F.A.Q

• It helps owners/renters to avoid making unwise decisions and chaos when it comes to purchasing materials, furniture, lights, etc.
• You can be confident and proud to show off your property or home! Particularly if yours is a shop or restaurant where first impressions matter.
• A professional interior designer sees and conceptualizes the BIG picture, whereas owners/renters more often than not, merely focus on individual issues / materials / colors, etc.
• A professional interior designer can help to advise on an appropriate scheme to suit your lifestyle and budget.
• Property owners doing their own interior design will usually end up with a “miss-match” or somewhat “chaotic” interior; especially by neglecting consideration of color, lighting, furniture and soft furnishings and other crucial details that “completes” the whole interior. A professional interior designer will help to ensure and co-ordinate all the above for you!
• Owners may feel the pinch when incurring cost on the professional fee. However, just imagine for a moment how much more you will have lost (in terms of money and time) when you make the wrong commitments due to inexperience of choosing fixtures and inaccurate measurements.
• For a fraction of the cost of your property, is it not wise to leverage the knowledge and experience of those who know best and to free yourself to do the things that you do best?
• Design Matters! A good design truly improves the way you live as seen from the many examples around us (e.g., electricity, computers, escalators, airplanes, etc.

• Collect clippings from magazines and photos of items and decors that appeal to you.
• Think about colors, styles and effects you like.
• Know what you want to accomplish, what the room or house should do for you when finished.
• Should it be formal or casual, traditional or contemporary?
• Know your objective and lifestyle needs.
• Establish a time frame in which you would like to work.

Hiring an interior designer is an investment in saving you time and acquiring the peace of mind that your job is being executed professionally, in a cost-effective manner and to your liking.

Currently, there is not one industry standard for how interior designers bill for their professional time, but there are three common formats– Hourly, Flat Fee and Cost Plus.

As its name implies, hourly billing means you are charged an hourly fee per team member for the time it takes to complete your project. A Flat Fee arrangement means you are billed one flat fee for the design, execution and completion of your job. And, Cost Plus means a flat fee based on the percentage of the cost of your job is billed.

When interviewing your prospective interior designer make sure you clearly understand their billing practices and frequency.

Soul Interiors Design will work with you to develop a mutually agreeable Estimated Budget of Professional Design Time based on the size of your project.

We don’t subscribe to a just one particular design style such as modern, transitional or traditional. As creative professionals we enjoy working on a variety of project styles from elegant traditional kitchens, to soft-modern bathrooms, to mid-century family rooms, to name a few. This keeps business fresh and interesting. As such, we are always seeking out new artisans and vendors to help create new, custom pieces for you that complement your personalized style that we co-create with you.

In an effort to help us create a beautiful and functional space for you, we suggest developing a visual reference file of images or items that capture the feeling, colors, textures, and functionality of what you’re trying to achieve.

You can draw design inspiration from many sources such as fashion, art, sports, travel, books, music, stationary, etc. The images you show us don’t have to be pictures of interior spaces. Show us whatever tickles your fancy.

The more meaningful images you can show us the easier it will be for us to understand your preferences and design your unique environment. Have fun compiling your reference file knowing that it will be a valuable tool.

The second item that you must be prepared to discuss is your project budget.

Rather than approach your project from a standpoint of how much you think it will cost, we have found it more effective to give thoughtful consideration to what you’re comfortable investing in your project.

Once you have determined your project budget, we’ll work with you to determine how your money should be allocated as far as interior finishes, fixtures, furnishings, labor, etc., as well as offer suggestions on how to maximize your budget while producing an excellent result.Not disclosing your project budget from the beginning will only lead to an increase in delays in job completion, as well as create frustration as your designer may spend hours designing something beautiful, shopping for a unique piece of furniture, or bringing in qualified sub-contractors to bid work, only to be informed that it’s not within your budget and that re-selections need to be made which results in higher professional design fees.

Solidify a budget you’re comfortable with before your initial consultation and you’ll feel in control of the process, save time and money and assist us in working more effectively.