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myrlene_sanon

New home in central New Jersey- need help decorating

M. s.A.
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago

Hello,

My husband and I would like to hire a decorator to help with picking out new furniture, accessories, and their placement etc for family/living room, dining room, foyer, and master bedroom. I've never hired one before but recently did get a recommendation for someone locally and her quote was ~3k total. I'm looking for others to compare this to considering this designer doesn't have connections for furniture discounts. I'm new to Houzz and hoping I could get some advice. Also how best to take advantage of the Houzz resources. Thank you all in advance.

Comments (45)

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    8 years ago

    I don't know about hiring a decorator as I DIY it. I'd be really careful about the contract though to make sure it really specifies everything you expect them to do for you. Also do get an understanding on how they make their money (mark up off of retail? fee per hour?) as you will be paying it and need to know what you're buying. Maybe others will chime in.

    Here are some old threads you may find helpful.

    Who recently hired a decorator?

    Question-regarding-estimating-interior-decorator-bids

  • M. s.A.
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    Thank you Annie for the suggestions and also the helpful links. Much appreciated. I am looking for an interior designer or decorator. Thanks again.

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  • patty_cakes42
    8 years ago

    A interior designer usually has a degree, sometimes in architecture, and is capable of making decisions re:structural changes. She may charge higher fees since she is degreed. A decorator does not need a degree to practice decorating in most states, and therefor her fee *should* be less. I would ask to see a degree in either case, but i'm a skeptic. FYI, in this age of sophisticated technology, it would be fairly easy to 'conjure up' a degree on line. Just food for thought.


  • justgotabme
    8 years ago

    I'm a DIYer too and have always had my own sense of style so I'd personally find it hard to pay someone anything to help with furniture purchases and placement. Since the one recommended to you doesn't have access to furniture discounts, I'd check with local furniture stores and see if they offer assistance. You may still not get a discount, but some don't charge for that service if you buy your furniture from them. Right there you saved $3,000.00.

  • thankurnmo
    8 years ago

    I am in Central NJ (been here for over 20 years) and I am sorry to say that I have no one to recommend. A few years ago there was someone doing a talk at the library and I thought I might as well use her for a consultation. I really wasnt looking so much to buy furniture, but to help with color (paint) and some coordinating what I had , possibly some lighting, etc. She spent about an hour in the house, and then later sent me several fabric samples, paint chips, photos of some pieces of furniture, light fixtures etc. I think she charged about $150 or so for this.

    She did provide a service but I didnt love her suggestions. They were not bad; she was not awful but it just was not a hit. I did finally paint my kitchen family room with one of the 20 colors she had suggested, and believe me it was taking me years to narrow that down so that was a plus. I really couldn't recommend her in good conscience .

    The point is-----you definitely need to see their work. (Online is so easy now too). They will typically pull together a nice room for you, but it needs to be something you love. Also you need to be very firm on budget with them. I find if you say you have xx to spend for a room, they will frequently find a piece or two that costs xx and suggest that you do it in stages to add to the room. Well if you want the room furnished and have xx to spend, that is the budget.

    Sorry I cant be more helpful or upbeat....






    S

  • kswl2
    8 years ago

    I would not hire a decorator who basically shops retail for you, as so many seem to do. You want someone who is ASID, and who offers you access to his or her online portfolio.

    In terms of budget for the actual purchases, you should probably count on $18k to $25k per room if you are buying everything new, painting, etc. That is a reasonable, "middle of the road" amount for a nicer suburban home. Depending on its size and the style of the home, a foyer could cost a quarter of that.

    Good luck--- decorating a new home is very exciting!


  • funkycamper
    8 years ago

    $18-25k per ROOM for a "middle of the road" home? Seriously? Am I that out of touch?

  • dedtired
    8 years ago

    If you are, Funky, so am I. Wow.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    8 years ago

    Make that three of us, but then there is a pretty big difference between my home/taste and kswl's. Her home is lovely and quite impeccably done. Mine, not so much. Still, I love it and think it is lovely, too.

