If you wish to optimize the space of your apartment or house, calling on the skills of an interior designer is essential. It is indeed the main mission devolved to this professional who will rethink volumes and space to create a bathroom or a dressing room in a bedroom, an office area, an additional bedroom, an extension, a veranda ... in an existing home but also to design a living space from scratch.
The missions
The interior architect first studies the feasibility of the project. Needs, desires, budgetary or technical constraints, everything is then taken into account. In the same way, the various tradesmen necessary for the realization are invited during a visit of the building site. Thus, plumber, mason, painter, heating engineer, carpenter ... will be able to present the estimates necessary for the budgeting of the project.
Once this first phase has been completed, the professional designs the entire future living space using 2D and 3D plans. The technical and budgetary aspects are then presented to the client.
After agreement, comes the time of the administrative steps, sometimes tedious in view of the number of rooms to be provided. Experienced in this kind of files, the interior architect proposes to relieve the client of the administrative authorisations and the file of general design parts. He also provides a provisional schedule of work including details of the intervention of all the trades.
At the same time, he helps the client to choose the craftsmen taking into account their skills and the price of their services. Then, he takes charge of the accompaniment and the follow-up of the work until the reception. Site meetings, progress checks and frequent inspections of the work carried out enable him to provide regular reports to the client. The interior architect is also a decorator and can take care of the purchase and installation of furniture.
The interior designer is a versatile professional capable of combining skills to fit out, design and manage a building site.
The advantages of a collaboration
The undeniable quality of an interior designer is to think about the project as a whole. Thus, even if the client already has a well-defined idea, he will help him to project himself by creating spaces that meet criteria of ergonomics, functionality and aesthetics. Through his studies, he knows how to highlight every nook and cranny of a space by playing with materials, colours and light. This professional is indeed a "well" of ideas and know-how. Always up to date with the latest materials and trendy colours, he travels to trade fairs to propose the most effective products or the furniture that will best enhance a space.
Another significant advantage is that the interior designer can take advantage of his network of partners, whether they are companies, suppliers or craftsmen. Accustomed to working with people they can trust, they can guarantee quality work.
The last prerogative is to manage the entire construction site, thus saving time and money. He is the client's sole interlocutor. He therefore follows the work and is accountable for it. In direct contact with the craftsmen, he regularly visits the site to check and possibly have defective parts changed or redo this or that service.
The choice of an interior designer
This profession is not necessarily well regulated and it is important not to neglect the usual checks: reputation, insurance, company information without neglecting word of mouth, which is the real selection criterion.