Looking for a decorator for furnishing and decorating entire house

[Anonymous]

Hi, do you have any recommendations for a decorator in DMV area who can help me with furnishing and decorating an entire house? I've heard that some decorators get discounts at stores like Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel etc. and the savings from those discount typically pays for the decorator's design and service fee. Do you know anyone who operate like that? TIA!

[Anonymous]

No reply? I am also open to decorators who just charge a flat fee per room or other commission structure. House is in NOVA. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

You need to post a budget for the project.

[Anonymous]

Just use the in-house person at a store or Modsy. It won’t be cheaper to use a designer.

[Anonymous]

One King's Lane offers this service for about $1000. They only recommend their furniture, but they have really nice stuff. What is your budget?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to post a budget for the project.

I have no idea how to budget such project.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to post a budget for the project.

I have no idea how to budget such project.

For the Living Room, are you comfortable spending $50k?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to post a budget for the project.

I have no idea how to budget such project.

If I told you $50k for furniture and decor per room, would you balk?

You must have an idea of what you want to spend overall? How many rooms?

[Anonymous]

Op here I admit I never imaged it cost 50k per room, I’m pretty clueless on this but I was thinking maybe 15k to 20k per room, that’s not including window treatment or ceiling lighting. Basement entertainment room will cost more than kid’s bedroom but overall I thought roughly 20k per room. So that’s not enough?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here I admit I never imaged it cost 50k per room, I’m pretty clueless on this but I was thinking maybe 15k to 20k per room, that’s not including window treatment or ceiling lighting. Basement entertainment room will cost more than kid’s bedroom but overall I thought roughly 20k per room. So that’s not enough?

No, it’s totally fine. The $50k number is useful because if you’re like, “sure!” then you can take your pick of most full service interior designers and you’re probably going to buy some to the trade and custom stuff that will make their services worthwhile.

In the more reasonable $20k range, you’re likely going to buy most of your stuff from regular retailers like Pottery Barn, etc. So you have a bunch of options for design help.

1) Store designers, at all of the retailers. Measure your room and take pictures and get a design from wherever you like. RH, Ballard, CB, Room and Board. This would be a great place to start and it’s free in most cases I think.

2) Store-based designers like from Kellogg Collection or Random Harvest. More expensive, depending on what you’re looking for.

3) Full service designers but more budget friendly. Try Redbird Redesign.

[Anonymous]

If there's a designer you like, read some interviews and see which retailers they mention liking, then check out that store's free design services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here I admit I never imaged it cost 50k per room, I’m pretty clueless on this but I was thinking maybe 15k to 20k per room, that’s not including window treatment or ceiling lighting. Basement entertainment room will cost more than kid’s bedroom but overall I thought roughly 20k per room. So that’s not enough?

No, it’s totally fine. The $50k number is useful because if you’re like, “sure!” then you can take your pick of most full service interior designers and you’re probably going to buy some to the trade and custom stuff that will make their services worthwhile.

In the more reasonable $20k range, you’re likely going to buy most of your stuff from regular retailers like Pottery Barn, etc. So you have a bunch of options for design help.

1) Store designers, at all of the retailers. Measure your room and take pictures and get a design from wherever you like. RH, Ballard, CB, Room and Board. This would be a great place to start and it’s free in most cases I think.

2) Store-based designers like from Kellogg Collection or Random Harvest. More expensive, depending on what you’re looking for.

3) Full service designers but more budget friendly. Try Redbird Redesign.

This is so helpful, I will check out all of your recommendations! This process is so daunting, I'm nervous contacting designers because it certainly feels like they are meant for a higher price range/the richer.

[Anonymous]

I used a top DC interior designer in 2005. It was super expensive. She sat down with us and went through ideas for furniture, window treatments, built-ins, new molding, etc. She was the project manager for the small reno projects. Our house was really lovely. But we moved out of necessity and I refuse to pay for something like that again. So I rely on my taste and the stores I am buying from. Mitchell & Gold will come out, measure, and suggest items. We used the 14th Street store and had an excellent experience. We bought a ton and our person came over when it was delivered and suggested where everything should go including art on walls that we already had. I think his name was Will, he was fun to work with and so good at designing the room. That was for a living room in our new house. For family room, I used Ethan Allen. Same thing I went into shop and met a wonderful designer, I believe she left though. She came out to our house, looked at what I had, and suggested a few great pieces and helped me design. I like the quality of Ethan Allen's stuff, even though it's traditional. I love the Kellogg Collection, but my husband hates that style, so they are wonderful and are happy to design a room and pick out pieces, so if you like their stuff, definitely go talk to them. Random Harvest has fabulous stuff, but their design is not that friendly or at least that's my experience. I have bought expensive pieces from them and had no help. The pieces have held up ok, not great. My family room and living room furniture from Mitchell & Gold, Crate & Barrel (picked out by first interior designer) and Ethan Allen have really lasted. Also, I have made my winow treatments work in the second house - mostly because I paid a fortune for them.