  • busybee3
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    i gotta agree, 18-25k/room is way out of the budget for most 'middle of the road' people i know...

    you save a lot of $ if you diy.

  • M. s.A.
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    Happy New Year....Thank you all very much for taking the time to comment and providing helpful considerations/tips. Indeed I'll want to review their work first and also find someone who has retail discounts in order to offset the cost of hiring a designer. Indeed @sheilaaus122 central/northern new jersey have limited options for finding local professionals. 18-25k per room is way of budget for me :), would take quite some time to furnish it all if that were the case.

    I did come across a website/service call Homepolish, interior designers charging by the hour. they don't have local designers in NJ but they do offer virtual service so that the designer and you chat virtually, they see your space, and make recommendations. Curious has anyone used them before? https://www.homepolish.com/

  • funkycamper
    8 years ago

    cyn, I'm sure kswl's home is gorgeous but we have seen numerous very expensive homes posted here that have been ugly, right? Money =/= taste. And tasteful decorating doesn't require a lot of money.

  • CindyMac
    8 years ago

    I don't think "ugly" is fair ... just not something all of us like.

  • roarah
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    A lot of mid priced furniture stores offer free in home design services. Ethan Allen, pottery barn, thomasville and lazy boy are a few that will come for free and help you choose the furniture and fabrics. The look is more generic but not going to break the bank.

    M. s.A. thanked roarah
  • kswl2
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    If you think about it, everyone here has probsbly got close to that in a room, maybe some less, depending on where you live. She's in a high cost of living area. Look around your dining and living rooms and imagine buying everything new---all furniture, rugs, lamps, window treatments, artwork, pillows, magazine racks, etc.. And all at retail, plus the designer's fee of $3,000. While you may not think you have that much in each room, remember you've paid it out over a longer time period. Also, some of your things you may have been given (I've been given lots of things) or bought secondhand....consider what you'd pay for those new today. It's not off, not overestimated at all.

    Adding, if you look at the fee as a percentage of the budget this makes more sense. $3,000 is ten percent of $30k, which IMO is light for LR, DR, MBR and foyer. If the total expenditure is $15k the design fee then becomes 20 percent of the total. Let's say someone wanted to spend $10k on the project---- not only is that utterly unrealistic, it means the straight design fee is 33% of the budget all out of pocket, no markup on furniture or fabrics or services. That is way out of whack. These numbers give an idea of what the decorator was thinking.

  • justgotabme
    8 years ago

    Yep, Roarah. That's just what I meant. Even locally owned larger furniture stores offer free help in room planning. I know NFM does here in the Midwest.

    M. s.A. thanked justgotabme
  • K Sissy
    8 years ago

    Anytime I have ever used a decorator, I have regretted it. I would go out and find some piece that I loved and go from there. There are stores (Lazy Boy, etc) that provide free decorating assistance if you purchase so much $ in products from them. I would try one of those stores before I would pay someone thousands for that service.

    M. s.A. thanked K Sissy
  • Annie Deighnaugh
    8 years ago

    Hmmm, my library...I bought the sofa new, the rug off of ebay, and the art over the sofa new. I bought the wall-mounted swing arm lamps new too for a few hundred bucks. I paid probably $150 for the fabric I used to make the drapes. Throw in the wooden rod from Lowe's with the finials. The 2 chairs by the fireplace I paid a couple of hundred bucks for in the 70s. The rest are hand me downs. Way below anything remotely like $18k. Probably the most expensive thing in the room is the waterford hurricane lamp, but only because it was a service gift from the company...cost me 25 years.

    Now I know why I don't use decorators! :)

  • arcy_gw
    8 years ago

    Looking at portfolios and finding a person whose style you like is the way to go. I have yet to see a decorator who doesn't have their own style-and sell it over and over and over. In a perfect world a designer would know you WELL. Know how you live and be able to draw out of you YOUR style and then find a way for you to show it off at a price you could afford. In most cases you will be paying someone to sell you the latest trend, the newest ideas and styles. In my world that would be a nightmare. Starting from scratch you are really susceptible to this. I still remember the JCPenny gal who came out and picked out drapery/carpet for my mom's living-room. Perhaps that is the way to go...find a furniture store you like, can afford and get one of their stylists to come out to your home for a consultation. In high school I thought I should be an interior designer when I grew up. There is a HUGE difference in having decent taste and helping someone else realize their taste!! In their world they HAVE TO have as many hits as misses. If you don't have the assertiveness to say NO THANK YOU to their suggestions it could be disappointing.

