The #1 Myth About Working With An Interior Designer
- Nancy Lane
- Jul 23
- 9 min read
Updated: Aug 8
Over the last decade of running my own residential interior design studio, I’ve heard more than a few misconceptions about what it’s like to work with an interior designer. In fact, I wrote about Myths About Working with an Interior Designer in one of our previous posts here and I'm positive you too have heard some doozies yourself. Today I’d like to do a deep dive on by far the biggest fallacy I’ve heard by far.
The #1 Myth About Working With An Interior Designer
Without a doubt, the biggest (and most common) misconception is that when you work with an interior designer, your project will cost you a lot more than without one. If you've ever considered hiring an interior designer for your own project, maybe you’ve had this same fear yourself or perhaps you’ve heard designer horror stories and if so, you’re not alone. We certainly have and in fact, we ask potential clients upfront if they’ve worked with an interior designer before and, if so, what their experience was like and what fears they may have about working with one again.
Answers range from designers who didn’t ask what they the client wanted or what their budget was up front and then designed a beautiful space that the clients fell in love with but absolutely could not afford to implement to designers who didn’t think through potential domino decisions, or get client feedback or approval. Any and all of these answers ended up causing costly mistakes and endless project delays.
Having heard these types of stories repeatedly, I can completely understand a potential client’s fear that designers have expensive tastes or who might insist that ONLY the most expensive items will work in order to achieve a certain look. And there are also designers out there who might completely ignore client budgets while others in fact never even ask if there is one, making it impossible for their clients to ever see the design come to life unless they completely disregard their own internal budget or actual agreed upon investment amount.
I know there is a lot to break down here but I know we can all agree that working with an interior designer is a luxury. While anyone can certainly pick a random paint color palette or a whole house of furniture on their own or even take on a large scale renovation project on their own with just a contractor and a dream, we obviously always think it best to hire a design expert and/or a team of experienced professionals (think designer, architect, builder) for larger projects.
When you're deciding if an interior designer is right for you, the most important thing is to know what you truly care about. Ask yourself if what they offer matches what you want, need and value the most. Realize too that your priorities change as you age and what matters to you now may not matter in the same way when you get older (ask me how I know this to be true). #fiftysomethingandlovingit
If you are at a point in life where what you value most is affordability and bottom-dollar cost, then working with a full service designer may not be well aligned with your present life circumstances. If that’s the case, you should know that there are some value retailers that offer free design services when you agree to purchase items from their big box shops. Depending on your area you might find thrift shops or factory outlets for pre-owned or low cost goods that make it possible to find furnishings at lower, more budget friendly prices.
On the other hand, maybe you’re at a stage in your life where you’re done with anything remotely DIY. You value a well designed home but you don’t have the time or energy to make it happen or maybe you’ve even tried but the result was meh, you’re not in love with your home and honestly, you’re tired of trying. Whether you’re an interior design enthusiast or someone with zero creativity, if you appreciate unique, custom quality furnishings and a personalized luxe, high-end aesthetic, who wants to leave the major furnishing decisions and logistics to the design experts and enjoy a home filled with selections specifically tailored to reflect your unique taste and preferences, or you want to say goodbye to frequent replacements and all the headaches of planning and implementation on your own and instead say hello to a timeless, classic, cohesive look. If your answer to any or all of these is a wholeheartedly “yes please, sign me up” then working with an interior designer to elevate your space will fulfill all these goals and more.
At any stage of life though, we know that making an investment in professional interior design services is an important choice and worthy of thoughtful introspection. We know it and don't take the decision lightly ourselves. It's one of the reasons we write our weekly blog posts in fact and urge potential clients to look not only at our portfolio but our design blog as well.
Benefits of Hiring Nancy Lane Interiors
Here are some key benefits, financial and otherwise, to be aware of if you’re considering hiring Nancy Lane Interiors for your upcoming project:
You might be fearful that an interior designer will implement their own preferences without even considering what you, the homeowner, really wants. This is not the case when you work with NLI. Through attentive listening and our detailed on-boarding process, we devote ourselves to getting to know our clients first, then use our expertise to create unique and inviting collected spaces that translate and reflect who you are, what you love, and how you use and live in the spaces of your home that feel unapologetically “you” and unmistakably like home.
My experience as an interior designer and that of my trusted team allows us to help clients avoid making costly mistakes that many homeowners end up hiring us to fix. Have you ever heard of someone renovating their kitchen or bathroom and hating the end result or buying the wrong scale of furniture for their space and kicking themselves every time they sit down or painting their whole house a color their neighbor used but it just feels “off” in their home? Those are just a small sampling of issues we’ve been hired to rectify.