I believe most people will tell you that you use an interior designer if it's your forever home, you are flush with cash, and you really want your home to be done. Since I had that experience, I will not do it again. I like looking at instagram and picking out my own things. I love finding things that work for me and that I love, and now we have a dog and I will never buy anything nice again!!! For paint colors, look at other people's houses and then see if you can get the color name and number. You can always half it with white paint and get a lighter shade. It can be a really fun project and believe me I understand what a luxury it is to have these projects. We have gone up and down with income, so I also suggest not complaining about the problems of decorating - realize how lucky you are to even be considering a designer. One last thing - I got kids bedroom furniture from Restoration Hardware. It still looks great 15 plus years later. Hope this helpful!

[Anonymous]

Look at websites before calling. Some will say they require a budget of $30-50k per room.

Also the discounts tend to be on “to the trade” goods, which are high end/expensive. Not much on retail stores.

We had a very good experience with Kellogg Collection for our living room/dining room. No design fee as long as you spend a certain amount and 20% discount on their merch. We spent about $30k but also reused a lot of our things (including things previously purchased at Kellogg). They have everything from rugs to sofas to art to lamps to accessories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used a top DC interior designer in 2005. It was super expensive. She sat down with us and went through ideas for furniture, window treatments, built-ins, new molding, etc. She was the project manager for the small reno projects. Our house was really lovely. But we moved out of necessity and I refuse to pay for something like that again. So I rely on my taste and the stores I am buying from. Mitchell & Gold will come out, measure, and suggest items. We used the 14th Street store and had an excellent experience. We bought a ton and our person came over when it was delivered and suggested where everything should go including art on walls that we already had. I think his name was Will, he was fun to work with and so good at designing the room. That was for a living room in our new house. For family room, I used Ethan Allen. Same thing I went into shop and met a wonderful designer, I believe she left though. She came out to our house, looked at what I had, and suggested a few great pieces and helped me design. I like the quality of Ethan Allen's stuff, even though it's traditional. I love the Kellogg Collection, but my husband hates that style, so they are wonderful and are happy to design a room and pick out pieces, so if you like their stuff, definitely go talk to them. Random Harvest has fabulous stuff, but their design is not that friendly or at least that's my experience. I have bought expensive pieces from them and had no help. The pieces have held up ok, not great. My family room and living room furniture from Mitchell & Gold, Crate & Barrel (picked out by first interior designer) and Ethan Allen have really lasted. Also, I have made my winow treatments work in the second house - mostly because I paid a fortune for them.

I believe most people will tell you that you use an interior designer if it's your forever home, you are flush with cash, and you really want your home to be done. Since I had that experience, I will not do it again. I like looking at instagram and picking out my own things. I love finding things that work for me and that I love, and now we have a dog and I will never buy anything nice again!!! For paint colors, look at other people's houses and then see if you can get the color name and number. You can always half it with white paint and get a lighter shade. It can be a really fun project and believe me I understand what a luxury it is to have these projects. We have gone up and down with income, so I also suggest not complaining about the problems of decorating - realize how lucky you are to even be considering a designer. One last thing - I got kids bedroom furniture from Restoration Hardware. It still looks great 15 plus years later. Hope this helpful!

Thank you for so much for sharing your experience! I need to spend some time browsing those websites to see what I like. I also love the Kellogg collection, but I think my husband may feel they are too feminine. Will go to Ethan Allen to get a feel for it.

Since you mentioned window treatment, my new house has tons of windows, I've always known window treatment is $$$$, and are somewhat prepared for a sticker shock, but exactly how expensive are they? I am contacting a couple of places but haven't met with any to discuss options. Now that I am budgeting for furniture, I'd better get a better understanding on budgeting for window treatment too. I know I can't just ask "how much", since there are so many different types of window treatment, and I don't even know how to pick between blinds or drapery, or shades...