Are you ready to choose the perfect interior designer for your Bay Area home renovation? It’s a big decision, as you’ll be partnering with them to curate how you live in your home. It’s important that you trust them and are willing to open up and share details of your life and your budget. Every client has their own set of priorities or life changes, and your interior designer will be there to make the best decisions for you. 

Here are several key elements to consider when hiring an interior designer, whether in San Francisco or beyond. 

Choosing an Interior Designer Based on Their Use of Color 

The use of color enormously impacts our moods and how we function in a space, which is why you should choose an interior designer who approaches color in a way you really admire.  A great first step is to review their work. Their portfolio should resonate with you, and you should feel a deep connection to the designs you see. 

As you review portfolios, you may notice a penchant for a color scheme or tones in a designer’s work. This is so important to keep in mind. Especially if their projects all have the same “look,” you need to LOVE that look and know that it is most likely what you will end up with if you hire that specific interior designer. 

However, if their use of color varies slightly between projects, that’s usually a sign they are designing for the client rather than just their portfolio. Regardless, the designer’s sense of color needs to appeal to you—including how they utilize color and how it flows in the design.   

Pay close attention to how they balance color with textures, scale, patterns, and decor. Blending all three of these will set the mood and tone and affect how you feel in a space. 

Choosing an Interior Designer You’ll Actually Enjoy Working With 

You will be working closely with your interior designer, and for many people, a renovation or refresh of their space can be stressful. It’s critical that you feel comfortable voicing your opinion, asking questions, talking money, and overall get along with the chosen interior designer in the Bay Area. It’s not uncommon for a renovation to take a while, and you’ll probably be spending quite a bit of time with your hired interior designer over the coming weeks or months. 

Ask yourself: Do you like this person? Can you see yourselves laughing together a year later? Overall, you should feel comfortable handing over your project, putting yourself in their hands, and allowing them to guide you through the process. 

Hire An Interior Designer Your Family Can Trust

When it comes to hiring an interior designer, you’re literally handing over the keys to your kingdom, AKA your home. Your home is a significant investment in itself, and working with a designer is an additional investment in your lifestyle. 

From the inquiry process to signing an agreement, your designer should inspire trust so you can loosen the reigns and allow their expertise to guide you through the process. 

From the get-go, you need to feel comfortable laying your cards on the table and have the hard conversations about money, timing, and personal needs. 

• Do you need a straight shot to the bathroom in the middle of the night?
• Should there be a grab bar in the guest shower for when grandpa visits? 
• Are you concerned about stairs being cumbersome as you age?

Yes, these questions are immensely personal, but so is your home. And when you trust your designer, you can trust that they will take these deeply personal needs into account. 

Prepare Ahead Of Time 

Great results come from collaboration. Make sure you’re ready to provide feedback, stay engaged, and partner fully in the process. Renovations are often time-intensive and require consistent communication. The constant approval of design concepts, documents, drawings, and more is often a heavy mental load, even when you have a designer with ninja-like organizational skills. 

So make sure you have cleared any personal or professional roadblocks that would prevent you from having a great workflow between you and your interior designer. 

If you’re considering partnering with MMID for your next project, I’d like to invite you to learn more about our vision and approach. We specialize in show-stopping designs with flawless functionality that elevate our client’s lifestyles. Reach out via our contact page. We would love to schedule a call with you.