    M. s.A. thanked arcy_gw
  • busybee3
    8 years ago

    many, many homes- esp in higher income areas like the NE- are finished at much higher prices than your range, kswl... i just don't think 'middle of the road' is 18-25k and think the majority of people, even in the NE, pay far less....

    and, it really, really pays to be a saavy shopper and also to diy...

    i would go that route over a designer unless you are absolutely positive you love your designer's style... there are some great designers, but just like hairdressers- it's very hard to find (and afford) a really good one, imo...

    M. s.A. thanked busybee3
  • kswl2
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Annie--- what would those chairs you purchased in the seventies cost today? What if you bought your fabric at retail and had a workroom fabricate your curtains, and bought the curtain rod system from them as well---and had them professionally installed? And your built-in bookcases are part of the decor....what would it cost to have a room retrofitted with those, or buy good quality, solid wood decorative bookcases (not from Ikea)? And you mentioned furniture handed down--- what would pieces of similar size andquality cost new? I think you are looking at what YOU paid for the room and not seeing what it would cost to replicate at retail, brand new, same quality.

    Busy, obviously there are price points above and below. Instead of "middle of the road," would it make more sense to call it the median?

    Check your homeowner's insurance to see how your "contents" are valued. Our insurer uses either a percentage of the home value or will come in and actually do a valuation. The last time we had this done was about seven years ago. It is eye opening.

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    8 years ago

    This is an interesting discussion. Here, for example, is an article in line with kswl's POV on how much it costs to furnish a room. Of course this is written by a decorator with a decorator's POV and a desire to make money spending her client's money. It is also done with the POV that to hire a decorator means you want and expect a certain level of quality and brands and finishes as defined by the decorating world. If you read the article, she saved her client a lot of money by spending only $20k instead of the $100k in the inspiration room. Certainly if you have no decorating sense or desire, you may be happier buying the services of someone who does and can yield a satisfying result without any angst or redos or regrets.

    However, there's a whole 'nother approach to decorating that doesn't involve spending that kind of money. There have been shows on TV about the look for less. (Mind you, there has been some awful work done on some shows where I felt sorry for the homeowners stuck with the "after" and wondered how long it would last once the tv cameras left.) Nate Berkus used to have a segment on his show where he showed two similar items of vastly different prices and asked the audience to guess which is which. Many times they got it wrong. Much of the savings can come from a single item in a room, like a rug: $20,000 vs $200. Used stuff, hand me downs, and DIY are some of the ways to keep the budget low, though it will bump up the time invested. For example, I could've hired an artist to come in and faux finish my columns, but I DIY'd that and am pleased with the results. Took more time and effort on my part, but I enjoy doing projects so it's a win/win for me. I grew up on Christopher Lowell's "you can do it" which rings so true for me. Make decorating accessible to everyone, regardless of budget. It costs no more money to select a good paint color vs a bad one.

    I'm sure there are decorators and others who would come in my house and disdain what I've done as they won't find $500/yd fabrics and murano glass chandeliers. They will find olefin carpets and homemade window treatments. But what my guests see is a home that is put together and attractive, warm and welcoming. And what I live with is a house full of stuff that speaks to me, either because it's something I've done or chosen, or something someone else in my family has owned or created that brings warm memories with it.

  • kswl2
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Annie, what you say is perfectly true, and your home is absolutely lovely! You haven't addressed my questions, however---- if you had to replicate your library with no DIY, no sales, no furniture handed down, no eBay, etc., don't you think it would cost far more than you estimate? (And remember that all the care and time you spend shopping, considering options, trying out paint and fabric samples will be someone else's compensated time.)

