What are you looking to accomplish
Selecting
the right decorator should begin with you having an idea what you are
looking to accomplish with your living space before you contact a decorator in
your area.
Choose
Your Style
There
are many decorating styles to choose from including Modern, Contemporary, Country
Decor, Cottage, Southwest, Cowboy Decor, Antiques, Italian Design, Art Deco, and
more.
A good decorator will help you with decisions on colors for each
room, how to properly lay out furniture, what type of flooring will stand up to
daily activity, what accessories complement your style, how to put up curtains
or curtain rods, how to save money on purchases such as curtains, blinds, flooring,
paint, wall art and more.
Take
Your Time
In
my personal experience a decorator was recommended by a collegue, who was extremely
helpful in choosing the right paint colors for each room and other details. The
decorator we chose had a large selection of paint chips and samples to show us
what colors were available in different shades. My wife and I paid $150 for a
three hour consultation and were delighted with the results. She helped us decide
which colors were best suited for each room in our new house while taking into
consideration our furniture and personal likes and dislikes.
She
helped us layout our furniture to suit the rooms especially our living room which
is an open concept living room, dining room and kitchen. She suggested placing
our dining room table on an angle instead of square to the room which when we
placed it that way made total sense and complemented the layout of the entire
room.
Our decorator chose a nice color of blue to match our bedding which
we had already chosen. She suggested curtain colors, blind colors, shelving ideas,
and carpeting samples which we used and are quite happy with.
Our decorator
helped us save money by providing us with helpful ideas on where to buy Blinds,
Curtains, Paint, Flooring, Furniture and other details which we found extremely
helpful as well.
Tips
on Hiring a good Contractor
Create
a file with pictures and ideas from magazines, publications, home sections in
your local newspaper, local library or tape your favorite decorating tv show and
decide on what style you like most - Before
you hire someone, find out if they have an initial consultation fee, what it covers
and decide if it is affordable
- Go
to Local Furniture and Home Improvement stores and talk to people who specialize
in their departments for information
- Create
a file with specifications on how many square feet each room is and how much you
need to budget for each room
- Ask
your decorator how you can save money by doing some of the projects yourself
- Ask
your prospective decorator if they can provide sketches or do they use software
for creating quotations and ideas for your project and what they charge for specific
details
- Ask
for references and take the time to call a few previous customers and assess their
workmanship
- Ask
for a portfolio of work so you can see the types and styles a potential decorator
has done
- Get
a signed contract if you are having a large project being done
- Make
sure you are able to reach the contractor directly by phoning him or her and testing
his response time. You will also want to know who is overseeing the job in it's
progress.
If
you are educated, organized and make yourself available to oversee your project,
everything should go according to plan. The best way to make sure your project
goes well is to be at your property for every step of the process yourself so
that you make sure there aren't any corners cut by your decorator. After all you
are the one who has to live with the results. Good luck with your project!
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