Hiring a Chicago Interior Designer
Home is where the heart is. A well-designed home interior is an expression of who you are, marrying touches of your character with functionality – and don’t forget comfort! At the end of a long day at work, you want a home that feels like an extension of you, where you can sink into your couch and let the rest of the world slip away.
The easiest way to achieve all of this is with the help of an experienced home interior designer. Their ability to blend the aesthetic with the functional, together with access to industry resources, means they can help you create a dream home without the stress and time demands of doing it all yourself.
The trickiest part is finding the right interior designer for you! As one of Chicago’s leading interior design firms, Studio MAK, we’ve put together a quick guide to help you. We’ll explore:
Why hiring a home designer is the best path
What to look for when choosing a home interior designer
How to work with interior designers to get the best results
What would an interior designer do to improve my space?
The most visible part of our job is the end result: a beautiful, functional, and comfortable space. This space can be just one room in your high rise condo, or it can be an entire estate.
However, that’s only the final result! To actually get there, a lot of collaboration and project management is involved. Our interior designers at Studio MAK work closely with clients to get an understanding of their lifestyle and design preferences, communicating those needs to suppliers and contractors.
If you’re short on time like most of our clients (or just don’t need another responsibility in your life!), we take all of this organization and management off your plate, dealing with all communications and project growing pains on your behalf – all while staying within your budget and deadline!
Much of an interior designer’s job is in the planning stage. Let’s just say, we look at space… a little differently than the average person.
Optimizing Room Layouts
An empty room is one that brims with possibilities. We think in terms of layout and flow, considering how a room will be used. In a kitchen, for example, you might value a spacious design that also thoughtfully keeps your most used tools (typically the sink, the refrigerator, and the stove) close together.
In a small bedroom, it could be the maximized storage and multifunctional furniture with clever solutions that match the needs of the person who sleeps in that room. Interior designers have the know-how to integrate the practical needs of the people living into their interior designs.
We also take care to ensure that the design flow continues between rooms, creating a balanced and harmonious space where nothing feels out of place. Unless done by choice, people usually don’t want to feel like they’re going from the 18th to the 21st century while strolling across their rooms.
Selecting the Perfect Materials and Colors
One of the most fun parts of interior design is finding the perfect color palette and materials. Today, we have an almost overwhelming choice to suit just about every personality and need.
Interior designers in Chicago are up-to-date with the latest style trends and are sensitive to your needs. They’ll help you to select the best materials and create a cohesive color palette. Their knowledge of materials can also help you make difficult choices. For example, they may suggest hardwood flooring for high traffic areas, but soft and plush carpeting for your bedroom, showing you different types of materials and explaining how they align with your needs. Read more: Popular Paint Colors for 2024
The Finishing Touches
Whether you’re planning to keep all your old furniture and décor or want a complete refresh, an interior designer in Chicago can help you to fit everything into a new design. Their understanding of room scales, proportions, and the delicate balancing act between a sparse room and a cluttered one helps to give your new design that perfect touch.
At Studio MAK, it’s all about harmony and visual appeal to create a space that helps you to unwind, and enjoy your downtime. A huge part of this is lighting. It has never been easier to use lighting to transform a room and its moods with energy-efficient lighting and accent lighting. We also make the most of natural ambient light, considering how it falls in a room as we consider other elements.
What To Look for When Hiring Interior Designers in Chicago
The Windy City has a lot of interior designers, which can make finding the right one for you feel like a challenging task!
The first thing you should look at is the designer’s experience and portfolio. Hiring someone with a track record and glowing testimonials increases the chances that your home design project will go smoothly, while their portfolio will clue you into their style; you don’t want to hire an interior designer with a portfolio of designs that don’t match your own tastes!
If you can, make a shortlist of around 3 home designers and contact them – most will offer a free consultation. Be ready with your questions and listen carefully. You’re not just getting answers, you’re also gauging the following:
Professionalism: Do they respect your time, budget, and privacy needs? Do you get an impression of organization and reliability?
Communication: How well do they listen and communicate? You need an effective liaison between you and your contractors.
Passion: Do they sound excited about their work and your project? Are they full of ideas and creativity?
After going through this with a couple of designers, you will have a very clear idea of what to do next – and more importantly, you will probably also have found the perfect match.
Yes, this step takes time, but that time is a worthy investment: the right interior designer will save you a lot of time, stress, and money once the ball starts rolling!
Questions to Ask Chicago Interior Designers During Consultations
If this is your first interior design project, you may be wondering what questions to ask or how to prepare. First, you’ll need to get ready for the home visit. To make the most of the consult, you’ll need to have everything ready and prepared.
The most important thing is defining what style you want. Interior designers can create amazing living spaces, but only if they know what you like – and that’s a very personal and subjective thing!
The easiest way to do this is to start collecting visual examples of the style you like. Save pictures from the internet, clip images out of magazines – whenever you see something that matches your design ideas, save it. It can be style, aesthetic, color, anything. It helps to give your designer a clear idea of what you like.
Budget is also an important consideration. You need to be clear about how much you are willing to spend. Interior designers in Chicago work with different budgets, so you need to find someone who is right for you. For example, at Studio MAK, we specialize in luxury interior design.
Another thing you can do is measure out the various dimensions of the room(s) that you want to work on. These dimensions include the basic room size, window sizes, and ceiling heights – measure everything!
Finally, try to be open-minded. Your vision is important, but a professional eye may see something you don’t. This can lead to new design ideas that you hadn’t considered. Not all may feel right at first, but think about them. You’re in control at the end of the day, and you can always ask questions about why the designer made their suggestion.
The Secrets to Successful Interior Designer Collaborations
So, now you’ve hired a designer and the project is starting! For most people, this is the most difficult part of a home interior design project: the home is a mess, often full of strangers, and the work feels like it will never finish. Hang on, it will all be worth it in the end! In the meantime, here’s what you can do to make sure you help the project to go as smoothly as possible.
You should already have an established method of communication and expectations for responses. For most of our clients, phone and email work best, with in-person meetings for important stages.
When you speak with your interior designers, be honest with them. If you’re concerned about something or a preference isn’t going as well as you thought it would, your designer can better help you and guide you through the process.
Perhaps the most important – and frustrating! – tip we can offer is to be patient. Nobody likes this part of the interior design process! Challenges will turn up and there will be days when you wished you had never decided to redesign your home. Interior designers understand this and have been through it many times: trust in their recommendations and ability to fix things!
Studio MAK Is One of Chicago’s Top Luxury Interior Design Firms
Now you know what to look for when hiring an interior designer, it’s time to start your search.
If you’ll let us blow our own trumpet, Studio MAK is a great choice. We’ve been a part of the Chicago design scene for many years and have an experienced team of designers brimming with creative ideas – and we’re passionate about turning your ideas into a beautiful home space that you love.
We believe that communication is the key to a successful project and go the extra mile to make sure that your voice and style shine through at every stage of the process. From original concept to completion, we take control of the project, managing everything to contracting professionals, sourcing materials, and nipping problems in the bud.
Our goal isn’t just to create a living space that you adore, but also to give you a stress-free experience. Over the years, we’ve built fantastic relationships with Chicago’s best suppliers and craftsmen, enabling us to get great deals on the materials and experience to bring your vision to life.
What’s more, we treat your home as if it were our own. We understand that this is your home and not just another project. Our mission is to deliver a beautiful home space design that enhances the quality of your life and reflects your unique personality.
You don’t need to take our word for it, schedule your consultation!
