Interior design is the practice is making the most of all available space to create optimal aesthetic appeal. You don’t need expensive brand-name furniture to create an interior design aesthetic that suits you. Sure, you may need to buy some furniture and accessories, but all you need is to know how to make the most of the space already available to you. But interior designers are expensive. How can you get free interior design advice?
The average cost to hire an interior designer can cost anywhere between $2,000 to $12,800.
Your most affordable option may be to just adopt an extremely minimalist lifestyle.
But if you are working with scared money, here are a few ways to get free interior design advice.
Get Free Interior Design Advice
Getting help from an interior designer is a customized, unique, singular, and process of bespoke sophistication.
There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to interior design. Getting interior design advice is not like getting fast food meal.
Your interior design needs are predicated on your existing available space and aesthetic desires. In other words, you already have most of the materials, you just need to know how to arrange them.
And you have to help an interior designer help you by providing basic information. Take one or two pics of each room you have questions about. Don’t take advantage of free advice – presenting an interior design with 100 pictures will only confuse the matter.
Know what you want, the colors you prefer, and the style you prefer. Give the designer something to work with to help you.
Ikea Staff
Many interior design retail stores have interior designers on staff to help design store layouts and assist customers.
Admittedly, they are not there to help you get free interior design advice. But some interior design retailers are more like to dispense free advice than others.
The next time you go to Ikea, you could try asking the staff for interior design advice. Ikea has interior designers on staff for this purpose. You may get lucky.
However, they are there to help within the context of selling inventory, not just dispense free interior design advice all day.
Before you go, make sure you understand your home’s dimensions, and interior design preferences, before you ask questions. What is the entire square footage of the home and each room? What kind of furniture is in each room? Also, what is each room used for?
It may help if you have a smart device or tablet to show photos of each space. The point is that you need to know your space and general design desires before asking a complete stranger how your home should be designed.
If it helps, you could go to just browse some furniture and then pose these questions to a staffer.
But know what you want and what interests you before you bombard a stranger with questions. You should know what works, and doesn’t work, and have suggestions to help the brainstorming process. Come fully prepared beforehand so a staff member can help you as much as possible.
That stranger is not going to know you, your preferences, or your home as you would know it.
Decorist
Decorist is a website that exists to help people get free interior design advice.
All you have to do is register at Decorist online, add basic data about yourself and then create a basic account. And then, you will be matched with one of Decorist’s online interior designers who will answer all of your interior design questions via email for free.
However, you must first click one of Decorist’s five interior design advice prompts before being matched.
You can try all of the prompts one at a time to get free interior design advice. Remember, strategically consider your questions before you ask. And offer as much relevant information relative to your preferred interior design desires as possible.
Here are the five Decorist interior design prompts:
- Finding items
- Paint color
- Choosing art
- Design dilemma
- Accessory help
After you have made your query, the Decorist interior designer you have been matched with will assess your situation and write back to you with their suggestions. It could 24 hours and up to a few days for a Decorist interior designer to reply back to you depending on demand.
All for free!
Decorist has over 400 interior designer collaborators who will help you.
However, Decorist also partners with several high-profile celebrity interior designers like Jessica McCarthy, Will Wick, Rachel Ashwell, and more. If you want virtual advice from a celebrity designer, it will cost you $1,300 per room.
Since the title of this article is “how to get free interior design advice,” you are better off getting free advice from Decorist’s general staff.
West Elm Design Crew
Like Decorist, West Elm Design Crew is a notable interior design company with several retail locations.
With Decorist, you must wait for an interior designer to assess your query and get back to you. The process could take hours, one day, or perhaps a little longer.
However, you can get free interior design advice online from West Elm Design Crew in real-time.
You can engage in design chat with an interior designer via text or online chat on the West Elm website for free.
You can even schedule free email, chat, phone call, or video call for a free design services chat with a West Elm interior designer. However, you will have to be matched with the closest West Elm store nearest to you during business hours for a free consultation.
Get Free Interior Design Advice (Or Save Up for a Professional)
You may want to save some money and make a long-term plan to get professional interior design advice.
If you do manage to get free interior design advice, virtually or online, you still have to adapt it to your circumstances on your own.
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Allen Francis was an academic advisor, librarian, and college adjunct for many years with no money, no financial literacy, and no responsibility when he had money. To him, the phrase “personal finance,” contains the power that anyone has to grow their own wealth. Allen is an advocate of best personal financial practices including focusing on your needs instead of your wants, asking for help when you need it, saving and investing in your own small business.