Am I expecting too much from a decorator?
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Anonymous
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We hired an interior decorator for help on our addition-- we wanted input on our expanded family room and office. We agreed to a set amount of work/hours/cost for each room, and our overall budget. We've been surprised that for carpet, for instance, she emailed us a bunch of links from the web showing various rooms, so we don't know the brand/texture/feel/etc. Same for paint: we get links to rooms with different paint colors on the wall but no specific color recommendations. For furniture and end tables we've gotten links to products from big chain stores: West Elm, Pottery Barn, etc. She says she'll put together a rendering based on our choices.
I guess I was expecting more "help"? This just seems like she searched google and plugged in some of the colors we like, which I could have done myself (i.e: "office with grey wall"). Is this normally how the process works? She came highly recommended from someone on my school's Facebook group and she's not cheap. |
Anonymous
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I was super disappointed in my experience with a decorator. It was very similar to yours, but she was all over the place-- she'd text a link with no comment or context; send a facebook message about tile from marketplace; email me with a single question. Then a text with "did you get my note about the stove?" when the "note" was a message on instagram, which I almost never look at!
I had to let her go after a couple of weeks of this. She was actually making the project harder. I've worked with a few designers through my office who did more what you're describing-- a mockup of the room with ideas color/ furniture/ rug/ decor. I liked that better, but honestly, the ideas themselves were no better than what I could have gotten myself on pinterest. Someone who can manage the project doesn't necessarily have a good eye. :/ |
Anonymous
| Tell her what you want - "Could you send me visuals of paint swatches with the brand and paint color please?" "We are looking for furniture off the beaten path that isn't found at the typical furniture stores everyone else is using - please send us couch options that fit that criteria" |
Anonymous
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Fire her and use a Havenly designer for $159
a Room |
Anonymous
| This is why I did everything myself. I can do anything a "decorator" can do. |
Anonymous
This! I used spacejoy.com for a couple hundred bucks per room.They provide you with renderings and direct links to purchase products. It was a smooth experience. |
Anonymous
| This is why it's a good idea to not only get a recomendation but a recommendation with examples of what you'll receive. I don't mean go see a finished room (though that's good). I mean a board or spreadsheet or website interface that manages client communication. |
Anonymous
| Why didn't you talk to her about her process before you started? |
Anonymous
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What do you consider not cheap?
We hired a decorator and she came over with samples, pictures and floor plans for everything we were deciding on. We only did the big things (furniture, drapes, window coverings, rugs) with her. She oversaw every installation and delivery. It felt like she lived here for a while. She was $100/hr. Worth every penny. |
Anonymous
THat's actually pretty cheap! |
Anonymous
Op here- yes we are paying way more than that. And that service is more in line with what we were expecting. We did have a long chat at the beginning about how she would send us renderings so we could see what they look like. But then she said pick your choices first. And I’m not sure how picking carpet from a website helps me other than to see how that color would look in a room. We will talk to her but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t expecting too much. |
Anonymous
No, this is not what OP wants. OP wants to feel the textures of the carpets, fabrics, etc. Heavenly is on online and completely opposite of what OP wants. |
Anonymous
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That’s crazy. If I were hiring someone I’d want to be able to say “I want this room to look transitional style, and I like shades of blue and green and I like plenty of light” and for them to literally give me some boards of room ideas , and then we go from there (“I like the rug and the couch in that first room, can you start with those and build out from there but a little more minimalist than you originally had”.
If I paid money for what you described I’d be annoyed. Heck I went to West Elm a few years ago and the dude designed my entire room for free with West Elm stuff (I liked what they had in stock that season and it was at my price point. And it worked perfectly.) |
Anonymous
| That is weird. The decorator I worked with designed everything from accessories to carpet to furniture to curtains. She ordered the items wholesale through a decorator warehouse. She showed sketches with colors, included swatches and paint panels, fabrics, etc. and they were the exact things we received. I’ve heard of bait and switch where they show you one sample and you get a cheaper material. |
Anonymous
| This was not my experience but ours charged hourly. If you need/want more then I would clarify with her how you want to interact. Ours always brought samples or we met at a store but obviously that takes more time |