Do I need an interior decorator?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Maybe what I’m talking about is a designer. (Wise-guys: “Maybe what YOU’RE talking about, PRR, is a guy with a flamethrower.”)

No Dopers have seen my apartment (though I’ve invited some over, most recently Eonwe–we’ve never coordinated). But if you had you would see a sizable two-bedroom apartment in NYC in a decent neighborhood that I’ve decorated on an annual budget of about twelve dollars. Some of my furniture I’ve found in dumpsters, some I’ve built myself, some was here when I got here, some I’ve salvaged from the street, been given by friends, bought at garage sales, and a few bits I’ve even bought on sale at retail stores. It’s basically all crap, but I’ve been fairly comfortable here for the last decade or so.

But now I’m experiencing a lot of changes at once:

a) I no longer have a girlfriend to stay with 100 nights a year (I’m ok with her absence at this point, but man do I miss that neat apartment)

b) my kids are nearly grown and will soon (a year or two, max) no longer be regularly staying overnight

c) I may have a bit of disposable income to spend on what was formerly an unthinkable luxury

d) I probably will own, rather than rent, this apartment in a few years at most (due to somewhat complex real estate changes in NYC housing), which means that the $$$ I sink into fixing the place up will partly add to the value of the apartment when I sell it, instead of being pissed down a rat-hole

and a few minor e), f) and g)-type factors all combine to make me look into hiring a pro to help me get this place looking halfway decent.

I need more than new furniture. I need new kitchen and bathroom fixtures, I need new flooring. I probably need minor structural changes (a non-supporting wall torn down, a new one built, etc.). I probably need stuff I haven’t even thought of by myself.

So: is this a job for one person? Is that person a designer or a decorator, or what? Does this sound like something I could do over the course of a few years, one room at a time, or will I save money or grief by doing it all at once? Will some one worth his salt be willing to do it slowly? Will someone be willing to do a room at a time? Is this something I might consider doing a part of by myself (with advice from the friendly folks at Home Depot)? If so, which part? Should I skip the whole project and continue living in semi-squalor/semi-comfort? Is the $$$ difference between a bad DIY-job and a good-Professional job tremendous or minor?

All comments accepted cheerfully.

2

The most important questions that you need to ask yourself are these:

Are you willing to devote time and energy to this project? And are you motivated to keep working on it? Do you enjoy DIY?

Do you have a clear idea of what you want the place to look like when done? Either one room or the whole place?

A word of warning from my brother’s probably atypical experience- hiring someone to do a project that works on it slowly leads to a certain amount of frustration when the project seems like it will never get done. That said, I imagine that you could hire someone to “tear down wall X and build new wall Y” at a separate time from the kitchen fixtures, at a separate time from the flooring. You know, have each step done at a separate time, but each step completed in a reasonably timely manner. And hey, there is no reason why you can’t do a certain amount of picking and choosing- hire someone to do the plumbing, install new cupboards, etc, but you paint the walls and install the new tile floor or whatever.

3

You may not need to immediately go for professional help. Do you have a friend whose taste you like? This doesn’t have to be someone whose house or apartment is a magazine-ready showcase; just a place you go to and think “ah, what a nice place.” Ask that person to come over and make a few suggestions. He or she may have some ideas for just rearranging the furniture – or be the one to go with you to Ikea.

4

Decorating your self is easier now than it’s ever been. Most furniture store catalogues like Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware, Storeroom, etc… offer lines of furniture and accessories that match and appeal to various tastes. The way they are showcased also offers good ideas about room colours and floor finishes, lighting, etc…

If you can paint and pick what you like out of a mag, you’re in good shape.

If you plan or doing major renovations where kitchen cabinets, floors and walls are being torn up, you may want to consult a professional for the work. Unless you are handy that way as well.

An interior decorator will be helpful if you want a more unique and very personalized and custom look. It’ll cost you though. So if you have a good sense of esthetiques and know what you like from furniture to farbrics to finishes, you can pretty much get it all done yourself and sink the interior decorator costs into a really great new flat screen TV or that new granite counter top.

