A valuable, albeit expensive lesson learned. What does your contract say about returns? And there is a significant difference between "interior designers" and "interior decorators". https://newschoolarch.edu/academics/schoolofdesign/bachelor-of-interior-design/interior-designer-and-decorator/ In Connecticut, interior designers must be licensed and are defined as follows: " Sec. 20-377k. Definitions. As used in this chapter: (1) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Consumer Protection; and (2) “interior designer” means a person qualified by education, experience and examination who (A) identifies, researches and creatively solves problems pertaining to the function and quality of the interior environment; and (B) performs services relative to interior spaces, including programming, design analysis, space planning and aesthetics, using specialized knowledge of non-load-bearing interior construction, building systems and components, building codes, equipment, materials and furnishings; and (C) prepares plans and specifications for non-load-bearing interior construction, materials, finishes, space planning, reflected ceiling plans, furnishings, fixtures and equipment relative to the design of interior spaces in order to enhance and protect the health, safety and welfare of the public." There is no definition or licensing requirements for people to call themselves interior decorators. The Certified Interior Decorators International association awards CID (Certified Interior Decorator) designations to people who have taken their on-line program that generally takes 2-6 weeks to complete and have successfully passed their 50 question exam.

Your question asks about an interior designer. An interior designer helps you with the overall style and aesthetic look (form rather than function). Since you are talking about renderings and 3D images, I suspect in reality you are talking about a different type of professional. I think you will need to have some architectural drawing to submit for permitting purposes. These aren't horribly expensive. I know so many people here to say hire, hire, hire. I guess my main concern would be if it is a good overall layout, and that is where I might want someone else's advice. Think about how much you know and how you pay attention to functional details, layouts, clearances etc. It sounds as though style-wise you already have a pretty good idea of what your eventual goal is. Over the years we have done several fairly significant remodels without hiring the whole slew of people. Decades ago we added on to our kitchen, changed the basement stairway and the outside entryway, and added a powder room. We designed the project ourselves and with one exception (the outside door we chose) have been pleased with it. People still complement us on our kitchen. The draftsman who drew up our plan gave us one good suggestion about a cabinet placement that we would have never thought of on our own. Other than that it was our plan. I am the one who made the trips down to the city permitting office to meet with their employees and get approvals. Then, we had a contractor build the exterior shell for us. After that, we acted as GC, did a lot of DIY, and workers for the interior portions of the project. We designed the entire remodel ourselves when we gutted our 1000 sq, ft. basement. Frankly, we found that we could do a better design job than some of the locally well-known, design/build firms we contacted. We did the drawings on some very low cost software we bought. We first contracted with an egress window company to install those, and we hired a drain tile company to install drain tiling. It wasn't hard to arrange, and we saved money having that work done first without GC profit tied on to those structural portions of the project. Then, for the rest, we hired a GC to do the actual remodeling work. Being available and on hand to catch things and answer questions is key to this working out. Now we're in the process of a major remodel in a second home we recently bought. We have done all the design work, but I have asked TONS of questions here about the kitchen. We have a GC, and he arranged for an architect firm to produce the measurements and drawings that we had to submit to the county for permitting. I have always enjoyed the idea of remodeling and architectural design, and my husband knows a lot about mechanicals and handyman issues. I've always paid attention to and visited the various remodeling showcases locally. So, for us it has worked out. I guess you need to think about your background and knowledge before you tackle this. I am a huge fan of the architect Sarah Susanka and highly recommend her book Not So Big Remodeling. Buy it today.

Hey Lulu, I'm an interior designer. What help are you looking for? Would you like to send an email at hello@colorconsciousliving.com with the details of your project 👍🏻

Hi there, I currently have cream distressed furniture (see photo) in my bedroom but would like to add the dark furniture (see photo for specific furniture ) but I’m not sure it goes well together, what do you think? I was think of switching out the hardware on the dark furniture. Also seen in the photos with the white furniture is the flooring that it all needed to go with. Btw, I don’t want to paint any of the furniture, all pieces are solid wood (Bernhardt & Stanley furniture) thanks in advance for your time and consideration!