  • roarah
    8 years ago

    I agree with both Annie and KSWL simultaneously. I spent only 3k on furnishings, curtains and accessories for my sunroom which is used as a kids space. But I used auctions, hand me downs, and sweat labor restoring a plank ceiling. If we had a fire the room replacement was valued by the insurance company for 12k. Just for the stuff not the structure and finishes.

  • Nothing Left to Say
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Hmm, I just mentally added up everything in my living room, estimating on art something that were gifts and I end up at right around $9500. That does not include the television and related electronic components. I shop a lot at flea markets.

  • junco East Georgia zone 8a
    8 years ago

    The OP stated that the $18,00 per room is out of her budget. So it seems to me that she needs to use a store designer for help picking out the major upholstered pieces and the master bed. Then fill in with used/handed down pieces until more funds are available. I think many of us seem to think using those types of items will give more character to the rooms anyway.

    M. s.A. thanked junco East Georgia zone 8a
  • Nothing Left to Say
    8 years ago

    And perhaps a little more back to the original poster. I spend a lot of time shopping flea markets. It's fun for me so I don't really consider it an expense per se, but obviously it would be if you hired a decorator. I have never worked with a decorator for a variety of reasons, budget is high on that list. If I wanted to work with a decorator, I would be sure to be really clear about how he or she bills. If there is no mark down on items purchased, is the decorator getting a reduced cost and keeping the difference as part of the fee? What if you want some more unique pieces like antiques. Can the decorator source those?

    M. s.A. thanked Nothing Left to Say
  • Annie Deighnaugh
    8 years ago

    kswl, of course my room would cost more...if you took away all the avenues for saving money. But those avenues are available.

    Just like in my bedroom, I had the choice of buying a new chair/ottoman or going used and reupholstering. I chose the latter and saved some money. A decorator, in general, is not going to do that....though I do recall Sarah Richardson on her program would often buy used/vintage pieces and then pay to make them like new. (Not sure what the net result would be cost wise the way she does it.)

    I guess the point I'm trying to make is that there are a couple of major differences with a decorator. One is the access to the DIY aspect. Another is the level of expectations for the materials. I doubt a decorator is going to recommend vinyl flooring or chairs from overstock.com, nor would I expect someone who has the budget to pay a decorator to expect a room furnished by IKEA and Target. However, if someone wants a nice looking room but can't afford $20k on it, there are other less expensive options.

    I remember when DH and I went to the ArchDigest home show in NYC. I saw these lovely switch plate covers and asked the price. They were $80-100 each. Now there may be decorators and clients who would be happy with that, but me? No thanks. I'll take the $1.50 jobs from HD. It doesn't matter whether I can afford them or not. I am simply never going to get $100 worth of satisfaction out of a switch plate cover.

  • M. s.A.
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    Dear all thanks again for your great insights. Super helpful. I took your advice and started with a design consultant from a furniture store today, and will go forward mixing old with new pieces. Thanks again everyone!

  • kswl2
    8 years ago

    And that was exactly my point, Annie, that a person using an interior designer, not shopping big box or big catalog retail sources, not planning to DIY anything and furnishing a room with a starting point of zero could expect to pay that much for a fully realized, median tier design, including the fee. :-)

  • thankurnmo
    8 years ago

    M.sA - that is a very wse solution. And again, if what they suggest does not seem like what you want, don't be afraid to say so or that you want to give it some thought. The only issue I had with using store designers was that the ones I used quite a few years ago were more or less limited to what was carried by the store. IF you are lucky to find someone good, they should be able to at least give you suggestions in addition to the key purchases you will make. Good luck and please keep us updated.


