Interior Designers who will work by the hour?

[Anonymous]

I'm looking for an interior designer who will work by the hour. I have considered using The Expert, but I'd prefer to have a designer who is local and can come to my house for at least one visit. I have a center hall colonial in Northwest DC. I'd rather not use a designer who's affiliated with one brand or store. Is anyone aware of a designer who offers this service? I just can't pay $100,000 for interior design work. Thanks for any recommendations!

[Anonymous]

Mine I paid for a year's worth of work in 2 instalments and then we negotiated the price of furnishings.

[Anonymous]

Center Hall Colonial are pretty standard. I would interview a bunch of designers and see what they think. Some of those colonials there is not much you can do even with decor.

[Anonymous]

I'm curious the prices you folks got by the hour. We had a consultation with one and the price was exorbitant - so much so that I feel if I name it I will out her and us.

[Anonymous]

I've gone down this road and regret it. Any interior designer working for hourly pay isn't worth the hourly pay. Instead, use the design services of one of the brands you plan to use (furniture, kitchen cabinets, etc). Most of them have a service, and it will be better than anything you get by the hour.

[Anonymous]

The Expert? Havenly?

[Anonymous]

You should use the in house designers at stores you like if you’re not wanting to order things that are to the trade or from workrooms.

[Anonymous]

I didn’t have a great experience with Havenly. It felt like the designer had one aesthetic idea for my space and couldn’t do anything remotely outside of that.

I had a great experience with Ethan Allen, but this was over 12 years ago and my designer is no longer there. But I would recommend them if their furniture is in your price range. They came to the house and measured, did a floor plan, made a whole board for us with recommendations, and it was totally no pressure. The pieces we bought from them held up very well.

I’ve also worked with Oh So Chic interiors. she was great and her prices are very reasonable. She’s on instagram if you want to get a sense of her work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've gone down this road and regret it. Any interior designer working for hourly pay isn't worth the hourly pay. Instead, use the design services of one of the brands you plan to use (furniture, kitchen cabinets, etc). Most of them have a service, and it will be better than anything you get by the hour.

If I plan to “refresh” entire interior, how would you go by using those services?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've gone down this road and regret it. Any interior designer working for hourly pay isn't worth the hourly pay. Instead, use the design services of one of the brands you plan to use (furniture, kitchen cabinets, etc). Most of them have a service, and it will be better than anything you get by the hour.

If I plan to “refresh” entire interior, how would you go by using those services?

Start by figuring out your budget and goals.

Interior designers are still partly the retail model for buying certain things, like furniture and soft goods that are sold “to the trade” only. Do you want to buy that stuff? Are you willing to spend a lot of your time and energy replacing that retail model to try to save money? Or do you want to buy mostly/all from stores that sell directly to consumers?

Will you need a contractor, like are you changing cabinetry and doors and trim and flooring? Redoing bathrooms?

It will help a lot if you give more specifics about what you’re trying to do and the budget.

[Anonymous]

Be very careful. Many over charge for work. I had a designer invoice me for 4 hours to measure 3 bedrooms in our tiny home. She also charged me for 2 hours for every 1 hour meeting. I believe she was used to people that don't look at invoices and just pay without confirming the work done. I agree that going with the design services at furniture stores is the way to go. Crate and barrel will come to you house at no charge.

[Anonymous]

I did hourly work with someone and also felt like I was way overcharged. We wanted a living room refresh and were charged for about 8 hours for a home visit and then links from West Elm/Pottery Barn for rugs, coffee tables and lamps. (She also initially billed us for two extra hours and blamed a math error. )

We did end up buying, and liking, three of her suggested items. But, at almost 2k I didn’t feel like it was worth it and I can’t help but feel “cheated” at how many hours I was billed for.

[Anonymous]

Lisa from LilyMae Designs. She is in NW DC. She's great- kept to the budget I set. Had good ideas, didn't rush me, was always on time for our appointments, has good contacts in area for things I needed to buy. Easy to work with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lisa from LilyMae Designs. She is in NW DC. She's great- kept to the budget I set. Had good ideas, didn't rush me, was always on time for our appointments, has good contacts in area for things I needed to buy. Easy to work with.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine I paid for a year's worth of work in 2 instalments and then we negotiated the price of furnishings.

super helpful.