How to Work Effectively with Decorators

Work Effectively!

Any time that you are changing or updating your living space it is highly recommended that you work with professional interior decorators. The way your home looks will make a tremendous impact on your enjoyment and use of the different rooms and spaces so you don’t want to leave this up to fate or trust just anyone. Professional interior designers will ensure that your home is beautiful but also that it is functional for your particular lifestyle.

The most important part of getting what you want from your decorators is working effectively with them from the very beginning. Even if you know absolutely nothing about interior design, you have valuable information that will help the professional decorators develop a design plan that will be appealing to you.

Not knowing what you want out of the design of your home can be rather unnerving, especially if you have already moved in or are planning on moving in in the near future. Trusting professional decorators with the task of creating your most welcoming and pleasant space can take a tremendous amount of pressure off and help you to feel as though this space will very soon be your home.
When you are ready to start working with the decorators that you have hired, the following guidelines can help you to collaborate in the most effective way possible:

· Start gathering ideas. Even if you want a unique home design it can help to have ideas on which to build. This can mean taking pictures of the elements of your friends’ and families’ homes that you love, pulling pictures out of magazines dedicated to interior design, or going on home tours that can help you pick out the different design elements that you would like to feature, and the specifics that you would like left out.

· Explain to your decorators what you like about these elements—or what you don’t like—and how you may want them modified to better fit your aesthetic. Discuss details such as the color, the size, the positioning, and how it works with other elements in the home.

· If you are attracted to many different elements that do not necessarily go together, discuss with your decorators which you find the most appealing. This can help to develop the general theme or concept of your home. Taking inspiration can eventually lead to design elements that are completely original to your space.

· Discuss with your decorators the biggest elements of your lifestyle. This can include whether you have children or pets, whether you are married, the type of entertaining that you participate in, your favorite activities, and any special needs that you want to be addressed through the design elements. This will help the decorators integrate organizational and other functional elements into the design to help your home be more user-friendly.

· The most important thing to remember when collaborating with professional decorators is that this is your home, not theirs. While they are professionals and have strong opinions, it is what you want to live in that matters, so it is critical that you make your opinions known throughout the process.