    M. s.A. thanked thankurnmo
  • vedazu
    8 years ago
    • I'm so with kswl on this. Central NJ, new house, wants a decorator, implying that she isn't a diy type of person, also implying that's she's buying new. You can put any stuff in a house, but if you want a decorator to pull things together, one assumes there is a certain level of quality involved. One sofa with even discount decorator fabric will run you $10K. Window treatments? I just did it in a little house in MN……$6K by the time you are done with fabric, rods and the workroom. Now, a carpet--you could get by with something other than wool, but if you find a good one, the sky is the limit. Chairs, mirrors, pictures…..Easy to get to $18K. Master bedroom could easily go that high. Dining Room similar. You can do much less for the kids rooms. Most of us bring something to the party, so to speak…..hand me downs, inherited pieces, estate sales--so we don't start from scratch. But with 4 blank walls, yes, maybe $18K is not much.
  • Debbie B.
    8 years ago

    I think I may have something to contribute to this conversation. I guess you all will be the judge of that, haha!

    First, I went back to college in my old age, 47 to be exact. I know this sounds crazy, but I was torn between two degrees, interior design and cultural studies. Not necessarily things that would strike one as similar. Ultimately, I went the cultural studies route and now I'm working on my dissertation in African studies.

    I only say this to say I have a great interest in interior design and I think it's something I'm good at and have an eye for. I have designed/decorated rooms and even whole houses of many of my friends and relatives. Lately, I've been staging homes for a realtor friend who knows she's not very good at it. But these services are offered free. I don't have a degree in interior design, so I wouldn't feel OK about charging people money to do something that's really just a hobby. Yes, in most states anyone can hang out a shingle and call themselves a decorator, but I'd be really, really cautious about hiring someone who didn't take the time to get proper training. Exceptions might be made for people with degrees in art, art history, or other related areas, or for someone with such an extensive portfolio that you can see they really know what they're doing.

    Second, a couple of decades ago, sort of in a different life, I went to both Ethan Allen and Laz-y Boy and used their in store decorators. Or started to. I wanted, at the time, a master bedroom and office done with Ethan Allen furniture. I talked to the decorator and thought I had successfully communicated my wants and needs. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I got her plans--this was waaaaay before Internet. The rooms looked exactly like an Ethan Allen showroom. They weren't at all what I wanted. The desk she picked out for my office, which was not a large room, was so huge that if you ever got it in there, you wouldn't be able to put any chairs in for clients to sit on. I also said I specifically wanted a queen bed and she chose a king. The main problem, though, was the wall art and other decor. At the time, EA was very into sort of nautical vintage maps and bronze globes, and having a telescope--none of which I wanted in my bedroom or office. She practically told me I had to buy their art and decor. Obviously, she was only allowed to sell EA products, but instead of trying to force it on me, she should have said I was free to shop for my own art. So that ended that. It was a long time ago and it was one person, but that was my experience.

    Laz-y Boy didn't turn out any better. I went there at my appointment time and found the decorator I was to work with. She looked me up and down and I could see right away that she didn't think she'd make a big sale. We sat down, and I began..."I'm thinking of redecorating our den..." She immediately interrupted and said, "When you've actually decided to do it, make another appointment and come back." I'm not usually at a loss for words, but I was so taken aback I just got up and left. Again, it was just that one person and I'm pretty sure that's not store policy. Too bad for her, because I ended up buying two big recliners, and matching sofa and love seat, a coffee table and end tables, and a couple of lamps...from JCPenney's, who sent a lovely woman out to our house who let me get what I wanted, after she made some excellent suggestions.

    Finally, to the spirited discussion going on, no one is wrong here, but no one is completely right either, I would respectfully submit. Yes, it's true that if you hire a decorator the usual assumption is that you are buying everything retail and each room will indeed range from too pricey for the average homeowner to outrageously opulent. It is also true that you can furnish and decorate your room for pennies on the dollar if you're a good shopper and take the time to source your furniture carefully. And do it in good taste and make your home as beautiful as if you'd pay full retail for everything. BUT there's a third option. Hire your decorator by the hour and pay them to go out and find the bargains! If you want the best deals on everything and used is OK and thrift shops and antique stores are OK, and eBay and Craigslist are OK, but you just don't want to do it yourself, hire someone to do it for you. Many times you'll save more money than if you had paid them a flat fee to just order everything retail from their favourite furniture store. Not all decorators will want to do this, but the ones who do are really good at it!

