One of the designers I interviewed charges $100/hr. She starts with a $500 retainer, then bills at every 5 hours after that, so there isn't a huge shock. Her services can be as big picture or detail-oriented as you like. She's also available to "pick" for vintage items, since she likes to do that anyway.

Other designers have other systems.

Holly, thanks for the quick reply. Did you hire her? If so, do you feel like it was money well spent?

Designers structure fees in a lot of ways. Search for one in your area, and since you ARE building, the more local the better. You won't know the answer until you talk to a few, and find your fit in terms of both style and budget, and personality. Fees will vary with experience and your locale. I would not recommend the online route.

As to wondering if you can "afford" a designer? In most cases of new build, you can not afford NOT to afford. Regrets are not usually an easy or inexpensive fix. Stress takes its toll wit the sheer number of decisions that will be throw at you, and many of those are difficult to make if you have not got a firm plan in place as to the final feel and style you want in your home.

I'm still in the "interview" portion, Becky. :-) There is another designer that my builder often works with, and has put in her $0.02 worth on a couple of things already. I'm waiting for her to get back to me on her fee structure. I strongly suspect that again, I can choose how involved I want her to be.

In the course of discussion - and showing both my some images I'd saved via some Pinterest boards - both had pretty easily gotten what I was going for. In this case, the first designer I mentioned does have a love for vintage, but perhaps so much so that I might be constantly reining her back in on overdoing that. The other I haven't got as much of a bead on just yet, but her answers to the questions I sent her will probably help me sort out how receptive she's like to be to integrating some repurposed elements. She's already helped me choose all the plumbing fixtures (and will get paid for her time for that). With her help it was about an hour start to finish to get the whole house nailed down.

The first designer also works for the place I'm getting my flooring from. So, her help with the flooring selections is included with those purchases. Anything else is a separate contract for her services. I will say that she was SO much more aware of what I was looking for and able to quickly suggest something I liked than the sales rep at the first flooring place I'd visited that there just isn't really any comparison.

In the end, I think you'll end up seeing fingerprints of both of these ladies in the finished house. I'm just not sure which one I'm going to set up a formal contract with to finish it all out. But I'll need someone's help to keep it all integrated and looking like it means to be one house.

Choose the designer that listens to what you want & responds with solutions you prefer. Ask per a job rate & per hour rate. I would pay extra for a designer that I feel invisions what I want, so my space would become my vision.

I think a good designer helps bring your vision to life with some guidance not all visions are good in my experience but I do want to make the home my clients and not mine. I have different fee structures for different jobs and most designers I know do the same. IMO money spent on a designer with a new build is worth every penny.

I would never want a designer who has a vested interest in your purchases from her "real" employer. She needs to work for YOU!

How a designer charges varies all over the place. In addition to helping you figure out what you REALLY want, a designer has access to to-the-trade home furnishings that a retail customer does not. Of course, if your budget is Wayfair, this won't matter.

I’m working with a designer firm remotely for an addition project. They’ve been very helpful in choosing tile colors, wall colors, making elevations for the cabinets and rooms, and bringing up things I didnt know about ie glazed tiles for the edges of showers. I”m really happy with them.

This is money well spent. Agree that the designer should be independent of the builder. You shouldn't need to rein in a designer from realizing her own vision in your house - he/she should be asking questions about your taste and, maybe more importantly, how you live. For example, if you're buying furniture he/she needs to know how whether they're designing a "company only" living room or whether the sofa cushions will be a kids' fort.

I used a designer when we did a big reno 20 years ago. I still like the colors and selections, because it was my taste, not what was trendy at the time. She also saved me money by re-using my existing things that I thought wouldn't "match" the new stuff. Things need to co-ordinate, not match, which is harder for an untrained eye to see.

Having a designer in the mix was much easier for me as a custom builder. No one hemming and hawing, continually changing choices and asking the painters to lighten/darken colours, masons to switch mortar etc.

Also, the finished product looked very cohesive.

For our own homes, rather than repeat the usual spec neutral, we paid a colour consultant by the hour, which sped decisions immensely!

Sorry for the delayed reply...I had to work all weekend and finally had a chance to reply to all the comments.

