Mel Bean Interior's Top Five Things to Consider Before You Start a Design Project

1. Hire a designer early.

If an architect is involved in a project, hire your interior designer at the same time. This will save you time and money and lead to a more cohesive design and ideal collaboration. If you’re not working with an architect, interview and hire a designer a minimum of 3-6 months before you intend to begin the design process, not construction.

2. Don’t spend a dime until you’re committed to a vision.

Your designer will help you arrive at this vision based upon the priorities you communicate and inspiration images you provide. These things will help inform the designer’s creative vision. Once you and your designer have agreed on the overall vision, this serves as a tool throughout the duration of the project.

3. Have a clear understanding of your investment.

You would be shocked at how many people cannot give us an amount of how much they would like to invest in their project. This inevitably leads to unrealistic expectations and disappoint for both parties. Our process helps to avoid this by helping each of our clients to arrive and sign off on a budget before any design work begins. However, ultimately the client is responsible for doing the work up front and deciding on their financial investment.

4. Be decisive or it costs you money.

While some reselections are to be expected in the design process dialogue, excessive redesign will increase the demands in time and money. Additionally, the current challenges with supply chains across the board lead to constantly changing lead times and pricing. If a client does not invest in those pieces immediately, they risk the chance of product no longer being available, increased lead times, price increases, and forces us to reselect.

Being decisive requires the client to do their homework upfront and decide on what they want to prioritize. Pinterest is a great resource on using the boards to categorize the boards by rooms, concepts, and priority. These are shared with the designer to help get inside your brain and inspire the vision for your project.

5. Be flexible, expect the unexpected.

Construction projects, whether interior remodels or new builds, often encounter surprises. Be prepared to be flexible and have open and honest communication with a designer, contractor, and architect that you trust. We have experienced surprises on every project we have ever worked on. Having a good attitude makes the process fun for everyone!