How to Prepare for Your Most Productive Interior Design Consultation

Starting off with a plan for your home design that will offer you the best in your lifestyle wishes will give you the confidence to make those tough, and often costly, decisions. In our Interior Design Consultation, we give you the guidance in setting realistic investment costs. We take the guesswork off your plate completely!

The in-home consultation is always the first step in our design process. We plan an on-site visit, review the spaces you’d like to design, establish goal-setting, problem-solving, and discussing your lifestyle needs. We also map out the project, refine your aesthetic, and help you to come up with a comfortable budget. During this time we are also developing your project scope, so we can come back to you with a proposal to start work.

An on-site consultation (or meeting off-site for new builds) is an important first step in the design process. We make recommendations and offer ideas regarding completing your home design or boutique commercial space projects. We also include discussions and recommendations of types of finishes, colors and materials to complete your projects. Room planning and layout ideas, estimation of costs, and a plan and priorities moving forward.

1. Prepare Goals in Advance

A design plan including realistic costs, timing, and priorities is the most important step to a successful design project. Starting an Interior Design project without a plan is like throwing together a gourmet meal without a recipe! Without a recipe (plan) to follow, there may be important steps missed, done wrong, or out of order that will contribute to expensive and avoidable mistakes (or a dish that even your dog won't eat)!

2. Come with a Budget

We always start with a client's wish list. The wish list will determine your budget. If your design wishes and the investment you would like to spend don't match, then we tweak the design (or the budget). This is when prioritizing your wants and needs comes into play, and what designing is all about. We're pros at creating a successful design even when we need to be creative in order to fit your needs.

3. Look at Daily Habits with Fresh Eyes

In order to create a design wish list, pay close attention in your daily life and work in how you'd like to use your space. Is it functional? Can you move around comfortably, as well as anyone else using the space? Is the lighting the correct mood? Do you want to add a view? Is there enough storage? Paying attention to these details will help you create an accurate wish list.

4. Prepare for Judgment-Free Transparency

Don't worry, you will get an honest, judgement-free consultation from us! We have seen hundreds of homes, and we don't care if you forgot to lower the toilet lid or your laundry is piled in the laundry room. We assess how beautiful your home could be, and take it from there. Tell us about your caffeine habit and we'll build you an amazing coffee bar! It's your space and there's absolutely no need for embarrassment. Let it all hang out.

5. Have All Necessary Pieces Present

If your building a new home, have your architectural drawings in-hand so we can discuss minor details of your interiors. It is ideal regardless if you're building new or remodeling, or adding new decor and furnishings, to have a list in hand of your design wishes. However, you don't need to have everything figured out, that's what we're here for. So if your'e really stuck and don't yet know how to start, that is part of our goal, to get you unstuck and on the right path.

6. Know Your Aesthetic Preferences

We send you a questionnaire before our meeting, which will give a lot of insight to who you are and the type of environment you'd like to achieve. You may attach inspiration photos, or of artwork or furnishings you'd like to incorporate into your design. I’ve also written about How to Discover your Ideal Design Aesthetic, if you’d like to read more about it.

7. Establish a Decision-Making Process

Please make sure everyone who has a say in the design, decor, colors and function, and costs of the space are present at the consultation. This is critical to a successful design. You don't want to fall in love with a design we create for you down the road only to have your significant other show up and relay they want just the opposite for the space!

Extra Tip

It is helpful we have your undivided attention for a couple of hours. Meeting while the kids are at school, and while you have a definite break in your work day, will help in your clarity and for you to get the most out of your consultation.

Thank you for following along with our tips. We are thrilled to help you achieve the home or workspace that helps you live your life to the absolute fullest!


Haven't scheduled your design consultation yet? There's no time like the present! Reach out to us and we'd be delighted to help.

See you soon,