She also saved me money by re-using my existing things that I thought wouldn't "match" the new stuff. Things need to co-ordinate, not match, which is harder for an untrained eye to see.

I'm not at the point of decorating yet, but this is my ideal designer. I don't want someone to tell me I need to replace everything to get a nice design. I want someone who can integrate my things in to the design so it feels like a better version of "home".

As to wondering if you can "afford" a designer? In most cases of new build, you can not afford NOT to afford. Regrets are not usually an easy or inexpensive fix. Stress takes its toll wit the sheer number of decisions that will be throw at you, and many of those are difficult to make if you have not got a firm plan in place as to the final feel and style you want in your home.

Jan, I think this is a good point, but I also have to convince my husband that it is money well spent. (We are already over budget.) He doesn't dwell on design regrets the way I do, so he doesn't understand your point, but I do!

a designer has access to to-the-trade home furnishings that a retail customer does not. Of course, if your budget is Wayfair, this won't matter.

I've read this before, but not sure I understand. What kind of "to-the-trade home furnishings" do they have access to that retail customers don't? Can you give me an example? Or, is this an "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" situation. :) My budget really depends on the situation/room. I try to buy nice things when it matters, and save money buying from ikea when it doesn't.

I have done three houses from top to bottom with designers. I was on a very top tight budget and a tight timeline and in all three cases I was very happy with the result and it saved me money. They worked with what I had and purchased new pieces and with a few flea market finds too. My philosophy was similiar to yours - save when you can and spend more on heavily used pieces like sofas. Designers get a trade discount from furniture stores plus they have access to places only open to the trades. I know I would have spent more and not had as good results without them.

Becky, in answer to your question about "to the trade" sources, there are many furniture, accessories, fabric/wallcovering companies who have beautiful showrooms that are only open to designers and decorators. Lots of what you see in the better shelter magazines (House Beautiful, Architectural Digest, Traditional Home, Elle Decor) is not available to retail customers, or if it is, it's very expensive. Many of these high end/high priced items can be purchased at a substantial discount off the retail price but only through a designer.

The items you can purchase online at Wayfair, department stores, etc., may be offered to designers at a discount but it's usually very slight and you don't save anything by using a designer.

The biggest advantage to using a designer is that they are skilled and experienced at doing things that you only do once or twice. After years of doing space planning, color palettes, furniture design, lighting plans, etc. a designer can size up a project and complete it much more quickly than someone who is not experienced. So they can save you time, money, and a lot of angst.

You need someone who is actually willing to help you than focusing on filling her/his own pocket. Some one who can help you choose for future and color scheming and complete floor plan and make a payment plan with you .

I see a lot of before & after kitchens in the field. I can truly tell when a designer was used or not.

The designer spaces are much more cohesive, inviting, and works well as a whole. Samples look a lot different installed than in a showroom. I highly suggest having some navigate the overwhelming choices of colors, textures, lighting, layout, etc. $ well spent, imho.

in answer to your question about "to the trade" sources, there are many furniture, accessories, fabric/wallcovering companies who have beautiful showrooms that are only open to designers and decorators. Lots of what you see in the better shelter magazines (House Beautiful, Architectural Digest, Traditional Home, Elle Decor) is not available to retail customers, or if it is, it's very expensive.

Interesting...I thought with the internet the consumer could buy almost anything direct.

Not everything. Lots of high-end manufacturers do not sell direct to consumers on the internet. And as I said, if they do, they are much more expensive than if you had a designer discount.

Try buying anything from Kravet, Lee Jofa, Charles Edwards, Fabricut, The Nanz Co., Schumacher, Patterson/Flynn Martin, and a whole host of others, if you do not have a trade account.

I love upholstered furniture in prints. Most retail establishments play it safe with solid colors. A decorator has access to such beautiful prints. I love prints like these:

I’m working with a designer firm remotely for an addition project. They’ve been very helpful in choosing tile colors, wall colors, making elevations for the cabinets and rooms, and bringing up things I didnt know about ie glazed tiles for the edges of showers. I”m really happy with them.

