This is one of the most frequent questions that comes to mind when we consider renovating or decorating our home. We often see the work of an interior designer as an unnecessary expense since we can decorate ourselves and save some money. When it comes to a renovation, many think it's not necessary to contact an interior designer since they have already hired a construction company. Let me tell you, hiring an interior designer can save you time, money, and many headaches.
Before discussing the advantages and disadvantages, it's important to debunk some myths about interior design and interior designers.
Myths: (i) Hiring an interior designer is for rich people (ii) Interior designers are very expensive.
Interior design is not just for rich people, nor are interior designers expensive. In the past, hiring an interior designer might have been for those with high purchasing power, but that's not the case today. People's needs have changed, and so has the concern for the appearance of our home and how we feel in it.
Now, let's discuss the advantages and disadvantages of hiring an interior designer to handle the job.
Advantage: You ensure a good result.
Sometimes you watch a tutorial video and it looks so simple that you assume you can do it yourself if you follow the steps. But the thing is, that person probably spent hours filming to make it look easy and quick. Moreover, they can do it well because they have years of experience. The same applies to decorating your home: when you hire a professional, you ensure that the final result will be good and completed, while if you try to do it yourself, you might not finish it, or the result might not meet your expectations.
Disadvantage: They might tell you things you don't want to hear.
The design process is like going to therapy: you'll encounter several things that were wrong, but you hadn't realized why. An interior design professional can quickly analyze the space and objectively tell you what works and what doesn't. Maybe you have a lot of sentimental value attached to a sofa inherited from your grandmother, but if it doesn't fit the space or is the wrong size, it might be more of a hindrance than a help. It's common to view items in your home through a personal bias, considering their original cost, why you chose them in the first place, or their emotional value. A professional can see things objectively and explain why certain items don't work and how to solve these issues better.
Advantage: They achieve a balance between functionality and aesthetics.
When decorating your home by yourself, you might fall in love with a piece of furniture, but when you place it in your home, you realize it doesn't fit, match, or is inconvenient in daily life. This is why hiring a professional is practical; they not only focus on making the space look beautiful but also ensure that the layout and everything work well together.
Disadvantage: It takes longer than doing it yourself.
You might feel that shopping on the weekend and choosing several items or even bringing them home immediately is much faster than hiring someone and waiting for them to fit you into their schedule. However, enthusiasm often wanes when you encounter problems, and the "home decoration project" often gets abandoned halfway. In this sense, hiring an interior designer ensures the project gets completed since it's in both parties' interest to finish the process, as part of the payment is usually tied to completion. So, it might be slower to start, but it's definitely quicker to finish.
Source: @elblogdeldecorador.cl