Every home deserves good design

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Hiring a professional designer does have a cost; it could also save you a lot of money

The Stephanie Martin Interior Design team likes to get up close and personal with clients. It’s part of their process for understanding how people live so they can craft interiors that reflect their individuality, and it often entails knowing who cooks, who cleans, what time they go to bed or where the kids drop their backpacks after school.

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“We’re not just there to make a space beautiful. We’re there to make your home enjoyable and livable and functional,” said Stephanie Martin, founder and creative director of the Calgary-based firm. “We are problem solving through design to improve lives and who doesn’t want that in their home?”

So when she hears people express concern that good design is out of reach financially, Martin is quick to point out why that isn’t necessarily so. In fact, she prefers not to use wording like fees or charges in her practice, referring to design as an investment that adds value instead, and firmly believes there is a designer out there for any size home or renovation budget, even for a DIYer looking to keep costs down by doing the work themselves.

“A designer doesn’t have to be a full meal deal all of the time. Sometimes a designer is an expert guide to steer you in the right direction,” said Martin.

Some clients prefer to work with their designer on an hourly consultation basis; others keep their designer in the loop from start to finish and are willing to spend $30,000 to $50,000 or more on design for a large-scale renovation project.

Either way, they are accessing professionals who can help them to avoid costly mistakes, steer them in ways they may not have considered, and provide access to forward-thinking products that aren’t always available through retailers.

What’s not often understood, added Martin, is that designers can actually help to maximize a budget by pointing out how to stretch dollars. For example, they may suggest switching a single sink vanity in a bathroom to a double sink to add value to the home, and then cover the additional cost by choosing a basic tile for the floor but applying it in a fun pattern to elevate the room.

In a recent blog post, designer Cynthia Soda of Soda Pop Design Inc. in the GTA points out how intentional design can save money by guarding against impulse buys and missteps that can be expensive to correct.

“Working with an interior design doesn’t mean extravagant spending – it means smart spending. It means having an expert who can guide you, maximize your budget and ensure that every dollar is spent wisely,” writes Soda.

She recalls how a couple opted not to use her design services for their custom home, even when she was strongly recommended by their builder. Within a few months they reached out, “frustrated and struck” because progress had stalled and were happy to learn Soda’s rates remained the same.

According to Soda: “Well-designed spaces aren’t just about aesthetics – they improve functionality, elevate your daily experience, and add serious value to your property.”

At Stephanie Martin Interior Design, designers are trained to “see below the surface.” They look for ways to update the mechanics of a home, ensuring that changes are made properly and safely with proper permits and warranties. They also identify opportunities to add value by reconfiguring the layout to deliver a more modern floor plan, such as adding an egress window to turn a small room in the basement into a usable bedroom.

“If you have a bathroom you want to redo and you paint your cabinets and put up some nice wallpaper and you make it look beautiful, it may look wonderful,” said Martin. “But if you open up the cabinet doors and you have Poly B plumbing (susceptible to failure) in there, it’s not good and it’s not going to sell.”

“… I think every person can recognize that a lipstick DIY job and poor quality work actually devalues your home,” she added. “If you’re going to invest effort and time and hard earned money, having someone to guide the process, who has the know-how and expertise to maximize your budget and invest in skilled craftspeople to do high-quality work – I think that is a necessity for anybody who is investing in their home.”