Finding an interior designer is like finding a soulmate – it will change your life, for better or worse. Only one will involve a wedding, but both involve a long-term commitment, significant investment, and chance of constant headaches. 

To reduce your odds of headaches, meet as many designers as you can stand before committing to a renovation. Why? Here are 5 reasons why. 

Chemistry

Chemistry is everything. In your relationship with your interior designer, chemistry also means clear communication. Regardless of how talented and world-renowned they are, if you are unable to get along with them, chances are that nobody gets what they want. Being able to buddy-up ensures that everyone is willing to spend time to understand each other.

Portfolios

A passionate designer is a designer that’ll see to it that the job is done perfectly right. Ever see someone do a good job doing something they hate? That’s why you’ll want to know if the one you’ll hire for your renovation has a flair for designs you like through their portfolio.

A portfolio is an opportunity to see if designers know their stuff. The big question to ask is this: is the portfolio you’re looking at THEIR work or the collective work of the firm? Experienced designers will have plenty of personal work to showcase whereas ones who have less to show for it are either: (a) still building their portfolio through internships or mentorships, or (b) are actually sales designers more focused on closing a deal than designing.

Timelines

You’re a busy person. So is your potential designer. Work out a schedule with each one that meet and see what works best for both of you. Discussing this with multiple designers gives you a baseline on what a sensible timeline looks like – because nobody can deliver a job yesterday. While reputable firms will do everything in their power to stick to the timeline, just remember that, like quotations, this is an estimate. Delays are inevitable.

Money Matters

Getting tons of quotations is a great way to get a baseline of what’s a good deal, a bad deal, and an outright scam.

Prioritise firms that give you an itemised quotation. Excessively fussy? Yes. But this gives you a sense of how familiar a firm is about spending your money well. The more quotations you get, the more realistic your expectations will be.

With payment terms, you’ll want to be exceedingly specific. Key word: EXCEEDINGLY. Make sure your potential designer knows exactly how much you’re willing to spend and when you can pay.  Going through many designers gives you options and ideas of what a reasonable payment schedule is. Typically, payments will be in instalments with differing upfront deposits, depending on who you talk to. However, if anyone ever demands a 50% deposit, you might want to walk away very VERY quickly – these are practices associated with shady folks or firms going under. 

One last note that quotations are simply estimates; one should always prepare 10-20% more than that in the event of the unexpected. What SHOULDN’T be unexpected is the payment terms – once the contract is signed, no one should compel you pay outside of agreed payment period.

Warranty and Insurance

Warranties and insurance are assuring. However, what isn’t is that they differ from firm to firm. Being able to compare these terms ensures that you know EXACTLY who’s giving you the best bang for your buck. Be extremely detailed with these – anything that is promised to you needs to be in black and white before signing the contract. Nothing worse than having to bear the extra cost of poor workmanship a day after renovation.

So, how many to meet?

There’s no magic number to how many you should meet but the bare minimum should at least be three, with more being better.

That’s too many weekends to vet through designers, you say?  Then let SIXiDES help you do your homework for you with eQuote. Based on what you want, SIXiDES will recommend multiple reputable interior designers to fit your needs.

Posted on 17 February 2023

Kenny Tan,

SIXiDES Editorial Team