5 Questions to Ask Your Interior Designer

La-Z-Boy Southeast | July 11, 2018

Are you thinking about paying someone to style your home? Having a list of questions to ask your interior designer will keep you from hiring the wrong person.

At La-Z-Boy Southeast, we’ve helped thousands of people bring their ideas to life with our Free Interior Design Program. Our degreed interior designers are always happy to answer your questions, and they know the most popular questions homeowners ask.

In the 2nd Episode of the Furniture Academy Podcast, Ellie and Sammy share 5 questions to ask your interior designer. You can watch the video podcast and read the highlights below.

1) What Color Should I Paint My Walls?

It’s much easier to match your wall color with the fabric of your primary pieces. Not the other way around. This is because you have a wider range of paint options to choose from.

At La-Z-Boy Southeast, you can customize your furniture with over 900 different fabrics. This is a large number of fabric options, but it’s nothing compared to the thousands of colors you can paint your walls with.

Your interior designer should suggest you pick your fabric before you paint your walls. Make sure you bring samples when you’re picking out your paint and look for colors that compliment the fabric.

2) Which Style of Furniture Do You See in This Room?

Interior Designers will typically match the style of your furniture with the style of your home. Most homes fall in the categories of:

Traditional
Contemporary
Modern

It makes sense to fill your home with the same style of furniture, but you can also mix and match. For example, mixing a modern end table with a traditional sofa is a fun way to create a unique look in your living room.

Coordinating the look of your furniture with the look of your house is a way to make sure your large pieces of furniture don’t go out of style. A traditional sofa will always look good in a traditional home.

3) How Should I Mix Patterns in Rugs & Chairs?

Mixing patterns in rugs and chairs is a very important question to ask. Having too much going on in the fabric of your rugs and chairs can camouflage the room.

Example: If you have a floral print on your chair, then you should pick a geometric pattern or solid color for your rug. This improves the look of the room because a floral chair with a floral rug is entirely too busy.

The contrast will keep all of your patterns from blending into each other. You can use this example for other types of patterns and vice versa.

4) How Can I Add to My Existing Pieces of Furniture?

Do you have an existing piece of furniture you’d like to include in your new room design? This is a very common situation we work with at La-Z-Boy Southeast.

When you’re working with large pieces of furniture, you’ll want to make sure your new furniture adds contrast to your existing pieces.

Trying to upholster your new furniture in the same color as your existing pieces probably won’t give you a perfect match. When in doubt, pick a color that accents your current piece. You can’t go wrong with leather.

5) How Do I Use Accessories?

Accessories are meant to let your personality shine. This is where you can showcase the things you love and your style.

Ask yourself what are the things you love?

For example:

Traveling
Sports
Horses
Trains
Family

You can add pictures, souvenirs, or books about your interests to your tables and shelves. These accessories add a personal touch to your room and also serve as conversation pieces.

Trays, flowers, and vases do a good job of complimenting your other accessories. Plus, they’re very useful when you’re utilizing the “Rule of Odd Numbers” in your home.

Check Out These Additional Resources

Asking your interior designer these five questions will help you both gain an understanding of the goals you have for your room.

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

At La-Z-Boy Southeast, we’d be happy to answer your questions and bring your ideas to life at any of our locations in NC, SC, and GA.