DIY vs. Hiring an Interior Designer

So it’s time for you to start working on tearing down that old drab wallpaper, repainting the walls and redecorating. While many people think this is an easy project to take on by themselves, it’s not as easy as one might assume. As much as you think you know about something, experts always know more. Here are the pros and cons of doing it yourself vs. hiring a professional interior designer and why you might want to consider hiring someone to do the job for you.

Knowledge

Being on the DIY side means you know what you want to have done and you know what the final product looks like in your head.

On the other hand, an interior designer is a trained professional with experience. Interior designers understand spacial layouts, can envision the full picture, have other professional contacts and guarantees satisfaction. They also have expensive software that they can use to visualize room setups, so while you may have the concept in your head, they can create it on paper to ensure it’s exactly what you’re looking to do.

Decorating

You look through magazines and see the perfect furniture for your newly decorated room but it’s at an astronomical price. Because of this, you can only buy furniture that fits your budget and a lot of the time, that’s not what you are looking for. If you hire an interior designer, you have the time and freedom to research and find replicas of your favorite furniture for a fraction of the cost, allowing you to essentially have your cake and eat it too.

By hiring an interior designer, their expertise is guaranteed to get you the most bang for your buck and help you to avoid making any costly mistakes. The interior designer also can work with a clients budget to create the perfect space for the client with the furniture that makes the most sense.

Time

There are both pros and cons of doing a project on your own time. If you have a family in the picture, once you dive into a big interior design project you can find that it consumes all of your time and leaves little to no time for your family. If you have a full-time job, it could be extremely difficult to find any additional time to do anything besides work on this project. On the other hand, if you’re performing this project on your own, you have the ability to do it at your own pace in the comfort of your home.

As an interior designer, this is their profession which means they can do the legwork for you and save you the time and exhaustion of running around trying to get this project done. The experience an interior designer has can help consolidate the time that it would take you or someone else with little experience to complete the project.

Budget

Budgets are always a big issue when it comes to redecorating and changing the interior design of a space. If you’re doing it yourself, you have the opportunity of saving tons of money by doing the work yourself and not having to pay labor for trained professionals to come in and do it for you. One thing to keep in mind is that if you make an error due to your handy work, you will have to pay for your lack of experience.

An interior designer might be costly, but the knowledge and experience he or she brings is truly priceless. By hiring an interior designer, you have the guarantee that whatever project they’re doing for you will get done exactly how you want it done and it will be done properly. The peace of mind of knowing your space is being taken care of by professionals is in many cases worth the extra money.

Whether you choose to do the project yourself or hire someone, it’s important to know the pros and cons of each side. This way, when it comes time to make your final decision, you’re well educated and can make a responsible decision based on your research.

Jackie Ryan is a freelance writer who enjoys DIY projects. Recently she finished a strenuous project that required the use of platform trucks to help her move a lot of her materials. She hopes that others interested in DIY projects learn from her tips to help them with their projects!