Success with Hiring a Designer to Plan your DIY Remodel

One of the smartest things you can do for a remodel or decorating project is to pay an interior designer for a plan.  It's like a map, a recipe or a doctor's prescription.  You save money by executing the plan yourself, but you get incredible results because you have an expert involved from the beginning.

But all of that can go up in flames once an innocent home owner runs into a sale, a craft fair, a decorating present from a well-meaning family member, second guessing the plan, changing your mind, not having a deadline, and substituting colors and purchases from the plan.

But there's another way.  You have to use the plan like a prescription, a recipe, or a map.  You have to do these 3 things:

1. Commit to spending all the money you told your designer you have.  A good designer will base their design on that amount of money--no more, no less.  No sale or decorating gift or craft fair should detour you from this amount of money you are going to spend.  Set the money aside in a special account, and pat yourself on the back every time you spend that money on something from the design.

2. Set a deadline for yourself.  Act like that deadline is day zero.  Picture yourself putting the finishing touches on the room on that deadline, and stepping back and looking around, amazed at how beautiful and inviting the space is.  Or throw a party set for the day after that date. Have people over to enjoy all your hard work, and this will force you to enjoy it too.  Use that vision to motivate you.

3. Relax and execute your professional design plan.  Second guessing, second opinions, and substitutions are a guarantee way to make the process miserable and delay your deadline.  Removing one piece of the puzzle will change the whole design.  If you second guess that stain color for your floors, or the curtain choice, and buy something different, the whole design has to be re-worked.  Trust that the over-all design is the goal, not "the perfect" light fixture or "the perfect" couch.  The pieces all come together to make a beautiful space.  Just like a recipe would be awful if you substituted sugar for salt, so would a design for a room.  You might even LOVE sugar (I know I do!), but as an ingredient, you have to think carefully about how it works with the rest of the recipe.

Good luck with those pitfalls!