Design Q&A
People often ask us questions about what we do exactly at True Interiors and why they should hire a designer. So here are some answers to those common questions.
What style do you do and will it be my style?
One of our favorite and most common questions. Our designers are trained in various styles of design and we enjoy working in all styles from timeless traditional to urban chic. We will work with you to identify your style, creating a home that reflects your personal taste and meets your changing needs. We put great importance on creating detailed profiles of our clients. We go beyond aesthetic considerations such as color and style. Our programming process includes every day function and performance, environmental impact, safety requirements, and socio-psychological needs. We spend time getting to know our clients, what they want, what they need, how they live and how they use their spaces. We understand the level of trust that is involved when someone asks us to design their home so building a sincere relationship is an important part of the design process.
Is hiring a professional designer practical in relation to the cost?
In most cases we actually save our clients money. By utilizing wholesale furnishings accounts, we have a whole plethora of resources that allow us to purchase furnishings at 40-60% off of retail pricing that are only available to the trade. We find that the savings from the wholesale resources often balance out the hourly design and fees associated with this service. Even more important, the designers at True Interiors put their combination of education, training and invaluable experience to work for you, which often translates to thousands of dollars in savings; building on our knowledge, expertise and guidance to avoid costly design mistakes before they happen. We will work with you at every stage in the design process to ensure that the project is meeting your budget requirements and ensure that the budget is being prioritized in the areas that really count.
How long does the design process take?
At True Interiors we know you are busy and in many cases have a desired deadline. We can pace the project to a speed that suits your schedule, lifestyle and budget. In general each project will have a somewhat different timeline depending on the type of services and the extent of remodel involved. We pride ourselves at comprehensive project management, realistic scheduling and regular communication to ensure each project progresses and installs to the satisfaction of the client.
How much control will I have? How involved will I be?
Our designers understand that each client and project has different needs. We can act as project managers and take care of all the designing, scheduling, ordering and installing. Or we can simply act as consultants and offer guidance, suggestions and resources. Our billing is set up on an hourly basis in order to meet your project requirements.
I do not want to completely start over can you work with some of my existing stuff?
Absolutely! Whatever items are precious to you are of value within the overall design scheme. We are not in the model home business for a reason, we want to create personal spaces that relate to you and there is no better way of doing that than by incorporating personal treasures. Each design process begins with taking a detailed inventory of existing items that the homeowner desires to incorporate into the new space. Reusing or repurposing items can be done out of personal/sentimental reasons or just to maximize budget. We often find that clients just need help polishing off a room in which case, the primary design scheme is derived from the existing pieces and supplemented by items that complement and enhance the current décor.
What is the difference between Full Service Design and Design “Take Out”?
The major differences between the two services come in the form of ongoing communication, collaboration, and design flexibility for reselections or redirection.
Our Design "Take Out" packages, are very much geared towards the true
“do it yourselfer”. We send a questionnaire asking for the basic and
vital information necessary for completion of your design plan. You
provide us with all the information you care to share and from that
information, we compile a cohesive proposal of furnishings and ideas
that we feel are a good fit for you and your space. From the information
you provide, we select furnishings from retailers that are in your area
(largely internet sources) that are easily accessible and available to
everyone. After we make some basic selections, we put together a
generalized tips list, provide a vendor list of the sources used to make
the selections, and hand it over to the homeowner to complete the
vision. It is up to the homeowner to use their digression and discerning
eye to verify that the suggested selections are a good color match and
meet quality standards as we have only recommended the items based off
of internet images and the items have not been sight verified. Items we
select are best used as a guide to provide an overall vision and
communicate the general direction the room should take.
In contrast, our full design services , as you might suspect, are a bit more detail oriented. We are way more “hands on” in the selections that go into the design proposals from materials selection, color matching, quality verification, regular home site visits, etc. Maintaining open and regular communication throughout the process is absolutely key in helping us get to know you, your needs, and your taste on an in-depth and intimate level allowing us to make proposals that are reflective of you and your dreams for the space. We enjoy collaborating with the homeowner regularly, making selections together, taking visits to see furnishings in person before purchasing (when possible), and generally more overall interaction. This service also builds in flexibility within the design plan to allow us to change directions, or re-work areas as you see fit. We offer reselections/revisions at a discounted rate to ensure you are completely satisfied with items before you commit to purchasing them. With this full design service, we put together a detailed budget analysis of items we propose and the costs anticipated. As we progress through the design and finalize selections, we maintain and update the budget worksheet to keep you informed of your expenses at all times, and give you a prediction of future anticipated costs for work yet to be completed. Another major difference with this service is the use of our wholesale resources. Our proposals are not entirely comprised of wholesale resources as we like to utilize the best priced and most appropriate items for the project. This service is focused around longevity and durability of materials as well as long term happiness and enjoyment of the homeowner for years to come.
Who will I be working with?
Each client at True Interiors experiences the benefit of regular design collaboration meetings between our design team. While each client is given a dedicated point of contact designer who they will establish a primary relationship with, we enjoy the valuable insight that comes from the collaboration and various perspectives our team provides. Every week (at least once a week) our designers converge to discuss their projects and bounce ideas and solutions off of each other to develop the best possible solution to your project or design dilemma. To ensure an extremely high level of customer service is maintained, the primary designer will maintain constant and regular communication with you, schedule appointments, take the lead on project management, is in charge of managing and maintaining your budget, and will be present at each design meeting.
Still not sure? Here is what Ask the Builder has to say…
http://www.askthebuilder.com/B238_Benefits_of_Hiring_an_Interior_Designer.shtml
Have a question of your own?
