Us interior designers sometimes come across resistance or a deep draw of breath when we start to discuss fees. This post is to discuss the benefits using an interior designer and how it can help you through what can be a busy time. Let’s start with the elements of the design that the interior designer can take on for you.
- Organise the survey or measure the site and produce a proposed planning
- Develop the concept direction and look / feel of the design
- Specify the furniture, finishes and lighting
- Apply for planning and building control on your behalf
- Take on the roll of Principle Designer (a legal requirement)
- Produce technical drawings that can be accurately priced
- Put you in contact with specialist suppliers
- Help you through the build process
- Check quality of workmanship
It all takes time…
The good news about interior designers is that they are skilled to doing the above tasks and can complete them effectively and efficiently. This will also free you up to concentrate on other things (there will be a lot of them). It does all take time and different design companies will charge for their time in different ways. Most larger companies will base their fee on a percentage of the fit out budget. This could vary from 5% for a larger simple project to 15% for a smaller complicated project. They will calculate the fit out budget based on the square meterage and complexity of the space being designed.
Try looking at it the other way round.
Rather than thinking about how much of your budget you are spending on an interior designer, consider how much money you are spending on the fit out and will they money be well spent. Having an interior designer on board not only saves you time and decision making head space, the interior designer will have ideas and expert knowledge that will mean the money you spend on your interior will be used in a more effective way and the end result will be more successful.
How are we different when it comes to charging for our time?
At Engaging Interiors Limited we are different to most companies in 3 ways;
- Firstly we can take on some of the smaller projects that won’t work for larger companies because of the above percentage metric. As a small company without the overhead of a management structure and offices to pay for we can take on projects with smaller fit out budgets (within reason).
- Secondly we can tailor the amount of design information we produce to fit what you can afford. The best practice is to produce a full set of technical drawings as this will mean you get firmer prices from the contractors and a clearer idea of what it will look and operate once built.
- Finally we build our quotations based on a predicted amount of time it will take us to produce a certain amount of information. This gives you a clear idea of what we are going to produce, how much time it will take and the cost of the process.
Get in touch
If any of the above resonates with you enough to want to get in touch feel free to fill out our contact form or call Crispin on 0799 097 4480. We are happy to help with advice on the phone or pop over to see you if the project sounds of interest…