Five Misconceptions of an Interior Designer

The thing we hear most often when we introduce ourselves as an Interior Designer is “That sounds so fun! I have always thought about doing that.” Yes, we do have fun and yes we love what we do, but to be honest we kind of have to because it is hard. I mean we aren’t saving lives here, but in order to become an Interior Designer you have to put in some serious work. The schooling for it is super intense (think pulling all-nighters, spending loads of money on supplies for years) and having to be really good at making creative decisions and problem solving on the spot. There are tons of other careers more intense out there, we know, but we thought we’d debunk a few common misconceptions about Interior Designers. That way people can understand a bit better why we can be an integral part of creating your home.

1 - Pick Paint Colours

Yes, we can help you pick paint colours, but no that’s not what we specialize in. If that is all you need help with, we strongly encourage you to go to your local Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams retailer as they will have a lot more knowledge about their products as well as how the colour will look on the wall.

Photo Credit: Studio Lindhjem

2 - Discounts

This one can get sticky. Some retailers or wholesalers do provide designer discounts, however there is a reason for this and it is not to encourage us to send our clients exclusively to them. The reason we may receive a discount is to compensate for the time it takes us to source an item, check availability for the right size and finish for the space, order it and stay on top of arrivals and delivery dates. This may seem like it’s “no big deal”, but in fact it can cost us hours of our time, especially the initial sourcing and once the item is actually ordered. The amount of delays that happen are unfortunately the new normal and going back and forth with our reps and clients to ensure things go smoothly does take time. Sometimes, the percentage discounted doesn’t even cover the amount of time we spent following-up on the item or organizing the delivery.

Photo Credit: Shop Companies

3 - Staging

Staging homes for resale is a different line of work, and requires different expertise to help the potential buyer envision themselves in the space. It usually involves adding items such as furniture and décor into an already existing and established space. As Interior Designers we actually design the space as a whole. We decide where the walls should be, the thickness they need to be to accommodate for plumbing and structure, the size they need to be as well as the layout of the entire home in order for it to be functional and usable. We’ll pick finishes, permanent things such as the toilet or the tile or the cabinets for the kitchen. Of course we also help decorate homes for our clients but what would be referred to as “staging” isn’t in our scope of work. 

Photo Credit: ID Shoppe

4 - Budgets

We often get flack for not sticking to budgets; that we just see something pretty and think “I want that”. Well, we actually do work within budgets and all our decisions and selections are finalized and approved by our clients. Yes, things can and sometimes do go over budget, but we also know not to look for marble tile with gold inlay, when the project affords a simple subway tile and try to guide our client in that direction as well. With that said, we also don’t want to crush anyone’s dreams, so we get creative in finding close alternatives or look for other areas in the budget we can pull from.

Photo Credit: Pinterest

5- Our Own Homes Could Be Featured In Elle Decor

We wish. While we are aware of tons of materials and ways to make our homes dreamy, we–just like you–need a functional space that needs to be vacuumed and dusted more often than we’d like. Our homes are not staged like in magazines, TV or social media, we just add our personality to it like we do for our clients. Our decisions may just be a bit more bold than most :)

Photo Credit: Studio McGee

In some countries Interior Designers are more known as “Interior Architects” which is not a bad way of describing our job. We may not actually study architecture, but we do learn some similar things: drafting/ technical drawings, building codes as well as systems and materials. We do take drawing/ sketching courses as well to enhance our understanding of how things are built and put together and to allow us to visually show clients an idea or proposal on the spot. A good understanding of the building codes benefits us in completely the more technical side of our designs to ensure streamlined project execution. So, if you’ve been contemplating getting the help of an Interior Designer we may just be the people to help you out!

Happy Thursday!