone end up at the end of the day?
What do they want this house to make possible that isn’t happening now?
Sometimes clients know exactly what they want. Other times they aren’t sure. And some really have no idea.
All are fine with us.
Our role, as we see it, is to be the design sherpa—to listen closely, observe, see between the lines, and understand what a home needs to become.
I know I would choose a designer more interested in me and my family than in telling me about an aesthetic.
5. Who Is Going to Carry the Complexity?
A design sherpa? Is that a thing?
I think it is.
You hire a designer because you don't know the answer or have the confidence to get there yourself. And it is our job to earn your confidence along the way.
Our process is designed to get you to a place where you can say:
“They understand the problem.”
“They’ve considered the possibilities.”
“I know why they are making these recommendations.”
And most importantly:
“I trust them to take it from here.”
You’re on your way to clarity.
We’ve done this before and we follow a rigid process. Not because we love rules and paperwork. But because we’ve learned that having a system for everything around the creativity is what allows the creativity to move and be better.
Architects. Builders. Engineers. Landscape designers. Lighting people. Workrooms. Fabricators. Installers. Craftspeople. Vendors.
The list of collaborators is deep.
Our clients don’t need to be the experts in all of this.
But we believe they do need to be able to say:
“I know where we are in the process. I know where we are going. I know why we are going there. I know what is coming next. I know what my team needs from me, and I know when I’ll know more.”
Our role is to manage the complexity of the work behind the beautiful rooms.
6. What Happens When Something Goes Wrong?
Something will go wrong.
A delay. An unexpected discovery. A misplaced order. Two weeks of rain.
I don’t say that to scare anyone. It’s just reality.
I’d pay close attention to how a designer describes their projects.
A promise of a perfectly smooth project is unrealistic.
An understanding of a clear process for how they respond when the project isn’t perfectly smooth? That’s meaningful.
Who solves the problem?
Who communicates with you?
Who figures out the next move?
Because the measure of a good design team isn't that nothing unexpected ever happens.
It's knowing who has your back when it does.
What Should You Ask an Interior Designer Before Hiring Them?
If I were interviewing interior designers for a major renovation or whole-home project, these are the questions I’d want answered:
How do you get to know your clients and how they actually live?
How would you describe your design process?
What types of projects are the best fit for your firm?
Who will I actually work with throughout the project?
How do you work with architects, builders and other collaborators?
How will I know where we are in the process and what comes next?
How do you approach project budgets and investment decisions?
How do you determine a realistic project timeline?
What happens when something unexpected happens?
What do you need from me for this relationship to work well?
And then I'd ask myself one more:
Do I trust these people with my home?
Because you're not just selecting someone to make it beautiful.
You're selecting the people who are going to help you get there.
How Many Interior Designers Should You Interview?
I think three is a good place to start.
It gives you enough perspective to understand how different firms think and work without turning the process of choosing a designer into its own full-time job.
Look at the work first. Then use those conversations to understand the people, their process, how they communicate, and whether their approach feels right for you.
Choosing an Interior Designer in Austin?
If you’re looking for an interior designer in Austin and considering a major renovation, restoration, whole-home decorating project or some combination of all three, take a look through our work and then reach out to hear about our process.
You’ll get a pretty good sense of what we care about, how we think and the kinds of homes we love creating.
And if it feels like we might be your people, tell us about your project.
