Choosing The Interior Design For Your Home Or Workplace

When it comes to interior design many people pass it off as something which is only accessible for those who have money and automatically make a visit to the local DIY store instead. However, that is a view from the past and nowadays many people are choosing to hire a designer to decorate their homes and even workplaces too. It might be something you feel isn't for you but there are many direct benefits to be enjoyed when choosing an interior designer.

Home Is Where the Heart Is

A house does not automatically equate to a home. The house is just the shell and it's what you do with the inside that makes it the safe haven that it should be. An interior designer can help you to make your house feel like a home; a place where you can raise a family should you choose to and can create lasting memories.

"You need a good basic skeleton into which you can pour your personal things. The skeleton can either enhance or deaden what you bring into it."

Spatial Awareness

It is important to make the most of whatever space you have and a designer can help you find the best way to utilize this. If storage space in the home is something you struggle with, they will be able to find a way for you to have some built-in cupboards, hidden drawers or something similar. In the workplace, they can show you how best to lay out your furniture and equipment depending on where your electrical and telephone sockets are.

Tailor Made

With an interior designer, every tiny detail can be made to your exact specifications - even the most unusual requests can be accommodated. This also includes adaptations for handicapped people, to make working or living spaces much more accessible for them. This could be things such as installing ramps, hand rails, stair lifts and much more.

Morale and Customers

Choosing interior design for your workplace can have lasting effects on your staff morale, there is nothing like a fresh coat of paint and some new equipment to bring the smiles back to their faces and in doing so this will increase their productivity levels which can only be good for your business. A refurbishment can also have a great effect on your customers. Hosting a grand reopening, for example, will help to bring in many new customers and will leave them with a good impression regarding your company. They will then recommend friends and a sort of ripple effect will take place, thus increasing your customer base, dramatically.

"Office design doesn't just create a certain kind of impression for visitors or clients; it can significantly affect employee morale and productivity."

Stress Free

Last but definitely not least is the fact that choosing an interior designer for any renovation need, whether it be one room or a whole house/office block, will eliminate most of the need, stress and cost of having a go yourself. You will also find that the finished results are of much higher quality, last a lot longer, and are perfectly suited to your needs.

Still Unsure?

If you still aren't sure whether an interior designer is what you are looking for then do some research. The internet is a good place to start by searching for any local companies as well as any freelance designers. Most reputable places will have some of their previous works on display at their websites and possibly some testimonies from customers. Find out if any of them are offering a free evaluation and quotation without the obligation to sign on the dotted line and if so take full advantage of that option. You don't have to do this with just one company, shop around a bit to find the best quotation but be wary as the cheapest options normally provide the cheapest looking finished results. I guarantee that if you do decide to choose an interior designer for you home or work environment you won't be disappointed.

Make Your House A Home By Using An Interior Designer

Everyone wants to have a house that feels like a "home", a safe haven to come home to at the end of a busy day at work, somewhere that you can raise a family and create lasting memories. In addition to this, many of us also want a house that we can be proud of, one that we can show off to friends and family and where we can host dinner parties, birthdays and Christmases. Choosing to decorate your own house can be time consuming and costly, not to mention it can be difficult to know which ideas will work and which will not. It doesn't matter whether you wish to decorate just one room or your entire house. For these reasons plus many more it can be a good idea to consider hiring an interior designer to do all the work for you.

Benefits of Hiring An Interior Designer

There are a huge number of positive benefits to be gained by using an interior designer to decorate your house. To begin with, they can help you make full use of your available space, a huge benefit if you have children or are a little short on rooms. They offer expert advice and every designer is a professional and will act in that manner. They will not tell you what to do but will expand your ideas and enhance them as much as possible.

An interior designer will have an up-to-date knowledge of what is currently "fashionable" as well as which designs are considered to be "timeless". They can show you many products and designs that you may not even have considered before and can bring them straight to your home for you to view which gives you the benefit of being able to see the designs in the environment they will be used in and make your decisions accordingly. Lastly, they will only use trusted manufacturers and as such can give you a higher quality of work at a much lower cost.

"To lessen the burden, hire an interior designer. He can do all the work for you as long as you will pay him rightly. You will be surprised to arrive in a beautiful home when all work is done."

Choosing Your Designer

If you do decide to go ahead and use an interior designer to decorate your home, there are many things to consider before you start. You need to have a plan in mind of what you would like the finished result to be before you begin, once you have this plan you can start researching different companies. Most, if not all interior design companies will offer a free evaluation and quotation without the need to sign any contracts so it is important to make use of this and contact as many companies as possible in order for you to get the best deal. Try to view some of the previous works carried out by the designer and if possible speak to previous customers. Don't automatically go for the cheapest option without viewing their work as in most cases, the cheapest option gives the poorest looking work which will not last. Try to use reputable companies such as ApolloInteriors.com who will have a team of highly trained staff members, as opposed to any freelancers you may come across.

Make a Plan

Before you start on any work you need to have a detailed plan in place. Your home needs to be evaluated properly and risk assessments will need to be written up by the company to ensure they are covered for any accidents. Using the magic of CGI you should be able to view your finished renovations before any work has been started so you know exactly what you want is exactly the work that will be carried out. Next, time schedules and budgets will need to be worked out. It is important to leave a little extra in your budget in case you come across any unexpected problems which could blow the planned expenses out of the water. Time schedules are also important so that you can know which work is being completed on which days and whether you will need to vacate the premises for a while or not. Again, it is a good idea to leave a little spare time in the schedule to allow for unexpected problems and issues.

