Why An Interior Designer is Essential to Construction Projects
After months of dreaming about your interior design project, you’re finally ready to get the ball rolling. You may be finishing a lower level, renovating your kitchen, or putting an addition on your home. Or, you may be taking on the ultimate interior design project: the design and build of your forever home. Interior design and construction projects are incredibly exciting, but they can be incredibly overwhelming as well.
The question of, “Do I need an interior designer if I have a contractor or architect?” is one we often hear from prospective clients and the answer is yes, an interior designer is a necessity. With large-scale renovations and design-build projects, you’ll likely need an architect, a general contractor (a builder), and an interior designer. In most states, a licensed architect is not required for single-family home design, and a builder or interior designer may have architectural expertise on their team. At the very least, you’ll still need to engage a builder and an interior designer.
In this post, we’re going to break down why an interior designer is essential to your construction project and share our tips for starting your project on the right foot.
Here it is at a glance:
An Interior Designer Can Make Recommendations for Contractors & Architects
An Interior Designer Can Ensure Your Plans are Optimized for Function
An Interior Designer Can Save You Time
An Interior Designer Can Save You Money (and help you avoid costly mistakes!)
An Interior Designer Can Prevent Many Logistical Headaches
Project: Lake Geneva Dream House | Service: Full Service Whole House Construction, Furnishings & Styling
01 | YOUR INTERIOR DESIGNER CAN MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONTRACTORS AND ARCHITECTS
There’s a lot to consider when hiring a team for your renovation or new construction project: quality, availability, price point. You’ll also want to consider the design style, team size, experience with your level of home, communication method, and project management style of your contractor. As a full service interior designer in Glenview Illinois, we’ve had nineteen years of experience working with local builders and architects and we’ve seen how their projects run internally, whether they finish on time, the quality of their workmanship, and how they interact with their clients.
So, before you commit to an architect who may ultimately have a different style than you, or a builder who doesn’t communicate in a way that aligns with your preferences, we’d recommend finding an interior designer who can ensure your partnership is a match made in heaven from day one. Because let’s face it: construction projects take a long time to complete and you will be working closely (and through stressful situations) with your design-build team. You want to make sure it’s a good fit, otherwise the experience will be even more painful than necessary.
Project: Lake Geneva Blue & White | Service: Full Service Whole House New Construction, Furnishings & Styling
02 | AN INTERIOR DESIGNER WILL ENSURE YOUR PLANS ARE OPTIMIZED FOR FUNCTION
Working with an interior designer will ensure your designs are cohesive and optimized for function. We always work with our clients to help them quantify their functional needs and conceptualize their aesthetic vision during the design process. Then, we make recommendations that the rest of the design-build team will be able to bring to fruition.
At North Shore Nest, we offer a standalone service for clients who have already hired an architect but would like their plans reviewed by an interior designer to make sure they are in alignment with future room development. We focus on how our clients live in their homes and how their furniture will be laid out. Then we make revisions to the blueprints to support the family and the future finished room. We consider things like door openings and door swings, built-in and cabinetry locations, electrical locations, kitchen and bathroom layouts, hallways, and more.
If you don’t have an architect and are renovating your existing home, bringing an interior designer in first before you consult with a builder or architect will ensure your idea makes sense to achieve the function you desire.
03 | AN INTERIOR DESIGNER WILL SAVE YOU TIME
It is critical to ensure the proposed design aligns with site conditions, structural considerations, budgetary factors, functional requirements, and aesthetic preferences. There is nothing more frustrating (in both time delays and additional expenses) than having your design plans ready to go and finding out there are issues preventing the construction from starting. When we work with our clients, we save them time by ensuring that the proposed design aligns across all parties.
We also give input to the architect and builder in the drawing stage to ensure all of the inside details have been considered upfront. We think about where and how art will be showcased, which way doors will swing, how cabinets and millwork should be configured, and locations for light switches and electrical outlets. Having to make adjustments to these small details is very time-consuming anytime after construction commences. You can avoid the possibility of delays and cost overruns by allowing the experts to work together from the start.
Project: Glenview Golf Course View Renovation | Service: Full Service Whole House Renovation, Furnishings, and Styling
04 | AN INTERIOR DESIGNER WILL SAVE YOU MONEY AND PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT
When you have an interior designer involved during the drawing phase, your budget (and your sanity!) will be protected from the beginning. When we’re involved in the early phases, it allows critical collaboration with the builder and architect at key phases so your interior plan is customized for your family. Our clients also benefit from our foresight: this means they can often reduce the number of revisions they need from their architect, reduce the number of change requests they submit to the builder, and ultimately reduce the costly changes that can come up once construction is underway.
We know how to work with our clients’ budgets and recommend where to splurge and where to save. We also make selections that are timeless and of great quality, saving our clients money and protecting their investment years down the line. See how we do that here.
An interior designer will know how to coordinate furniture placement with heating, cooling, and venting systems; how to communicate critical details of electrical and plumbing components; and how customized details — such as custom millwork, moldings, and trim work — should be built. An interior designer will be able to refine all details of how the home should function specifically for you. Having this input early on prevents multiple trips back to the drawing board, and ensures you’ll be happy with your finished space and not find yourself thinking things like, “I wish this door was a pocket door because it swings right into our walk space and creates a traffic jam” ← something that would have been a simple change to the plans if suggested from the outset.
05 | AN INTERIOR DESIGNER WILL SAVE YOU MANY LOGISTICAL HEADACHES
Construction projects are a huge undertaking with many moving parts, and having an interior designer involved in your project allows them to act as the main point of contact and save you from handling the coordinating headaches.
During the design phase, we work to provide the build team with all the fine details about items we are specifying (meaning our clients don’t have to go around with the builder to let them know which plumbing valve they want or which garbage disposal button they prefer - we handle the beautiful AND not-so-beautiful selections!). When issues are found on site once construction is underway, we handle it by making alternate suggestions or troubleshooting with the builder to find an affordable solution.
Having all the design professionals collaborating on the project from the beginning means they will come to the table with the same information and be looped in each step of the way. We also always review allowances given by the builder and guide our clients to what is realistic, and assist in decision-making when the builder needs information fast, so our clients don’t have to be on call 24/7.
Overall, when you partner with an interior designer for your construction project, you can rest assured knowing you’re making the best decisions possible (ones you’ll love forever). Building a home is not something people do often and it is always our goal to protect the best interests of our clients as well as the investment of their time, money, and trust.
If you need help with your upcoming construction project, we’d love to be your first choice. We specialize in luxury new-build construction and large-scale renovations. Submit a Project Inquiry Form here and we’ll send over all the details.
