Why You Should Hire An Interior Designer?
Have you recently moved into a new place and in desperate need of some inspiration for decorating? You might have an idea of a room set-up and the focal points that will make your living space attractive and functional.
Sure, you can do a few searches, read some glossy magazines to get some ideas, but that doesn’t mean that those designs will work right with your space.
That is where an interior designer comes into play. They are able to take your existing decor and transform it into something that works right for you and your space.
An interior designer brings in good harmony, ambience and finishing touches in styling your home. All of this comes from intuition, skill and experience that an interior designer has.
However, many interior designers fail to explain (or we fail to listen) why they suggest a particular styling/design for your home. I want to break down the gap in communication that you might have when working with a professional.
Designers Incorporate Your Style Into the Decor.
With a good interior designer, one should aim to finding your style and taste. The goal is to make the home express who you are and temper that with functionality.
For most of us, space is an ultimate luxury … nothing shows off your wealth better than that additional space in your home. That is the reason we move up in spacious living, from a dorm room in college days to single bedroom apartment and later to a 2/3 bedroom apartment. And continue on as we go up on the property ladder to owning a villa.
However, floor space comes at a premium not everyone can afford. That doesn’t mean you can’t have a larger living space. Larger space is all about perception. In order to make limited area feel spacious, we have to delude our brain. Trick it to believe there is larger space.
Hiring an interior designer will help you in adding these tricks that make your eyes believe that you have greater space. In addition, they will give the ‘wow’ factor to your home.
Design techniques used by my interior designer in my apartment.
Anja Hesp:- (http://www.ijzersterkinterieurontwerp.nl/)
- The first thing to do is de-clutter the living room.
Too much of everything can make the room feel smaller. Here is something to ask yourself — what is the room used for?
The most important thing to do is to avoid the conflict of activity in the living room. This could be watching TV to listening music. It might include working on computer/home office or even a display of all your DVD’s.
Using effective storage space helps de-clutter the room and give an illusion of larger space. (Notice the storage space of the two closets, I’ll tell you more about that below.)
2. Use the right size furniture.
There is a notion that bigger is better. That may not be the case with furniture. Generally people indulge in buying a big sofa/couch. If the sofa is too big, it becomes the dominant item in the living room, occupying a lot of space. Not only that, it also makes the room look smaller and everything else in the room is never even noticed, because the focal point is on the sofa/couch.
An interior designer will help you with the measurements, right placement and also shopping for the right size furniture.
3. Placement of the furniture.
Most people have this notion that the furniture should always have its back against the wall. In this case, by moving the couch/sofa 3 feet away from the wall, we created the space for a storage chest against the wall.
Likewise on the other wall we added a vintage closet which served both the functionality and also gave the room a chic look.
4. Usage of colours:
It is important to use the accent colours to liven up your living room. The accent colours draw attention of your eyes to a few focal areas and create visual illusions.
In the picture above, the accent colours make both the sofa and the storage chest pop-out.
● The orange accent block made the white chest pop out.
● The brown accent block made the vintage closet pop out.
And at the same time, the colours break the continuity of pattern and visually trick your eye to believe there are two separate areas. Further, the horizontal rectangular orange block increases the feel of the width space (take a look at the picture again). You see … it’s all in the eye!
The rectangular orange block had to be of the right dimensions, a few inches taller or shorter (an error some of us amateurs could easily have made) would not give the same visual impact that it now gives.
Likewise, the other side of the apartment had a dining table and a fireplace installed: combining functionality and the chic look with the fireplace:
When I initially explored the thought of styling my apartment, the thought of the fireplace never crossed my mind. This idea was proposed by my interior designer and it was an instant hit. The thoughts raced through my mind that this is a reflection of my personality — entertaining guests in a cozy atmosphere!
Similarly, selecting the dining table on the right size & styling was important. As an amateur I would made an easy mistake of buying something that was too large, heavy wooden and placed it perpendicular to the wall ~ creating a divider in the room and fatal design error. Fortunately a good advice from the Anja Hesp (http://www.houzz.com/pro/anja-hesp/ijzersterk-interieurontwerp) served both functionality and created good space — notice that placing it parallel to the wall length wise tricks our eye to think the room is long and spacious.
What was the result? A surprising playful pop of colours!
No one can make a room physically bigger. Instead, we have to work with what we have. By using the right kind of colors and making the right design choices, you can make a space feel larger.
While I worked with my interior designer on my apartment, I only had the pencil drawings on the graph paper (no 3D pictures). I had to visualize it in my mind on how it would turn out to be. I must admit that I was nervous on how the end product would be.
When we did finally finish it, it gave me the ‘Wow’ factor that I was looking for. The room had the surprising playful pop of colors, ambience and reflection of my chic personality.
In hindsight all these adjustment might look simple, but one must realise that this is the work of professionals. These tricks are actually a result of years of classroom and practical training that interior designers have undergone.
Hence, hire an interior designer to get that X-factor into styling your home!