Rockybird, is the firm you're working with one of the online services, or did you just find a design firm a few hours away? If it is an online service, do you mind sharing who you're using. I'm trying to find someone local, but it has been a week and I haven't heard back from any of them. I haven't given up on them yet, but I need to start looking at for a backup plan.

I would look for a design consultant that works and charges by the hour rather than a full-service firm. Good luck!

I'm finishing up a remodel - gut remodel of my whole condo and I used a designer and it is money well spent.

Aside from helping me wth the visual design, she also knows how things will function as well as knowing Codes. There are so many decisions that have to be made, I'm glad I didn't also have to educate myself on exactly what kind of hardware I need or exactly the optimum height for various things such as toilet paper holders. The list is endless.

She provided vision in terms of my taking risks that I would never have taken and she also listened in terms of looking at my inspiration photos as well as how I wanted/needed my space to function. For example, I had a wall unit built for my office and we had a long discussion about how I wanted the printer to be; how I wanted my external hard drives to be; file holders etc.

She is also acting as a project manager. As much as I tried to educate myself on construction, this is and never will be my area of expertise so she is making sure that stuff is being done properly because she has supervised construction and remodeling for more projects than most people would do in a lifetime if they weren't professionals.

In terms of access to her sources - as others have posted, most of the really high end furniture and fixtures are "to the trade" only. While you might be able to view their stuff on the internet they either don't sell to non-pros or the price they sell to non-pros is MUCH more expensive than what you would pay if your designer bought and then put her/his markup on it.

My new place will be a mixture of items that are repurposed. Although I am by nature reluctant to let things go, in the end the pieces I had to let go really wouldn't have worked as well. I was coming from a place where my furniture was accumulated over the years from gifts; purchases when I needed something and in general my philosophy was to make it work :-). If I had a bit more space I might have kept a few more pieces but within the limited space of 1200 square feet, some pieces had to be released into the universe :-).

As others have stated, the cost is really all over the place depending on the scope of the project. In my experience (both personal and that of friends'), if the project is large, the designer will generally do it on a cost plus markup basis. My designer had different markups depending on whether something was just a purchase or whether it was a custom item she designed. If one has a smaller project, then an hourly charge for a design might work. There are also designers who do shopping by the hour - i.e. they take you around and often this gives you access to the D&D Building in NYC or PDC in Los Angeles.

I also wanted to add that I had access to her trusted tradespeople who she has worked with on numerous projects. This is a great thing because you know the people are competent and in today's super busy construction climate, they are probably going to put you as a priority - more or less that is :-).

Also there are tradespeople that you don't think about - my custom sofa is far less money than something of identical quality would cost if I could even find it - and it was completely custom in terms of everything - depth of seat; height; height of back etc. Similarly I am having custom mirrors done and she has a mirror guy - my cabinets and other wood stuff is also custom done by a guy she uses quite a lot. The furniture I am refinishing is being done by one of her sources. I have some old chandeliers and sconces that need to be replated and rewired - again they are whisked away to a reliable source for what I would have wound up paying if I had tracked someone down on my own.

All. Of. Just. Above!!!!

Let someone own your result. That's how it happens. Not anything less than a dialogue :)

Thank you Helen

Thank you all. I have a meeting with a designer next week. My stress level has already decreased just from scheduling the meeting. :)

My new place will be a mixture of items that are repurposed. Although I am by nature reluctant to let things go, in the end the pieces I had to let go really wouldn't have worked as well. I was coming from a place where my furniture was accumulated over the years from gifts; purchases when I needed something and in general my philosophy was to make it work :-).

I don't mind letting some things go to get a nice design. It is a good reason to purge & de-clutter. I just want new things blended with old things, so it feels like "my" home, not someone else's. It sounds like that is what you're getting.

When I take a job there are three things at the top of my list.

The first is the client’s favorite something…let’s say it is a painting. That is my inspiration piece. It tells me,right of the bat, the client’s leanings. I take a photo of it and it starts the scheme.

The second is what is going on for flooring. All hardwood, some carpeting, some tile…whatever, I want it’s tone to flow from one room into the next.

The third is choosing a family of colors for the walls/trim/ceiling.