Choosing an interior designer is a very important decision for your rental space. After all, how an Airbnb is furnished can greatly impact your bookings. Interior design projects can be expensive, so you’ll want to make sure you get the very best for your budget.
So how do you choose an interior designer? Below are ten things to consider before making your decision.
1. Your Style
Although not a necessity, it can be helpful to have a similar sense of style to the designer you choose. This way the whole process will be more streamlined as your designer will have experience in the materials you’re wanting to introduce to your rental.
However, a good interior designer will be able to adapt to the style and brief you give them.
2. Your Budget
Every project has a budget and having an interior designer can help you get the best results for your money. Below are three ranges of budgets:
- A minimal budget: Your money is tight so you’ll require creative cost saving from your designer, like upcycling, or revamping your existing furniture.
- A decent budget: You have a reasonable budget for your project that’ll allow you to balance quality and cost. You’ll need advice from your designer on where to spend and where to save.
- A generous budget: You want the best interior design money can buy with all elements completed to a very high standard. You’ll need a designer you can trust to make the best choices.
Knowing your budget before looking for a designer can be helpful for your search. For the best results for your rental you’ll want to choose a designer who has experience working with budgets like yours.
3. The Scale of the Project
Another important element to consider is the scale of your project. Are you looking to renovate a single room or a whole house?
The larger the project the wiser it is to choose an interior designer who is experienced in tackling large scale projects.
Read Now: Airbnb Interior Design Advice: How to Create a Cohesive Space
4. How Involved in the Process Do You Want to Be?
Before pairing with an interior designer, consider how involved you would like to be with the project so you can communicate this with your designer.
Do you want to be making furniture and colour choices or do you want to fully leave the project in the hands of your designer?
A hands-on client would be wise to choose a more laid-back designer who is okay with their decisions being overruled, so make sure to communicate how you’d like to approach your particular project with your designer.
5. Reviews and Recommendations
Before you make your final decision on your designer make sure to ask for feedback from their previous clients.
This is very common practice in the design world and any good designer will be happy to provide you with references.
Read Now: Interior Design in 2022: The Best Style for Your Airbnb
6. Interior Designer or Architect?
A very common question is whether you need an interior designer or an architect – sometimes this can be a bit of a grey area.
A general rule of thumb for which one you need is:
- Architect: whenever the work required concerns the external structure of the building, like the walls or the roof.
- Interior designer: whenever the work includes the design and specification of interior finishes and furniture.
Anything in between such as internal alterations can really be done by either. If the work needed is just moving a few non-structural walls, an interior designer can work with you.
However, if the building requires large scale internal alterations it would be better to work with an architect.
7. Use a Contract
Having a contract with your interior designer is very important so you both have a clear outline of what to expect from each other for the duration of the project.
Your designer should have one they use with all of their clients and sometimes this can simply be an outlining letter which includes their fee.
8. Do You Need a Local Designer?
For most projects you want to look for a designer based within the 20-mile range of your rental. But this is very much based on the scale of your project.
For large and long-term project where your designer will need to visit the site regularly it makes sense to choose a local designer.
However, depending on the project some interior designers can work remotely. If you simply want a few drawings as guidance for a room and nothing more, a remote designer could be perfect for you.
9. What’s the Time-Frame for Your Project?
When selecting an interior designer be clear with your expectations for the project being completed.
The deadline for when you need your rental fully furnished might not match up with your chosen designer’s availability, so make sure to be communicative about the urgency of your project from the start.
Read Now: 3 Reasons Every Landlord Should Use an Interior Designer
10. Do You Get On?
An often-overlooked aspect of choosing an interior designer is whether or not you get on with them. No matter how much you like their design style, if you can’t establish a good working relationship with your designer it’ll make the whole process harder than necessary.
For more interior design advice for your Airbnb, contact our experts at Keey today!