Nearly all home remodeling projects are a huge amount of work, from planning every detail of the project, to finding the right buyer to purchase materials, and then finding the best contractor to get the job done right. There’s also figuring out your budget, and then determining what the different aspects of the project will cost, and then planning out each step so that the cost fits within your budget. As you can tell, home remodeling projects are big undertakings, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of work that goes into them. That’s why hiring an interior designer is such a good idea, as it gives you a skilled partner who can help you manage all of those details for you, and even inspire you with ideas for your remodeling project that you never thought of. While hiring an interior designer can do wonders your for remodeling project, it is a simple fact that the act of hiring one will require rebalancing your budget. Below we break down the costs of hiring an interior designer in order to help you determine how it will affect your budget.

Hourly or Flat Fee?

While interior designer firms are competitive with one another, the cost will often vary from one to the other. Of course the cost of hiring a designer will depend on the size of your project and the area you live in. However, prices from firm to firm also vary based on the firm in question’s demand, the scope of the services they provide, and their overall reputation in the community. Most of all, the cost of hiring an interior designer will depend most on whether or not they charge an hourly fee or a flat fee.

For those designers who charge an hourly fee, the actual rate they charge can vary depending on multiple different factors. For example, a interior designer who is new to the career and is looking to get their foot in the door somewhere might charge a really low price, whereas more established firms with an excellent reputation can charge as much as $500 per hour. The average rate typically falls anywhere from $125-$200 per hour.

Keep in mind that most interior designers don’t just bill you for designing your project and the time you spend together working on your project. Most interior designers typically expect to be compensated for the time they spend traveling, talking on the phone with you and/or contractors, the time they spend picking out the various items that will be used in your remodeling project, such as furniture, and many other potential expenses. Most interior designers will include a list of the things they expect to be compensated for, so typically there won’t be any surprise expenses.

The other way many interior designers handle the cost of a home remodeling project is to charge a flat fee for the entire project. Usually this is done using an estimation of how much time they will spend working on the project, the size of the project, and the cost of the actual project itself. The way interior designers determine a flat fee can be dependent on just one of the factors listed above, or can be based on a combination of all three factors. It really depends on who you hire, as it can vary a lot from firm to firm.

Other Cost Breakdowns

Some interior designers may break down the expenses of their work by dividing it into categories. For example, some designers consider the work they do actually thinking up and creating the design layout of a remodeling project as more valuable work than some of the other tasks they will perform, and thus will charge a separate rate for that work. The other work they do, such as managing the purchasing and deliveries of materials, might be considered as requiring less skill than the actual design work they do, and they may charge a separate, typically lower fee for this kind of work .

Another factor that can influence the cost of retaining an interior designer is the access to discounted materials that they may enjoy. Since interior designers make a living off of negotiating prices with the distributors of remodeling materials, from kitchen appliances to drywall to countertops, they often have access to discounts on the costs of those materials. This is one of the added benefits of hiring an interior designer to help with the acquisition of your project’s materials. Interior designers will typically charge you a higher price than what they paid the distributor for, as this is, of course, how most interior designers typically make a profit. However, in order to maintain a competitive edge, most interior designers will still charge you less than the retail price for those materials, which helps lower the costs of your remodeling project.

By hiring an interior designer for your home remodeling project, you can guarantee that the project will follow a precise, well thought out and artistically designed plan. Any hiccups or delays that may have occurred if you were to handle a complicated remodeling project by yourself will be completely taken care of and avoided with the help of an interior designer. By granting you access to discounts on the materials used in your projects, and by helping you avoid any unforeseen delays and extra costs, hiring an interior designer is actually a very friendly and healthy way to develop a precise budget. Here is a list of top interior design firms in the country.

We’d love to hear about any remodeling projects or ideas that you’re thinking of doing. We’re always available to discuss any type of work you think your house could use, and don’t forget that we offer free estimates on any and every type of job, no matter how big or how small. Get in touch with us today! We look forward to hearing from you!