Am I expecting too much from a decorator?

[Anonymous]

That’s so frustrating and why I can’t work with a designer.

We were installing carpet in an entire house and the flooring company did provide us with a designer for that. I was skeptical but went to meet her just for fun. I came away really dazzled by her guidance, especially because she was young and seemingly inexperienced.

I gave her really basic ideas- like wool carpet, a preppy look for certain rooms, and ideas about texture in others. For one room I just gave her a vibe. She ran with it and from an huge showroom of samples she pulled 20-30 samples and worked with me to narrow it down to the 5 different carpets we used across the entire house.

I would say that I liked something for one reason or hated it for another, and she used that to narrow the funnel of options rapidly as well as expand her ideas when needed. In my mind, that’s the ideal designer- a thought partner who understands the resources that exist and can match them to the sense they get of your goals. The woman we worked with was not paid by us but I am thinking about hiring her for one-off projects in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That’s so frustrating and why I can’t work with a designer.

We were installing carpet in an entire house and the flooring company did provide us with a designer for that. I was skeptical but went to meet her just for fun. I came away really dazzled by her guidance, especially because she was young and seemingly inexperienced.

I gave her really basic ideas- like wool carpet, a preppy look for certain rooms, and ideas about texture in others. For one room I just gave her a vibe. She ran with it and from an huge showroom of samples she pulled 20-30 samples and worked with me to narrow it down to the 5 different carpets we used across the entire house.

I would say that I liked something for one reason or hated it for another, and she used that to narrow the funnel of options rapidly as well as expand her ideas when needed. In my mind, that’s the ideal designer- a thought partner who understands the resources that exist and can match them to the sense they get of your goals. The woman we worked with was not paid by us but I am thinking about hiring her for one-off projects in the future.

This is how it should be. A designer should get your vibe; ours had me create a "style file" of things I liked -- pages from design magazines, pieces of furniture we already had and wanted to use, even clothing and jewelry. And she was willing to suggest less-expensive things when appropriate, such as Ikea pieces for a kid's room, but also to-the-trade things for the grown-ups

[Anonymous]

My designer is awesome. $150/hour

First phase: a visit to take measurements, we talk about the job, she sends a scope of project, I put some of my saved photos into a shared document.

Second phase: a few different floor plans presented by zoom with example pictures of a few suggested items. we go back and forth to fine tine the floor plan and further define what we're doing

Third phase: interview a few GCs. she starts having samples (wallpaper, paint cards, fabric etc) sent to my house. I give feedback and she gets more swatches sent, if needed. we might meet at Ferguson, stone yard, and flooring/tile showrooms to pick things out, too. She orders items with the lead times in mind to get them here when they will be needed for the project.

Fourth phase: The messy part! She and the GC have an established calendar and budget doc that they collaborate on. Workers on in the house and we see the GC almost daily. Designer comes by every week or every other week, depending on what's happening. Lots of texting with photos going back and forth between the three of us.

Fifth phase: contractor work is done and anything ordered that couldn't be kept in the house is brought in. Punch list and final details (window treatment install, for example) taken care of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My designer is awesome. $150/hour

First phase: a visit to take measurements, we talk about the job, she sends a scope of project, I put some of my saved photos into a shared document.

Second phase: a few different floor plans presented by zoom with example pictures of a few suggested items. we go back and forth to fine tine the floor plan and further define what we're doing

Third phase: interview a few GCs. she starts having samples (wallpaper, paint cards, fabric etc) sent to my house. I give feedback and she gets more swatches sent, if needed. we might meet at Ferguson, stone yard, and flooring/tile showrooms to pick things out, too. She orders items with the lead times in mind to get them here when they will be needed for the project.

Fourth phase: The messy part! She and the GC have an established calendar and budget doc that they collaborate on. Workers on in the house and we see the GC almost daily. Designer comes by every week or every other week, depending on what's happening. Lots of texting with photos going back and forth between the three of us.

Fifth phase: contractor work is done and anything ordered that couldn't be kept in the house is brought in. Punch list and final details (window treatment install, for example) taken care of.

This sounds like a kitchen or bathroom remodel - I.e. your person is more of a designer (she sounds great though!) A lot of people are just looking for a decorator who can start with an empty (or furnished) living room and make it look beautiful.
From my experience though, and that of a lot of my friends, most of these people just give you a bunch of choices and ask you to pick what you like. When what we are looking for is someone with exquisite taste to say "I think you should do this. How do you feel about it?"

[Anonymous]

This was not my experience with a full drive designer. What are you paying this lady per room or per hour?

[Anonymous]

I have the same problem with hair stylists. I want someone to look at my face and recommend what will make me look my best. But it seems like no matter what I spend the stylist will say "It's up to you." "It's your call, what you like" and so on. Like they are afraid to give an opinion.