5

Go to Borders and look at the home magazines like Metropolitan Home, Traditional Home, Elle Decor, House Beautiful, etc. Don’t waste your time with Architectural Digest–the rooms are beautiful but not practical for the average person.

Flip through them and buy a few that have pictures of rooms that appeal to you. When you get home, tear out the pages with rooms you like–don’t analyze why, just do it. Put the pages in a folder and do the same thing for the next few months. Then sit down with all the pages and figure out what appeals to you in each picture. Are there any themes or colors or decorating motifs that appeal to you? I did this and learned that I really, really, really like groupings of 4 or more similar photographs or prints. It’s a way to identify colors and styles that appeal to you which will then inform the choices you make re colors, furniture, fabrics, etc.

I think once you identify the style that appeals to you, you can follow QuickSilver’s advice and use the resources of Pottery Barn, etc. to get your place into shape.

6

As others have mentioned, once you find a place with furniture you like, see if they don’t have a consultant of some kind. At Ethan Allen you automatically get someone who’ll help you figure things out, floor to ceiling. Pottery Barn probably won’t go quite that far, but their sales people should at least be able to direct you toward the things that have complementary styles. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and bring in your folder of clippings.

Buying an entire room of furniture, practically identical to what you saw in the catalog, is safe (especially for a beginner) and okay. The architecture and accessories can really change the look, so no one will be likely to mistake your living room for the Crate and Barrel showroom. If you’re more comfortable going slowly, buy your stuff a piece or two at a time. Take a week or so to live with it and then go back for more if you do. In the end, it’s just furniture. If you buy something you end up not liking, it’s not the end of the world. Re-upholstering or re-finishing can help.

One thing I learned, determine if you want the same basic style throughout your apartment. When I first started out, each room was different and I ended up hating it because there was no flow. A lot of people like the idea of all radically different rooms. There’s no real right or wrong.

7

Thanks for helping me get started. One followup, to “If you plan or doing major renovations where kitchen cabinets, floors and walls are being torn up, you may want to consult a professional for the work. Unless you are handy that way as well.”

Since I do plan on replacing the flooring and cabinets, any ideas how I might find a pro, at least to run this past and get an estimate? I need to be cheap here, but not super-cheap.

8

Watch the decorating shows. They give you a glimpse of the difficulty some of the tasks will entail. If it looks like too much, hire a decorator. As Quicksilver said, there are stores and magazines that will help you coordinate everything so you look like a professional when it’s all done.

9

Decorating shows? You mean, like on TV? The only one I can think of is “Designing Women,” and that hasn’t been on in years. Suggest some good ones, maybe? Thanks.

10

They’re all on cable, you Luddite!

11

Well, I COULD get another girlfriend with cable, you know.

12

If you are looking to save money, cable without the girlfriend is cheaper. :slight_smile:

Look, if you’re looking to move walls and tear up floors, doing it on the cheap is probably not going to happen unless you are able to do a lot of the work yourself. If you have those skills and knowledge, great. Given the questions you are asking, it sounds like you don’t. Not that you can’t learn, but I don’t know what your pain tollerance is for learning on the job in your own living space.

Go to a book store, there you’ll find magazines on various decorating aspects of a home. From remodelling to simple decorating ideas. Start there. It’s an education process and you need to start learnin’. When you know what you want you’ll likely also have a good idea of what amount of work it entails.

Do you live in or near a big city? Most large metro areas have yearly home shows. Pay a visit. Talk to the professionals there. You’ll get ideas and estimates for materials and maybe even ballpark labour costs. If you bring carefully measured and drawn floor plans of the spaces you’re wanting to renovate, the estimation work will be easier to do.

13

Bah! Don’t listen to these slackers with money to burn. Listen to me, who decorated himself on an ultra-shoestring budget.

