Interior Design

While you do pay extra for interior design services one should not assume that there is no cost to doing it yourself. Buying the wrong pieces, spending money and the room not coming together in the end, not knowing about diverse products at diverse prices or making choices that don’t work all come at a cost. A project also takes many hours and many weekends and that time comes at your own labour cost. Hiring an interior designer helps to avoid wasted time and money due to mistakes and their involvement in a project results in a better end result than most people could achieve on their own. An interior designer will also be entirely dedicated to completing the project and has buying power with suppliers resulting in quicker snag resolution and you finally getting the project complete.

Interior Designers charge in different ways from fixed fees to a percentage of the overall project. Companies with multiple designers have high overheads so working directly with one designer usually cost’s less. While some charge lower fees they charge higher margins to compensate for this. So you could pay a fee of 10% but then 30% is added onto every product. Or you could be charged a fee of 25% and no margins are added. You can only tell the true cost of the project by seeing the overall line item budget or past projects which is why we provide these to our clients. We charge a fee of 20% and retain trade discounts. We do not add hidden margins on any retail item and show clients past projects to get a sense of costs. If an item goes on sale during a project our clients only pay the sale prices and we shop around to ensure we’ve found the product at the lowest cost and direct from manufacturer or importer where possible.

Yes we have worked on homes for over a year tackling one room at a time as finances allow. This also gives clients a greater sense of security that we are fulfilling their requirements before taking on a larger project. Whether it is one room or an entire house we always develop a visual language for the entire project first by producing a mood board and concept so that future rooms are working towards a plan.

The entire process from first meeting to hand over takes 12 weeks. We take 4 weeks for the design process (where we move from brief through to concept and final interior design catalogue with every specific choice shown and priced) and 6-8 weeks for production. Most retail stores and manufacturers have these lead times and load shedding does not allow for rushed projects.

A good gauge is that you are likely to spend a minimum of 10% – 20% of the value of the home on furnishing, adding curtains and decorating an empty property from scratch depending on the scale of the property and the level of luxury. If you already have base furniture pieces and are just adding rugs, artworks, carpet and accessories then the cost is much lower.

A large empty stand alone room like a living room or master bedroom will cost a minimum of R100 000 (including basic curtains but excluding design fees and delivery). If a room has adjoining areas (kitchen, dining, lounge) then the decor in these areas works across multiple spaces bringing down the cost. We’ve furnished these spaces for R180 000 – R300 000.

It’s best to involve a designer as early on as possible in a consulting capacity as they will quickly pick up problems with layout and architecture before building starts. They can also recommend creative ideas to save money and provide big picture input which can significantly affect the overall success of the project. As home stagers we also weigh in on how to avoid over capitalising when embarking on a renovation.