I had an interior designer for the house we built in 2003. It was a new Craftsman style and I gave her free reign for her "turnkey" project. It had a lot of green, wallpaper in the bath with BRASS fixtures. The kitchen had cherry cabinets, a black island and dark countertop and mid-tone backsplash with paprika walls. The downstairs doors were all cherry with amber glass knobs. The upstairs was void of character as she put all her effort into the downstairs. It was a difficult house to sell! All the feedback was --- too dark, too dark, too dark -- but, it sold and we didn't loose any money.

When building in 2005, we had an interior designer through my builder. She had all the credentials, but we were polar opposites. Total waste of money. I didn't use any of her ideas.

For these reasons, I'm hesitant to use an interior designer for a build project. I didn't use an architect for my current addition/renovation, either. I would consider hiring one by the hour for "finishing" the look, if I weren't feeling drained of money from the renovation!

That said, one daughter-in-law's mom is a fabulous interior designer. Highly successful and I like her taste, but she lives too far away. She's the kind who does a total, turnkey project and manages the crew, etc.

Thanks! It is great to hear your experiences! I'm sorry you didnt have a good experience dyhgarden! I wont lie that I am also a little nervous, but it's good to read cmarlin20's experience.

I used one after we had gutted our house and I needed someone to put the finishing touches on it and pull things together. The firm helped with window treatments, an art installation wall of various mirrors, our bedroom with bedding and headboard, a couple of pieces of furniture and placing our artwork.

I found her when I was our for a walk one day. I was out walking along the beach and when I was coming back I just popped into a few stores and hers was one of them. What I liked was that the initial consultation was 2 hours and not 1 hour and then I just liked their ideas.

The person I work with had done design work for my SIL and mother. Our latest project was a gut job of the lower level. We hired an architect to reconfigure the basic spaces, then the designer came in and moved a couple of walls, designed the fireplace wall with built-In shelving and end tables and did all furniture, colors, fabrics, lighting, accessories, involving me to greater or lesser extent on everything. I am very happy with the finished project but will say that we basically threw the budget out the window. (That was my call, he did not push me towards the most expensive choices.) We had a contract before work commenced, and he sent proposals for every single thing which had to be signed and deposits paid before that particular item was ordered, purchased, commissioned, etc. We are in the rural south and he is in NYC so after the initial meeting there were phone and video chats with the GC and we flew him in again for the install six months later. He and I spoke on the phone two or three times per week---more often if necessary. I am deeply satisfied with his work and would hire him again with no hesitation.

Thank you! kswl2-so he did most of the work long distance? I have thought about finding someone to work with out of town. Most of the designers do traditional here and I need a modern focus. And to be honest, most of their portfolios show multimillion dollar homes. I was told by one I called that he only does new very high end homes. I am worried that I am not going to find someone suitable for this house. :(

I couldn't have done our whole home restoration without our designer. Having said that, I've also worked with several designers that drove me bonkers on smaller projects (got rid of them fairly quickly).

I asked a friend who had worked with this designer. The thing that sold me on her was that everyone said she was very good at space planning and that she was very practical - and she is.

Our contractor said she was the first designer he ever worked with that he wouldn't define as flaky and said several times how easy she was to work with.

My suggestion would be to get several recommendations and meet with them all. Let them know you are just interviewing them and see how you get along. I can usually tell pretty quickly if someone is a good fit. Maybe make up a list of questions ahead of time so you can easily compare.

Good luck. It took a chunk out of our budget, but we found it to be a very good use of our money.

rockybird - You need to find someone who specializes in MCM and I'm surprised that you're having trouble. But then again, doing MCM properly can be difficult because you don't want your home becoming a caricature of the era.

Is there a store in your area that you have bought some of your things from that would give you a recommendation, or about the landscapers who did your work - perhaps they have a recommendation. And if they don't maybe they can suggest other resources to tap into for a recommendation.

Yes, most of the work was long distance--- many days I had a FedEx pkg waiting for me with samples and stuff. It worked beautifully.

The designer I used when we remodeled a few years ago was recommended by our painter. Our painter is well known in our area and seems to do all the huge old homes in town which gives him the opportunity to observe interactions between designer and homeowner. I told him I wanted a designer who was logical and who would listen to us. I know too many people who complained that their designer took over.

Thank you guys! blfenton, you are right! I want this to be an updated midcentury. I actually want the bathroom to look contemporary modern, with lots of white-clean, modern, and bright. The exterior will replicate the mcm architecture but the interior will be more updated. I am really stuck on the floors and very nervous because I want to do the whole house in one floor type.

kwsl2-That acutally sounds like fun. I wouldnt want to pay to fly someone out here though.

I have called a few places so far. One was recommended by a store, but they dont do residential properties. Another one I called only does multimillion dollar homes and wasnt interested. I called a couple other places, but havent gotten a return call. I called an architectural firm whose work I really like, but they do their own work and didnt know of anyone.

I am also nervous about the cost. A lot of the stuff I see online is very expensive multimillion dollar traditional/farmhouse style homes. Maybe these places are expecting calls from builders or architects and not homeowners?

I've had love/hate relationships with working with designers. The details would take pages, but basically, on one hand, I feel like I am so opinionated and so in tune with what I like that a lot of money was wasted on the designer bringing me things that I would NEVER consider buying. And no, this doesn't mean I picked a designer whose style didn't mesh with mine. It was stuff like me saying "I want a dining table that has leaves and can seat up to 10" and the designer bringing me several options with no leaves that seats 8 and saying "I know you said you wanted leaves, but these would look really good in your space." Well, when I said I wanted leaves and to seat 10, I really meant it. Now you just wasted 3 hours of time/my money on sourcing tables that I truly did not want.

On the other hand, there have been several occasions where designers showed me options that I never would have considered and I loved them. Also, the reality is that they can access things--especially fabrics and upholstery pieces--that are not available to non-trade.

Rocky, I don't remember your exact location, I know it is AZ and not CA, but have you tried calling designers and stores in the Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, La Quinta, CA areas? That area is a major hub for all things mcm and modern.

Also don't forget to search the forum. We've had several good threads the last few years about choosing and working with designers. I posted on several of the old threads, but don't feel like retyping details. I've been working with designers for the last 5 years and it has ranged from really bad to pretty good!

Yes, chispa-that is my next step! I was hoping to find someone local first. I'm going to look around here a little longer first. Thx!

CF-I'm nervous about that scenario! I'm hoping since I kind of know what I want they can help direct me towards good choices. Hopefully, it will be easier since I'm not getting furniture.

I'm looking to buy new living room furniture and hoped a designer at the furniture store would come walk the space and make recommendations. It was a little shocking to me that they want to charge an hourly fee for that considering that they'll receive a commission on all the furniture I would be buying through them.

jewel, will they credit you the hourly fees if you end up buying from them? I could see someone using their design time and then shopping the internet for the best price on that same furniture.

That's a good question, chispa. I will ask!