As a seasoned interior designer, we have a detailed design process that allows us to properly plan and evaluate options with the utmost respect for our clients and their project investment that ensures their desired end result - a home they love and never want to leave!
As designers, we have access to an inordinate amount of unique and customizable products and materials than most homeowners could ever dream of. If you’ve been around this blog for any length of time, you’ll have heard me refer to “to the trade” sources…in other words, artisans and vendors that craft and create furniture and home products and only sell to design professionals and specialty vendors. This means when you work with NLI, you get access to all those amazing options you wouldn’t be able to find on your own.
We travel to trade shows and invest annually in visiting vendor showrooms and manufacturing plants in order to keep tabs on our trusted sources regarding quality, customizations, and features they offer. Plus, because we work with these companies all the time, we develop long standing relationships with them so that if there is ever an issue, we trust and know that they will help us resolve any issues that may arise.
There is no doubt that the majority of our carefully selected items are far better made, unique, and even more affordable than what you’d find shopping on your own. And that my design loving friend, is like opening up a whole new world of design possibilities for your home!
One of my tried and true trusted superpowers in every one of our design projects is to take a high-low approach, which means we design or select spectacular, high quality pieces where it counts then mix our overall design with more reasonably-priced pieces elsewhere. We understand that very few people have unlimited budgets to afford the absolute highest-end pieces for every single item in their home and honestly, even if they do, you should know that if we believe the most expensive option is simply not the right choice, we would say so and advise against it. We believe in using the right pieces for your home, not just the most expensive.
Read this post for where we typically save and splurge in when it comes to your primary bedroom.
Our goal is to help you achieve the desired look, functionality, and quality without overspending to get there. We think you’ll agree that it makes sense to spend more on certain high impact pieces like upholstery or lighting, and to be much more restrained on other items. That’s where NLI, as your trusted designer, can help you determine where to save and where to splurge. We know that making the best choices in both finishes and furnishings both protects and maximizes your investment in your home. In our experience, when you spend money where it counts, the overall effect will make the entire design look and feel more high-end and custom, even with lower cost pieces in the mix.
After all, a good designer should also be a conscientious steward of your investment, who will aim to find cost-effective solutions when needed or wherever possible in creating a design that is in line with the agreed upon budget. This is why we provide detailed information up front about our design service pricing and typical project investments during our client onboarding process before clients sign on, after which we calculate and get agreement on our client's overall investment amount before we begin our design work.
We believe investing in ourselves lends itself to a better investment for you, the client. As previously mentioned, we invest both our time and money in attending trade shows and markets and we also devote time to continuing education classes.
I don’t know if I’ve ever shared that before or how I dedicate time every week to research new products in order to stay aware of trends, new materials and applications. Not that we follow trends mind you.
The selections we make for our projects have a timeless appeal; we steer clear from making design choices that are aligned with a trend that will surely date stamp your home as its popularity spreads then soon fades. Instead we opt for modern, stylish selections that are timeless and classic, that you won’t have to replace once the trend cycle turns. I’ll say it again, hiring a designer is a smart way to save money and earn a return on your investment in making that investment last.
Another thing worth considering is the emotional toll and stress of going through a home remodel or room refresh on your own, without an advocate by your side who has experience in your project type. Countless decisions need to be made and in a timely fashion, and the fear of making a bad decision or the wrong domino decision that will undoubtedly cost you both time and money can be overwhelming for most homeowners.
Working with a designer can significantly reduce your stress. Throughout the design project, you’ll know you have an experienced designer focusing on your project so you can relax and focus on your own priorities - family, your job, and your piece of mind. You can’t put a price on that! But don't just take our word for it...take it from one of our client reviews:
“Nancy was so easy to communicate with and I knew at our first meeting that she was the one to help me get the ball rolling. She made me feel so comfortable and at ease with the entire process, and she even made it fun. She really listened to how we use our spaces and what our evolving needs as a family are. Her vision for our family in our space was not only on target, it has truly transformed a disjointed house into our beautiful home that we love to be in. She walked us through the process of redecorating our home from beginning to end and had our needs, budget, and taste in mind with every decision. Her professionalism, attention to detail, attentiveness, and great communication made the entire process effortless and enjoyable." #priceless
Hiring an interior designer to lead you through the design process, whether it's for full furnishings only or the renovation process of a new kitchen or bath or material selections for a new build, is a valuable investment that will save you time, money, stress and bottom line, your sanity! Our team has vast insight into what is possible, and our clients often share with us that they are able to realize something they could never have created on their own. The result will be a beautifully designed and curated space that functions perfectly for you and your family, now AND in the future.
Want to learn more about working together? Take a look at our service offerings and submit an inquiry through our contact page here. We’d love to see if we’d be a good fit for your project!
