What should I know before hiring an interior designer?

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You might think hiring an interior designer is the key to unlocking the hidden potential in your home, and while they are amazingly talented, there are a few tips you should be aware of before you take the plunge.

These might be secrets interior designers don't want you to know for free, but we want you to be fully equipped with all the relevant information before you start committing to a schedule of home improvements.

Take a look at these key ideas and see if any of them will allow you to change your home yourself!

1. You need to use dead space

Interior designers know the key to getting more bang for your buck (in terms of home design), is to use all the pockets of dead space that most people won't think twice about.

Under-stairs space is a key area that's ripe for development.

2. Think vertically

If you have small rooms that don't offer much in terms of floor space, you need to start considering how you can build up, not out.

Can you add a mezzanine? Or perhaps a platform to break up the room and make a multilevel living area?

3. Use height in narrow spaces

You need to use the height in narrow rooms to create engaging, useful installations. 

Here, you can see a full-height bookcase being put to great use as a full wall covering and it doesn't feel as though it's shrinking the room at all, thanks to the built-in design.

4. Build kitchen cabinets up to the ceiling

Speaking of built-in solutions, it's time to let you in on a key kitchen secret used by interior designers. Installing top cabinets that stretch all the way up to the ceiling offers you an opportunity to get more storage and a seamless look. 

We like this example, which sees stealthy white cabinets blending in with the surrounding walls.

5. Use furniture to divide open spaces

Open-plan living spaces are wonderful but if you like more privacy in certain areas, you can use furniture to divide up the expanse, rather than adding in permanent walls. 

Wardrobes and bookcases are perfect for the job, as they're large, practical, but still movable.

6. Glass is perfect for non-opaque boundaries

If you like the idea of open-plan living, but your home doesn't really lend itself to the scheme, you can capture the essence by installing glass room divides in place of solid walls. 

This will also add a contemporary flair to your property and who doesn't want that?!

For more tips you can use yourself, take a look at this Ideabook: Low-cost home improvement ideas.

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