How about some details?

What brand is your decorator reccommending? There are several high-end manufacturers and what's expensive to some may not be to others. The more expensive ones seem to hold their value more (i.e. Baker). If you can give us the manufacturers and/or cost, we may be able to provide more feedback.

I don't even have many details yet. I am just floored by the budget he said he would need to complete the space. It is double what I had hoped to spend. As I get more details, I will definitely be asking your thoughts. Thanks.

There are different kinds of decorators. Some do budget work, most do high end work. The budget ones will go high end if you want. But the high end decorators won't go budget for you. And there are almost no budget decorators around any more, and the few that are left don't always have the taste or style that you'll like.

OK, then give us this info. How much per square foot, room by room. Or,

Size of living room and cost
Size of bedroom and cost
Size of family room and cost

Also, are the costs just for furniture or for furniture and window treatments, walls, and floors? If its for everything, how much is the furniture component? With this info we can still be of help.

Have you ever watched decorator's challenge on HGTV? on the show they have three different interior decorator firms that compete for the business of the home owner, who states a budget up front for the project. In other words, " we want to redo our living room our budget for this project in total is $25,000 Or $12,000 or $50,000 or whatever it is. The designer must then come up with a plan that works within that budget.
When you hire a decorator this is the way to do it. Give them a set budget and have them submit proposals for the work then pick the best one accordingly.

Good advice from mccall.

Remember too, that decorators don't work for free, and if you are not paying them an hourly consult rate (or contract rate) then they have to make their profit by selling to you are full retail. If you want to buy discount, then hire a decorator for a fixed amount to draw the plan, then do your own shopping.

Duane Collie

Thanks everyone. I haven't been checking the boards much lately!

Our first meeting with the decorator was a shock to me...and I over reacted. At that time he had not visited our house. He now has and realizes that we have quite a lot of fairly nice furniture that will work in this house and that we will not have to buy as much as some people might. We have contracted him for a fee (when I calculated his hourly rate I realized that it would not buy as much time/access as I thought I might need). He is doing a whole house furniture placement, assisting with color choices/backgrounds/etc, and advising us on new purchases. We will purchase through him...this part still scares me a little!

Already he has made several suggestions for modifications to the layout that we are sure will result in a much better functioning, more beautiful house...already earning his fee. Had we had him on board earlier we could have avoided both change orders and delays...DRAT!!! We were just afraid that we would be too far over budget. BUDGET...what is that?! Oh, well...this is our forever house so we think it is worth it. I'll let you know how it turns out. Maybe by then I will have learned how to post pics!