how designers help | preparing for your meeting | choosing a designer | more tips
 

How should you prepare for your first meeting with an interior designer? The most important part of preparing to look for an interior designer is to identify your personal likes and dislikes and to set your preliminary expectations. Before your meeting, set some of your goals concerning style preferences, the functionality of the living space, budget, and time frame.
Try doing some of your own research: Look for visual ideas online, in magazines, and in books. At HomePortfolio.com, save favorite products to your Home Design Portfolio®. Tear out pictures out of magazines or copy them from books and save them in a file. Also, visit furniture stores and tour model homes, taking photos along the way to put in your file too.	A designer who specializes in kitchens can design a great layout, help you to choose your cabinetry and determine your appliance requirements.
Don't limit yourself in your selections. What you save can be anything that affects you emotionally — positively or negatively — whether it be color, style, fabrics, furniture, or accessories. Going through your Home Design Portfolio® or your file with your interior designer will give the project an effective preliminary direction. Before reviewing with your interior designer, make sure you go through your selections with any other decision-makers in the home. If there are differences in opinion, bring up those issues with your designer, who may be able to come up with a creative compromise.
Other issues to consider: Decide how the living spaces you're focusing on will be used. Determine your specific needs and wants for the space. Develop your own list of priorities for the overall project. Have a budget in mind before meeting with the designer. Researching and pricing out furniture, appliances, and/or electronic systems — the "big ticket items" that you definitely plan to purchase — will give you an idea of some of the costs involved.
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