The Top 4 Questions To Ask Before Hiring An Interior Designer

Once you’ve decided that you are ready to work with an interior designer, and you’ve rounded up a few suspects, you’re ready to begin the vetting process. There are a few things you’ll want to know before signing on.

 Assuming you’ve looked at their website (and if they don’t have one that should be cause for alarm) and like their portfolio and their vibe, there are certain details that you need to be clear on to determine whether they are the right fit for you.

 1.     How do they get paid?

You are going to want to ask what they charge for their design services and if it’s a flat fee or an hourly rate, and if they make a commission on furnishings, what their mark-up is? If they make the majority of their fees in mark ups (and most designers work this way) you can expect to pay them directly and you typically will not see any invoicing from the manufacturer so trust is essential. Most custom work is not returnable so you’ll want to know what happens if something comes and you don’t like it. You will want to know how their billing works and what form of payment they accept. Don’t be afraid to dig in here so you are very clear on what you’re paying for and how you are paying for it.

 2.     What is their process?

I cover this in detail in a post titled “How Do Interior Designers Work?” but I’ll summarize by saying that you need to really understand their process to know if they are the right fit for you – and trust me, fit is everything. I would fish around for how collaborative they are, how do they come to understand your tastes and aesthetic, what happens when you disagree, and a very underrated but important part of the process – pace. If a designer is on the slow road to China and you are constantly calling wondering when your next meeting is going to be, you’re not with the right person. I find that the process often self-selects who is best to work with whom. Part planetary alignment, part matchmaking, part good design karma.

 3.     What do they actually do?

This is somewhat baked into their process, but not always, and therefore, it’s worth asking. This is where you find out exactly how you are going to get from your wish list to the fully realized Barbie Dreamhouse that you get to live in. Ask them to take you through a hypothetical project. They should be able to tell you how it starts, what happens at each stage and what declaring victory looks like. They should also be clear about how break-ups are handled because trust me, they’ve been there. The more you find yourself nodding along and getting excited because it’s starting to feel like the greatest blind date ever, the better your chances that you’ve found – the one.

 4.     Can you speak to their clients?

I’m always amazed that more people don’t do this. Yes, I know, everyone can conjure up a friend/client who’s willing to say nice things about them. But ask for three. Hell, ask for four and just call a few and you’ll be surprised by how telling all of the little nuances of your conversation are. People can talk about the experience of working with their designers in a generic way, or they can gush. I’ve actually had a prospect tell me that I should be paying one of my clients for PR because he sells me so hard. There’s like, there’s love, and there’s life-altering as in “We never could have done this ourselves, we love him/her.” You’ll know it when you hear it.

 In the end, do your homework and you’ll have very good luck.