Cost of Interior designer

Hi

I got a quote from an interior designer of 325 for a two hour session for advice on a whole house. After that it is 65 Euro per hour. I might need a good few session to get the whole house sorted out.

Is that a good price ? Of course like any service you have to take that chance that it will be a good one but that seems a bit steep in these days.

If anybody has experience of how much interior designers cost I would appreciate it


thanks

That's a very good price.

ONQ.

I realise this thread is a few months old, but I was wondering about the cost of interior designers in 2010. We've a small project coming down the line and would like to have an idea as to what kind of hourly rate an interior designer would charge?
If someone quotes €100 per hour for instance, should I tell them to push off or snap their hand off?

Any help is appreciated.

Mike.

Hi Mike

Friend of mine visited an interior shop in Dublin, and got free advice - even did a drawing and suggested fabrics and colours - was on Drury Street, near the coffee shops. Was only buying a sofa, which he just got, but the designer chose paint and floor and suggested curtains. Even called to the house.

Hope this helps!

Massimo

Hi Mike,
It really depends what you need from the interior designer. Usually, a once off fee would be applicable for an interior design consultation - with the client then going off and sourcing the products/tradesmen themselves. This can be a viable option if the client is familiar with the process and simply needs colour/style advice etc.

A percentage fee is more common on larger projects, obviously this depends on the overall budget and is negotiated at the outset. In this case the interior designer is often involved at the initial design stage, in consultation with the builder and architect (if any). They would oversee the tradesmen (painters, carpenters etc.) and co-ordinate as appropriate. A designer can also source fabrics, wallpapers, furniture and basically anything you need inside the house.

An hourly rate is rarely used alone, it is normally in conjunction with either of the above, and is advised and agreed in advance.

These days a lot of designers will do a free initial consultation, and then advise on fees once they have discussed your requirements. As stated above, some furniture shops also offer design advice. If you decide to pay a designer an hourly fee, be VERY sure that you know exactly what you are going to get for this payment. Hope this helps!

Arnotts provide a free national home designer service if you hold their store card. Might be worth considering for a once-off consultation.

Mike,

Shops are doing what they can to sell you an item.
They may offer discounts, special offers, value added services, even a general interior design service.

They make their profit on the item, and they have to employ the saleperson anyway.
Someone holding a five week certificate as an Interior Designer may be available, and may be working within their competence to offer advice.

You have to ask yourself what level of advice you really want and get your head around your desires by looking at other interiors and catalogues and so forth.
There seems to be little point in talking to a shop sales assistant about colour if they haven't FIRST assessed you needs and likes and dislikes by visiting the house and viewing any interiors you'd like, taking your instruction and coming up with a proper proposal - if they did, well and good.
Many do not and you may end up walking out with a selection of paint tins and papers you may not eventually use in the end.

Interior design services need to be tailored to a client's particular home and their specific needs and may need several consultations.
Sometimes a lot of time is spent wandering around looking for the right fabric at the right price and this research time feeds into the final result.
Ask yourself what you can buy for €100 nowadays and whether the time spent with your takes into account the research and design time done away from you.



ONQ.

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All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.

I work as a Interior Designer and offer the first initial consultation for free and I know many Designers that will offer the same. Some designers offer to deduct the initial fee if services are undertaken for project.It is important to do your research on any company and ask for some previous client testimonials before making any commitments. The Internet have a good few sites that have contacted the designers clients (for real) and talks about the works carried out.

I think design professionals have to be careful about running themselves into the ground doing free consultations - unless a proportion of them come good, another business bites the dust.

In that regards I think persons seeking professional advice have to learn to trust their advisor and to choose their advisor carefully following word of mouth recommendation and/or assessment of their work.

Most competent designers will offer a good service, personalities need to be bridled for the duration and clients sometimes have to face the fact that the better designers can be a bit off the wall or overbearing - that's true from hairdressers to architects.

The bottom line is the product, and the service you get.

ONQ.

do you really need an interior designer? don't you know anyone with a good eye who is out of work and looking for something to do? it can't be that hard to source tradesmen and colour co-ordinate surely? can it?

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I'll take it on board when we really get rolling and the process started.

I like the idea of maybe using a percentage of the budget. It seems that this way we'll at least know what we're paying. Is there an average % rate? Our budget is around €15000. What kind of % rate would I be expected to fork over?

Regarding just getting someone with some free time on their hands to do it. I think doing it that way is why there's such a proliferation of horrible homes around the country all filled with the same style painted furniture. My take on it is that by hiring an interior designer I'll get something different by having someone who knows lesser known brands and stores that we can use.