If you’ve never worked with a professional to help you decorate your home, you may be wondering why to hire an interior designer, what they actually do and what the value one can bring to you and your home. Today we’re going to answer all your burning questions about why an interior designer is worth the investment from our own Claire Staszak, principal and owner at Centered by Design.

They will help you manage your investment in your home.

Consider this a long game. People often think hiring an interior designer is expensive. While interior design isn’t an inexpensive service upfront, the opposite is actually true. One reason why to hire an interior designer is to help you stay on budget and on track. A designer has so many resources, so when you find the designer who’s a good fit for you (based on your style and the level of project you’re looking to do) and if you’re transparent about what you can spend, your project will be that much more successful. An interior designer truly can help you save time and money in the long run. They do this through helping you to choose top-quality vendors, materials, and pieces that will stand the test of time. Interior designers aren’t into always choosing the most expensive products, either. Yes, they (should) have great taste. What that means is that they can take a $5 tile and make it look like a $50 tile — because they have the knowledge on where to spend, where to save and the vision to bring it all together.

They’re pros at handling projects you’ve never tackled before.

The No. 1 thing to look for in an interior designer is solid experience. As with any field, the longer they’ve been practicing their craft, the more experience they’ll have, and therefore the quicker they can make decisions and know the right way to handle any situation that pops up. While a DIY kitchen renovation can go south any number of ways for a homeowner, a good interior designer has been there, done that when it comes to just about any problem. They can easily help you manage and navigate through any challenges along the way. Interior designers also have technical skills, such as drawing in scale, that come in handy. While interior designers don’t (typically) design the exteriors of homes, they specialize in interior architecture. When working with a good interior design firm, you should be getting a large set of drawings, of everything from floor plans, to elevations, cabinet and tile details and so on.

They’re well connected.

When you hire an interior designer, you’re not just getting one person. You’re getting access to their entire team of vendors in whom they’ve developed trust through working with them over the years. You can’t do a renovation single handedly, and an interior designer is someone who has the team members already in place to make your dream projects a reality. Think contractors, cabinet makers, tile installers, countertop fabricators, drapery seamstresses, and many more. It’s important to ask an interior designer for references upon meeting with him or her. You want to know they have that strong network and also ask for photos of their work (including before and after transformations) to be sure they’re the right fit for you and your project.

They’re the ultimate organizers.

Besides assembling an amazing group of vendors to help you execute your project, interior designers are highly skilled with organization. Feeling scattered in your ideas of what you want your renovation to look like? An interior designer’s chief role is project manager. They’ll help you corral all those vision board ideas into one cohesive vision and bring your dream look to life.

Their job is to stay cool, calm, and collected.

Remember that part about handling challenges with ease? An interior designer will deal with all the headaches of a home renovation (or help to remove them completely) for you to ensure you get back to normal life as soon as possible. Working through a renovation while you’re living in a home, especially with a family, is a disruption of your daily life and not easy to deal with. The more people you can have on your team — namely, a highly skilled and experienced interior designer — the quicker problems are going to get solved, with little crisis management needed on your part.

They’re fun to work with.

If you meet an interior designer whose work you like and respect, and with whom you have a good connection, the process of working with him or her should be enjoyable. After selecting the right designer, you should feel comfortable handing over your trust to that person. From that point forward, you’re only saying yes or no to ideas and perhaps making small edits along the way. For the most part, you’re turning over the project — and freeing up your own decision-making ability and headspace. Doing a renovation shouldn’t feel like “work” on your part. The interior designer will manage all of that for you so you can sit back and enjoy the process and final result.

They’ll help improve the value of your home.

Unless you’re going for a specific alternative look, most interior designers will steer homeowners toward a classic design that will stand the test of time while reflecting your personality and lifestyle. Ideally, anything an interior designer works on will still look beautiful 10, 20 or 30 years down the road. It’s proven that homes that have had the touch of an interior designer sell faster and for a higher price than those that haven’t. It all comes down to quality, choosing pieces and styles that last longer so you won’t need to replace or change them every few years.

Are you thinking of working with an interior designer on a home renovation project this year after learning about why to hire an interior designer? Centered by Design can help. Start here by filling out a quick questionnaire about your project and style. We offer complimentary phone consultations to determine if we’d be a good fit to work together. We can’t wait to hear from you and learn how we can help to design your home to stand the test of time!