Inspirations/Process
Process · 8 min read
Interior designer, contractor, or both?
They solve different problems, and hiring the wrong one for your project is the expensive mistake.
A contractor builds what is drawn. A designer decides what should be drawn. If you already know the layout, the materials and the details you want, a good contractor and a clear drawing set will execute it for less than a design-build package.
If you do not — if the questions still open are where the kitchen should go, how the storage works, or what the flat should feel like — then hiring a contractor first means those decisions get made on site by whoever is standing there, which is how homes end up looking assembled rather than designed.
Design-build firms bundle both and sell convenience, which is real. The trade-off is that the person specifying the material and the person profiting from it are the same, so ask how the material is priced and whether you can see the invoices.
Whichever you pick, the leverage is the same: a dimensioned drawing set and a quantity schedule before anyone quotes. Three quotes against your schedule are comparable. Three quotes against three different scopes are not a comparison at all.
A contractor builds what is drawn. A designer decides what should be drawn.
