In the interior design community, a common mistake we see is waiting too long to start the interior design process. Many people assume that interior designers are hired AFTER a renovation is already underway. Unless you want to be selecting tiles and flooring after your GC has left the project, we would recommend against putting interiors off to a later date. But the truth is, waiting this long to begin the interior process – including the selection of appliances, fixtures, and other crucial components of your home – will only put your blood pressure more under, well, pressure. 

Not only could you spend more money than you originally budgeted by waiting until the last minute, but there’s a chance the finished product will not precisely match your vision. This is why you should have an experienced interiors team on board well before you begin renovating your home. 

Incorporating Interior Design into Your Renovation Process

Without a preliminary design plan in place, there’s a good chance you’re leaving some key design decisions up to your contractor. While there are a great many contractors who have an eye for design and firm understanding of staying within your budget, there’s a whole lot more that goes into the interior design process than just picking “wood floor” or “white cabinets.”

A solid design team will work with you from the inception of the project to identify your design style, wants and – you guessed it – needs. The way you live your life at home should play a large role in how you select specific interior components. 

Lots of foot traffic and big dogs with nails that like to scratch floors? Maybe consider wood tile rather than traditional hardwood flooring. Do clean lines and a modern aesthetic call to you? Let’s talk beaded, quarterline or slab cabinetry. And we haven’t even begun to talk about the mass amount of lighting options you have for every room – from chandeliers and pendants to sconces and LED lights inside your countertops (yeah, you read that right). 

An interior designer will listen carefully to your ideas, and work with you to stay within your budget while also creating a space you’ll love. This allows you to establish a realistic budget and work with your designer to determine which details are truly important to you, and which aren’t worth the price. Your designer can advise you when it makes more financial sense to splurge on a certain detail, or when you should opt for something more affordable. 

More Time, Better Decisions

Interior design takes time – and let’s be real, it’s probably the most fun aspect of a renovation or new construction project outside of your move-in date. With so many decisions on your plate, wouldn’t you prefer to have all the time in the world to iron out the details? Working with an interior designer as early as possible gives you plenty of time to figure out exactly what you want, and how to execute them all within your budget. This way, if there’s any issues with the price or availability of your selections, you can take your time to find an alternative, as opposed to waiting until the last minute and possibly having to delay your project. No fun.  

Don’t Leave the Design Selections to Your GC

If you leave interiors as an afterthought to your project, and you aren’t incredibly specific with your selections, your GC will end up making their own selections for you. Remember: Your general contractor is not a designer. Their job is getting the project done as quickly as possible, so they tend to make selections that pose the least logistical difficulty. 

Working with an interior designer early on prevents you from having to live with decisions that didn’t align with your vision. Once you’ve narrowed down the details of your design plan, your designer will advocate on your behalf to ensure this is the plan that gets executed on-site. 

At Debowsky Design Group, we take the time to understand your preferences and budget so we can come up with a design plan that suits both. If you’re ready to start a project and don’t want any surprises, give us a call.