No real idea about interior design

J

junii

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We want to do up our house but we are not good with things like design and colour. A few years ago we got an interior designer and they did a very bad job.


We live in the west of ireland and we want to get somebody who is very good and that can show us a good portfolio. I hop that somebody here can recommend someone good.

Thanks.
 
Hi junii, I would not have been a natural at interior design myself but managed to transform my house a couple of years ago without employing a designer. You can get lots of ideas from magazines and also from home improvement programmes on the TV, if you have SKY then you have loads of them on the Lifestyle section. Another great source is the likes of myhome.ie and daft.ie Most houses have up to 12 photos of their interiors on display and can be a great way of seeing what works and what does not! Amazing though how similar most homes are with the wooden floors and leather suites and Plazma screens:D
 
A lot would depend on your taste or style preference - whether you would be comfortable with contemporary, traditional, outlandish, etc. Different designers tend to specialise in different areas and one person's recommendation would only be valuable if they had the shared your taste and perferences.
 
Hi junii, I agree with lightswitch and staples.We built our home five years ago , I literally devoured all the house books,mags I could get my hands on. Get an idea of what style ye like. I would advise against going for 'fad' styles 'in today gone tomorrow'. In relation to tiles I went for something timeless, and that would be comfortable to look at for years to come. Also if ye have some nice pieces of furniture, paintings build yer design around them. Also look at showhouses and other peoples homes, you would be amazed at what you dont and do like.
 
Agree with the comments above. We've just extended and we met 4 different interior designers and then picked the best one of those. We would have been far better to scour the magazines and show-houses as the above posters say) which is what we did eventually. She actually complicated matters for us hugely, managed to undermine our self-confidence, and completely ignored our specification for low energy lighting - there were to be 600W in one room alone! She cost us €700 before we parted company and wanted us to order expensive tiles and light fittings from her UK suppliers. I still think she's as good an interior designer as you're likely to get but I would never employ one again. I'd just buy more magazines....
 
All paint maufacturers groups colours that go together on each page of their brochures. If colours are side by side you can use these colours in equal quantities. Otherwise pick one as the base colour as use another sparingly (sp)
 
You can also get small pot paint samples, paint a large square sample on each wall to see how the light affects the colour, since the light will reflect differently at different times of the day. I went with the same colour thro out the house except childrens rooms. It gives a spaciousness and continuity, unlike different colours in each room which make different blocks of each room.
 
I agree with most of the above comments. start shecking out the house magazines and get a scrap book - devote few pages to each room and put in pictures of colours, looks you like. When you get started putting the look together you may leave out stuff or have new ideas. It's a less daunting way of starting off by putting it together in a scrap book. You also have a reference when you start shopping and slowly gathering the look together - i found it saved me loads of money because i knew what i wanted and less likely to make mistakes with accessories etc. Try it as a fun project - and get friend to bounce ideas off. Even if you do get a designer at least you will have a better idea of what look you want.
 
If you have flooring down or furniture bought which is not going to be replaced, then use that as a base. Get lots of colour cards and see what matches. neutral colours are all the rage at the moment, and if you are thinking about that make sure you get a good selection of colours to compare, generally there are two types of neutrals, the sand and taupe colours, sand should suit any yellow types of wood, say oak, and maybe the taupes go with whiter type of woods etc. If you are not too adventurous with colours etc, maybe stick to the neutrals and accessorise with stronger colours.....

Most importantly, take your time deciding what you want, and make sure that you can live with what you choose.... :) good luck!
 
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