Hi folks! New homeowner here. I'm interested in working with a designer on an hourly/consultation basis since my budget doesn't stretch to cover full-service interior design. In this setup, I know that I'm responsible for execution – having the rooms painted, purchasing (most of) the furniture, etc.

However, what can I do on the front-end to make the interior design process work better for us? I was already planning to deep dive into Houzz and Pinterest for design inspiration. But should I go one step further and mock up my rooms in a software package (like Floorplanner) myself?

My thought was that I should iterate through various design ideas in Floorplanner and then bring specific issues/questions/thoughts to the designer. Does that make sense?

(Lastly, my plan was to use my iPhone's LiDAR with MagicPlan to create a floor plan, and export that to Floorplanner – is that a good way to get started? I would love to see a render of our final space, and I don't think our designer will do that for us if we are on an hourly contract.)