Please drop us a note we will be happy to answer it for you. Design@TrueInteriors.net
People often ask us questions about what we do exactly at True Interiors and why they should hire a designer. So here are some answers to those common questions.
What style do you do and will it be my style?One of our favorite and most common questions. Our designers are trained in various styles of design and we enjoy working in all styles from timeless traditional to urban chic. We will work with you to identify your style, creating a home that reflects your personal taste and meets your changing needs. We put great importance on creating detailed profiles of our clients. We go beyond aesthetic considerations such as color and style. Our programming process includes every day function and performance, environmental impact, safety requirements, and socio-psychological needs. We spend time getting to know our clients, what they want, what they need, how they live and how they use their spaces. We understand the level of trust that is involved when someone asks us to design their home so building a sincere relationship is an important part of the design process.
Is hiring a professional designer practical in relation to the cost?
In most cases we actually save our clients money. By utilizing wholesale furnishings accounts, we have a whole plethora of resources that allow us to purchase furnishings at 40-60% off of retail pricing that are only available to the trade. We find that the savings from the wholesale resources often balance out the hourly design and fees associated with this service. Even more important, the designers at True Interiors put their combination of education, training and invaluable experience to work for you, which often translates to thousands of dollars in savings; building on our knowledge, expertise and guidance to avoid costly design mistakes before they happen. We will work with you at every stage in the design process to ensure that the project is meeting your budget requirements and ensure that the budget is being prioritized in the areas that really count.
How long does the design process take?
At True Interiors we know you are busy and in many cases have a desired deadline. We can pace the project to a speed that suits your schedule, lifestyle and budget. In general each project will have a somewhat different timeline depending on the type of services and the extent of remodel involved. We pride ourselves at comprehensive project management, realistic scheduling and regular communication to ensure each project progresses and installs to the satisfaction of the client.
How much control will I have? How involved will I be?
Our designers understand that each client and project has different needs. We can act as project managers and take care of all the designing, scheduling, ordering and installing. Or we can simply act as consultants and offer guidance, suggestions and resources. Our billing is set up on an hourly basis in order to meet your project requirements.
I do not want to completely start over can you work with some of my existing stuff?
Absolutely! Whatever items are precious to you are of value within the overall design scheme. We are not in the model home business for a reason, we want to create personal spaces that relate to you and there is no better way of doing that than by incorporating personal treasures. Each design process begins with taking a detailed inventory of existing items that the homeowner desires to incorporate into the new space. Reusing or repurposing items can be done out of personal/sentimental reasons or just to maximize budget. We often find that clients just need help polishing off a room in which case, the primary design scheme is derived from the existing pieces and supplemented by items that complement and enhance the current décor.
What is the difference between Full Service Design and Design “Take Out”?
The major differences between the two services come in the form of ongoing communication, collaboration, and design flexibility for reselections or redirection.
Our Design "Take Out" packages, are very much geared towards the true
“do it yourselfer”. We send a questionnaire asking for the basic and
vital information necessary for completion of your design plan. You
provide us with all the information you care to share and from that
information, we compile a cohesive proposal of furnishings and ideas
that we feel are a good fit for you and your space. From the information
you provide, we select furnishings from retailers that are in your area
(largely internet sources) that are easily accessible and available to
everyone. After we make some basic selections, we put together a
generalized tips list, provide a vendor list of the sources used to make
the selections, and hand it over to the homeowner to complete the
vision. It is up to the homeowner to use their digression and discerning
eye to verify that the suggested selections are a good color match and
meet quality standards as we have only recommended the items based off
of internet images and the items have not been sight verified. Items we
select are best used as a guide to provide an overall vision and
communicate the general direction the room should take. In contrast, our full design services , as you might suspect, are a bit more detail oriented. We are way more “hands on” in the selections that go into the design proposals from materials selection, color matching, quality verification, regular home site visits, etc. Maintaining open and regular communication throughout the process is absolutely key in helping us get to know you, your needs, and your taste on an in-depth and intimate level allowing us to make proposals that are reflective of you and your dreams for the space. We enjoy collaborating with the homeowner regularly, making selections together, taking visits to see furnishings in person before purchasing (when possible), and generally more overall interaction. This service also builds in flexibility within the design plan to allow us to change directions, or re-work areas as you see fit. We offer reselections/revisions at a discounted rate to ensure you are completely satisfied with items before you commit to purchasing them. With this full design service, we put together a detailed budget analysis of items we propose and the costs anticipated. As we progress through the design and finalize selections, we maintain and update the budget worksheet to keep you informed of your expenses at all times, and give you a prediction of future anticipated costs for work yet to be completed. Another major difference with this service is the use of our wholesale resources. Our proposals are not entirely comprised of wholesale resources as we like to utilize the best priced and most appropriate items for the project. This service is focused around longevity and durability of materials as well as long term happiness and enjoyment of the homeowner for years to come.
Who will I be working with?
Each client at True Interiors experiences the benefit of regular design collaboration meetings between our design team. While each client is given a dedicated point of contact designer who they will establish a primary relationship with, we enjoy the valuable insight that comes from the collaboration and various perspectives our team provides. Every week (at least once a week) our designers converge to discuss their projects and bounce ideas and solutions off of each other to develop the best possible solution to your project or design dilemma. To ensure an extremely high level of customer service is maintained, the primary designer will maintain constant and regular communication with you, schedule appointments, take the lead on project management, is in charge of managing and maintaining your budget, and will be present at each design meeting.
Still not sure? Here is what Ask the Builder has to say…
http://www.askthebuilder.com/B238_Benefits_of_Hiring_an_Interior_Designer.shtml
Have a question of your own?
Please drop us a note we will be happy to answer it for you. Design@TrueInteriors.net
