5 Questions to Ask Your Interior Designer

La-Z-Boy Southeast | November 11, 2025

Hiring an interior designer should feel like finding a creative partner who speaks your language. But if you’ve never worked with one before, knowing what to ask can feel a bit overwhelming. The right questions help you determine whether a designer understands your vision and can bring it to life within your budget and timeline.

At La-Z-Boy Southeast, our free interior design consultations have helped thousands of homeowners transform their spaces. Through these conversations, we’ve learned which questions matter most when you’re starting a design project. Here are the five essential questions that will set you up for success.

1. Should I Paint My Walls Before or After Choosing Furniture?

Here’s a secret that will save you hours of frustration: always choose your furniture fabric first, then match your paint color to it.

Why? Paint options are virtually limitless. You can match any shade imaginable at your local paint store. Furniture fabrics, while extensive, are more limited. Even with hundreds of options available, finding the perfect fabric takes more effort than finding the perfect paint.

When you choose furniture first, you can bring fabric swatches to the paint store and find complementary colors that make your pieces shine. Trying to do it backward often leads to disappointment when you discover your dream sofa doesn’t come in a fabric that matches your freshly painted walls.

Your designer should encourage you to select your major upholstered pieces before making any paint decisions. Bring those fabric samples with you when choosing paint, and look for colors that create the mood you want while highlighting your furniture investment.

2. What Furniture Style Works Best With My Home?

Your home’s style provides natural clues about which furniture styles will look most cohesive. Interior designers typically recommend matching furniture style to home style, creating a harmonious flow throughout your space.

Most homes fall into three broad categories:

Traditional: Think classic details, warm woods, and timeless silhouettes
Contemporary: Clean lines with a mix of textures and current trends
Modern: Minimalist approach with sleek profiles and bold statements

That said, you’re not locked into one style exclusively. Mixing styles intentionally creates visual interest and personality. A modern side table can add unexpected sophistication to a traditional living room, while a classic upholstered chair can warm up a contemporary space.

The key is coordination, not rigid matching. When your furniture complements your home’s architectural bones, your pieces feel like they belong rather than like they’re fighting against the space. This approach also helps ensure your investment furniture won’t look dated as trends shift because classic styles always work in their intended settings.

3) How Do I Mix Patterns Without Making My Room Look Chaotic?

Pattern mixing feels intimidating, but it follows a simple principle: contrast is your friend.

When you combine patterns in rugs, upholstery, and accent pieces, you want them to complement each other without competing for attention. Too much visual complexity makes a room feel cluttered and overwhelming, even when it’s perfectly clean.

Here’s a practical approach: if you choose a floral print for your accent chair, select a geometric pattern or solid color for your area rug. The different pattern types create visual interest while giving each piece room to breathe. A floral chair paired with a floral rug becomes visual chaos where nothing stands out.

This principle works across pattern types. Pair stripes with organic shapes. Mix large-scale patterns with small-scale designs. Combine busy prints with solid fabrics. The contrast allows each pattern to shine individually while contributing to a cohesive overall design.

Your designer should help you understand which combinations work and which fight against each other, ensuring your room feels intentionally designed rather than accidentally assembled.

4) How Can I Incorporate Existing Furniture Into My New Design?

Starting completely from scratch is rare. Most people have at least one piece they want to keep—whether it’s a family heirloom, a recent investment, or simply something that still functions beautifully.

The trick to successfully incorporating existing pieces is embracing contrast rather than trying to create perfect matches. Attempting to match new upholstery to existing fabric rarely works because dye lots vary and fabrics age differently. Even slight color differences look obviously mismatched rather than intentionally coordinated.

Instead, choose complementary colors that create contrast with your existing pieces. This approach makes both the old and new furniture look purposeful. Accent colors work particularly well for this strategy, pulling complementary tones from your existing piece while introducing fresh elements to the room.

Leather is particularly forgiving in mixed furniture arrangements. Its neutral sophistication pairs well with virtually any style and color scheme, making it an excellent choice when you’re building around existing pieces.

Your designer should ask about furniture you plan to keep early in the process, then build the room design around those anchors rather than treating them as afterthoughts.

5) What’s Your Philosophy on Accessories and Personal Items?

Accessories are where your personality transforms a well-designed room into your home. While furniture provides the foundation, accessories tell your story and make the space uniquely yours.

A good designer understands that accessories shouldn’t follow a prescribed formula. Instead, they should reflect what you genuinely love. Consider what brings you joy:

Travel memories and collected souvenirs
Family photographs across generations
Books about your passions and interests
Collections you’ve built over time
Artwork that speaks to you

These personal elements become natural conversation starters and make your space feel authentic rather than staged. They’re also the easiest pieces to rotate seasonally or when your interests evolve, keeping your room feeling fresh without requiring furniture investments.

Functional accessories like decorative trays, vases, and planters help organize your meaningful items while adding visual interest. They’re particularly useful when styling surfaces using the principle of odd-numbered groupings, which creates more dynamic, appealing arrangements than even numbers.

Your designer should ask about your interests and lifestyle, then suggest ways to showcase what matters to you rather than imposing their own aesthetic preferences.

Starting Your Design Journey Prepared

Asking these five questions helps establish clear communication between you and your designer from the beginning. You’ll both understand the project goals, practical constraints, and personal preferences that will guide decisions throughout the design process.

The right interior designer doesn’t just make your space beautiful—they make it functionally work for how you actually live while reflecting who you are. These questions help you identify whether a designer truly listens and collaborates rather than simply imposing their own vision.

Ready to start designing your space? La-Z-Boy Southeast offers complimentary interior design consultations at our eight locations across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Our experienced design team would love to help bring your vision to life.

Here are some additional resources you may like to take a look at before your hire an interior designer:

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