"When most people think about hiring an interior designer, they zero in on aesthetics: wall colors, window treatments, pillow patterns. But that's just scratching the surface of what a designer can add to a home."

Supervision

Once the work has begun it is important to supervise it as much as possible (obviously don't give up your job to do so though), this way you can be sure that the work you are expecting is the work that is being carried out and if any problems do arise you are there to help deal with them immediately. Being at the site of the work will also help you to get a feel for the finished result and plan for where the plumbing, phone lines and other cables will be best positioned for you as well as the furniture. If you feel the work is not being completed to expected levels then you can bring this up straight away instead of having to wait until you get home.

Shopping!

Probably the most exciting part of any renovation is the shopping; choosing exactly which furniture and equipment you would like right down to the smallest details such as light fittings and curtains. Your designer will be able to help you shop around for the best deals and will be able to guide you in the direction of good quality items.

Completion

Once the work has been completed your designer should go through every single aspect of the renovation with you. They will double check to ensure that the work has been completed to the highest standard and if there are any problems then they will be able to get them sorted out for you. Safety checks will need to take place, especially if any electrical or gas appliances have been moved or installed. Once all of these checks have been completed, you can sit back and enjoy your beautiful new home. Start planning the next big party to show it all off and look forward to the many happy years to come and the lasting memories that will be created there.

Tips And Advice For Refurbishment Of Commercial Or Office Spaces

If you own a business or office space then, in the current economical climate refurbishment is probably not high on your list of priorities. However, there are many positive benefits in choosing to do so. Clean and freshly decorated premises, which are well set out can leave a really good, lasting impression on customers, meaning they are more likely to recommend your business to friends and family. On top of this, it can have the added bonus of boosting the morale of your staff which in turn means they will be working at a much higher productivity rate. It can enable you to make better use of your available space as well as possibly creating even more room and to top it all off, all of these benefits make it easier for you to compete with rival businesses.

"Interior design isn't just about home decoration. It is concerned with creating functional and beautiful to look at interior spaces in all sorts of places including houses, public buildings and commercial properties such as shops, restaurants, leisure venues and offices." 

Decisions Decisions! 

Redesigning or refurbishing professional premises, no matter how big or small, is not a quick job and there are many decisions to be made along the way. There needs to be careful evaluations and planning so your project manager knows exactly what you want and can choose ideas which will best suit your needs. After the planning comes the design stage. It is crucial that you are involved in every step of the design process to make sure you are fully happy with everything that is being suggested. Next comes the implementation and again, if allowed, you should try to oversee as much of the work as possible to ensure it is being completed to the highest possible standard. Once work is completed there should be another evaluation to check the work and make sure you are happy with everything. Decisions are going to be made throughout the entire process so be sure to know exactly what you want out of the refurbishment.

Preliminary Stage

As I said above, the first stage in any business refurbishment is to have an evaluation but don't just contact one company. If you want to get the best deal it is a good idea to get an evaluation and quotation from several design companies who should be willing to give this for free without any obligation to sign a contract. If at all possible, try to see some examples of previous works which have been carried out by companies as quite often, the cheapest option gives the cheapest looking result. Find reputable companies such as apollointeriors.com and view testimonies from previous customers to help you make your decision.

Evaluation and Planning

Once you have chosen the company you wish to take charge of your refurbishment you need to go through a detailed plan and evaluation with them. Try to decide how best to use the space you have and pay particular attention to things, such as plumbing, wall partitions and ceilings as well as communication ports, such as phone and fax lines, router space for wireless broadband and all the cables that come with them. Also, make a plan of the type of furniture you will be needing such as, office desks or shop counter tops and shelving units and draw roughly where you would like them to be positioned.

Interior Design and 3D Imaging

Nowadays, thanks to the wonders of technology, it is possible to see the finished result of your refurbishment before work has even begun. Different computer programs are available which enable you to design your commercial space down to the tiniest little detail on a laptop computer, this is a fantastic tool as it can really give you a feel for which ideas will work and which won't as well as color schemes and all sorts of other benefits. Make use of this tool as much as possible to ensure that your project manager knows exactly what you want the finished result to be. If you wanted to, you could even get other staff members involved and have them give their own personal opinions and ideas on what to do with the space.

"Conceptual stages especially floor planning, and interior and exterior designing can now be properly designed, planned, and evaluated through more realistic outputs made by 3D rendering." 

Project Management

The next step is probably a lot less fun than the previous one as it involves costs. You will need to set out a budget, sometimes things don't go to plan and whilst completing the works it is possible that other, unexpected problems will be uncovered so it is important to allow for this in the original budget to avoid extra costs. As well as budgeting, time schedules will be put in place to keep you informed on when certain tasks will be being carried out and to give you an idea of a completion date.

Framework and Shopping! 

Whilst the framework of your refurbishment is being carried out you can enjoy a much more fun side by starting to shop for your furniture and equipment. The company you have employed should have an idea of the type of furniture and equipment you need so it will be able to point you in the right direction. Again it is important to shop around though to find the best deal, otherwise you may find yourself spending over the odds and stretching yourself to your budget limit and beyond.

Post-Completion Evaluation and Safety Assessment 

Once work has been completed you should make sure to have a post-completion evaluation to ensure that all of the necessary works have been completed to the highest possible quality. In addition to this, there will need to be a number of health and safety checks such as fire safety, electrical tests, and employee safety. And work will probably also need to be assessed by a surveyor to make sure that the building has not been damaged and is still safe for public use. Once all of these checks have been completed you can return to business as usual and reap the benefits of your work, maybe have a grand re-opening day to let the public know that you are open for business again. This will bring back old customers and hopefully bring in new ones also.