Your best friend should be Target. Their stuff is cheap, stylish, and it all works together perfectly. Their furniture isn’t solidly built and their rugs will wear out, but hey… you’ll get a good few years out of them and they’ll look nice. It’s not heirloom quality, but it’ll look great.

Get your paint at Wal-Mart. They’re the cheapest I’ve found. Get bold colors… they rooms don’t have to match eachother, even if you can see one room from the other. My rooms are all different colors and all visible from other rooms, and I get nothing but positive comments about them.

Check Big Lots. They have cheap stuff that can be made to look mostly decent with a bit of paint or other alterations. Every once in a while, they also have cheap flooring. I bought a bunch of hardwood laminate there for $.79/square foot. Do I expect it to last 10 years? No, but it looks really friggin’ nice right now.

You can see pictures of all my hard work and small amount of money here: http://www.tim.cx/pics/index.php?album=new+house

Also, I’d never installed a laminate floor before my investment at Big Lots. It was easy. For that matter, most of the home improvement stuff I’d done, I’d never done before. I just gave it a shot and most of the time, it works. I am relatively handy and pretty good at figuring stuff out, but none of it is as difficult as some people pretend like it is. Even if you don’t know how to do something, ask a friend who owes you a favor and see if they know. So far, the only work I’ve paid someone to do in my home was installing a new AC/furnace. The rest is cake.

14

There is now, in NYC a Home Depot. (tow of them) Go talk to them replacing a floor and a kitchen. I believe that the service is free. (with purchas) But they will give you a great deal of info.

If you don’t have one get a measuring tape and start measuring everything and write it down. This will help caculate costs.

You will be able to view a wide range of products. However, are you planning to sell the place or just live in it? If you want to sell it, that would affect the choices. (on cable there is a show called Designed to Sell that is all about this)

But if you just want to live there, then pick what you want.

15

Wait a sec … you’re in New York? Get on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and they’ll do it all for you and even give you nose hair trimmers! :smiley:

16

Wasson – damn, nice job! pseud – hire wasson.

He’s correct about this not necessarily being about spending a lot of money – virtually all of my furniture is hand-me-downs, with a slew of Ikea bookcases and other pieces from there or Target. My house is also comfortable, attractive, and very “me” – I get a lot of compliments on it. It’s all about how you put stuff together – which is why I suggested that your first step should be getting a friend in to take stock of what you’ve already got. Just because you got something at a garage sale or a flea market doesn’t mean it has to be tossed. After taking stock, you can make a wish list of things in order of priority. (e.g.: 1. do something about books and dvds; 2. comfy sofa; 3. storage in bedroom … ). Your first step, as everyone is saying, is to think through what you want, both aesthetically and practically (storage, storage, storage) – which you can probably do with a combination of ideas from magazines and talking to friends.

17

**Twix–**Just getting Wasson here from Peoria a couple of time triples my budget. (BTW, if you–or anyone else–has been e-mailing me the last week or so, my server is down. Apologies.)
And Zebra–I actually live a block from one of the Home Depots. I’ll check 'em out, see what they have to say. Then I’ll walk to Barnes and Nobles and check out the magazines.

18

Hmph. You don’t need a decorator, you need a more reliable email account. Get yourself a gmail/yahoo/hotmail account (you Luddite)! :wink:

19

Home Depot is sending a guy over to measure my floors (living Room, dining room, kitchen) for hardwood flooring to be installed. I’m pretty sure my flooring in those three rooms is horrible and screams to be replaced.

I realized, while in HD, that I need to do this project a bit at a time, because keeping this stuff straight mentally is taxing. I’m also consulting with a “bathroom consultant” at HD on Monday, because the bathroom fixtures are pretty bad and very old. I looked at magazines re bathrooms, but most of the stuff I saw assumes I have much more space than I do. I think I need “Tiny Bathrooms Monthly” or something.

20

If you have no girlfriend, why do you have to decorate?