    And that's my two cents. :-)

    M. s.A. thanked Debbie B.
  • K Sissy
    8 years ago

    A very noteworthy two cents Debbie B!

  • kswl2
    8 years ago

    Debbie, interesting experiences! And I would suggest that cultural studies and interior design have a lot in common :-)

    Any decent interior designer will charge hourly for hopping thrift, retail or antique. Custom furniture should be ordered at the designer's discount plus his or her markup. The OP stated that the person she contacted had no resource for anything BUT retail, which makes her a bad choice (IMO) and a needlessly expensive one.

    My friend in Florida had the same experience as you in an Ethan Allen store in the 1990s, and her dining room and living room looked just like store showrooms....but she was aware of that and LOVED it anyway. In the town where she grew up, Ethan Allen furniture was apparently the standard of arrival, so she wanted it to look like a showroom and was very happy that it did.

  • M. s.A.
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    Thank you Debbie for sharing your experience! I appreciated reading your response and also how open you are. Certainly agree multiple perspectives are OK and this is about a journey :)

  • junco East Georgia zone 8a
    8 years ago

    M. s.A.--please keep us posted on how you proceed. Also, do you have furniture you can use in the meantime? It certainly makes sense to hire a professional if you don't want to go through the "process" of doing it yourself, but on the other hand, your budget must be part of the decision.

    Good luck!


    M. s.A. thanked junco East Georgia zone 8a
  • Lily Spider
    8 years ago

    I read an article on this site not long ago (can't remember where now) that I thought gave some good advice. Buy a couple of high quality pieces. Really nice sofa and chair for example in a neutral color. Then accessorize and add color with less expensive pillows and smaller more original pieces from flea markets as others have suggested or even second hand stores. If you spend some time browsing photos on Houzz and start an idea book you will soon see the similarities in what you like or don't like. Even colors you gravitate towards. So you could get some nice pieces and ideas from Ethan Allen but don't buy everything from them. Fill in with less expensive and unique pieces. It will keep the room from looking like a showroom. Also once you pick fabrics or pillows you like paint stores (at least my local SW) is great about helping pick out paint colors. I think you could very well pull a room together based on an inspiration photo and help from furniture and paint stores. I am no whiz at decorating but I have learned a lot from reading these forums.

    Good luck and have some fun with it :)

  • M. s.A.
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    Thanks Junco and Lily. Lily that's indeed my goal now :) i have lots of inspiration pictures already- mixing quality pieces with others will surely get it done!

  • busybee3
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    sorry, kswl... i definitely agree with you that 18-25 is middle of the road if you go the designer route... i wasn't thinking that way- was just thinking middle of the road period, to finish a room!

    good luck with your rooms- i think it's a good idea to go with the design consultants hired by the furniture store!!

    M. s.A. thanked busybee3
  • sas95
    8 years ago

    I had great luck with the design consultants at a local furniture store. I went to our local Stickley and had someone come out to the house. He drew a plan for our living room, of course putting all Stickley pieces in. I didn't want to spend the money to do an all-Stickley LR, nor did I want the room to look like a Stickley showroom. But I bought the couch and maybe another piece from him. Then I shopped for other things elsewhere, on my own.

    What the design consultant did for me was give me an idea of a floor plan, and what size the various pieces of furniture needed to be if I used this arrangement. In other words, he got me started. I spent a decent amount of money on the room, but I think the designer saved me money in the end. If I had chosen a couch on my own, there is no question I would have picked a too-small one. And that would have been a costly mistake.

  • eterprincess
    8 years ago

    Depending on where you are in Central Jersey, Cabinets by Amy and Lauren in Bordentown. They provide interior design services as well as Kitchen and bath design.

    M. s.A. thanked eterprincess
  • hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
    8 years ago

    Speaking as someone who knows zero about decorating and who has the house that proves it, I find the "Master Class" blog quite educational. The recent article on 2016 trends in Cote de Texas blog also has some helpful comments about decorating, both in the post and in the comments.

    M. s.A. thanked hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
  • M. s.A.
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    thank you! I will take a look at those 2 blogs.