INVEST WISELY IN HOME FURNISHINGS
Are your evenings filled with pinning images of Eames chairs, Flos lights and Ferm living benches? Same here!
We love shopping for furnishings and browsing new ranges. The excitement of clicking 'buy now' is sometimes hard to resist, but please do restrain yourself. We're here to give you a reality check. All of those things are beautiful, we love them too, but before you spend £15K on a sofa, let’s take stock of the whole project.
Before a single item is bought - even a candle - we need a plan, a full design, an understanding of the end goal and a budget. Every item needs a reason to be there. We know it isn't what you expected when you enlisted a creative designer, but Interior Designers are practical designers. We are grounded in the reality of home renovations and know that for everyone budget is real, even if it is a large budget! It has to be considered to make sure you get the most value in your space.
WHERE TO INVEST WISELY
There are always some parts of your design where we can be budget conscious and save money. We work with each of our clients to find out where they see value and where quiet luxury will glow through. For some they could not live with melamine cabinet inners and it has to be real wood all the way. For others its all about the hardware and a high end light switch is worth paying a premium for. It's important to make sure there are priorities in the spend or budget can spiral out of control.
As a general rule you need to be spending on the things you interact with and use daily, and the items that really carry a scheme. Make sure the main element of your room is good quality, robust and aesthetically pleasing.
Here’s some things we've learned along the way:
Everything you touch in the kitchen needs to be quality. Put money into your cabinet fronts, worktops and hardware. Always choose soft-close.
Good quality flooring will pay you back tenfold over the years you have it, so invest and enjoy the feeling of real wood or stone underfoot.
If you are having a feature bath it must be that, no compromises. Never choose cheap plastic baths that are the right shape but are shiny and glaringly obvious they were your second choice.
These items are the backbone of your rooms, they are what will hold it all together and they are worth the investment.
WHERE TO SAVE STRATEGICALLY
Saving everywhere will impact the aesthetic but some items absolutely do not have to be top of the range to be good. We help you work out what your level is for good enough.
We work with every client on their project to define spending and to make savings where it is important to them. We always advise on where they can minimise budget without reducing impact. Some areas we always look at:
In all of your joinery look at the price difference of wood, colour matched inners and then simple stock colour inners, sometimes this saves thousands of pounds. If it's a vanity unit in a guest bathroom then white inners aren't all that bad.
A simple tile laid out in a striking pattern can be a game changer, blocks, soldiers, herringbone, diagonal, chevrons., the options are endless but the price is the same.
Appliances can cost a fortune. There is of course a trade off, but work out if you really need all of the features of the Gaggenau oven or if in fact you will never use them and you can opt for the mid range model. All of our kitchens will have integrated appliances so they're entirely unseen. Look for cost efficiencies on the items you won't see: with fridges and dishwashers, the mid range brands are often just as efficient.
Saving in these areas will allow you to spend on the elements that you see and feel daily. Making your budget work is about maximising value without compromising the overall aesthetic. It is a fine line but we find the balance.
WHERE TO BEGIN
Our designs are costed out in detail and we work with clients long before any build begins to make sure they have an understanding of the overall spend. It's easy to get carried away with the build and forget the fit out. Remember that you live in your home not outside looking at it. Your interior fit out is what you interact with daily and is arguably more important that the render that your neighbours look at.
Your design and fit out budget needs to include everything to make the whole scheme come together. When we design we allocate everything we specify so our clients have a clear view of the investment from the start. This is worked on long before the build starts and aids informed decision making. There will have to be compromises, there always are, but by exploring it all before the pressure of a part-built home takes hold ensures balanced and considered decisions will be made.
The moral of the story? Plan and budget everything ahead of time.
Having an eye on the budget is a necessary evil when it comes to renovating. If you try and squeeze budget everywhere, trust us it'll look cheap. Equally if you have bought top of the range on every single thing your bank balance will be groaning and there will be areas where the value isn't seen or used.
Working through the budget early on and being aware of spend levels is the key to creating the perfect home at an investment level you are comfortable with. We work with you to aide the compromises along the way, and to advise if the cuts will impact too much that the scheme will be lost.
Have some questions about how to develop a thoughtful budget for your design project?
Get in touch...we'd love to help you out!
Until next time,
