Lost 1st Timer Seeking Advise

[notforsale 0]

Hi everyone,

I have gotten my keys to a 4 room resale flat and have just started looking for an interior designer. I have only been to 2 companies and the impression I have received is that they are more like a contractor then an interior designer. What happened is that in both companies, they just asked what we want in the floor plan and said they'll send a quotation to us and after we signed up, they will let us see some drawings. In the 1st place, I stated that my fiancee and I do not have a definite idea of what we want but we want the theme revolve around simple and cozy. I expected them to sell me their ideas either in the form of some simple drawings ( note: I did mention to them I do not need complicated 3d drawings straight away) or some photos in their portfolio which applies to my criteria. However, the response I have received is that they cannot even draw me a simple 2d draft and I'll need to either sign up or pay a designer fee. This has gotten me very puzzled indeed.

Question 1: I am looking for an interior designer to help me design my home but they are not willing to show me designs

until I sign up. But if they don't show me their designs, how do I know they are the ones I am looking for?

Question 2: Is what I have encountered so far the norm in the industry or am I plain unlucky?

Question 3: Any advice as to what I am doing wrong?

Question 4: I have been browsing through this forum and found some companies which seems to have garnered some

good reviews. I have shortlisted some of them to visit. Can someone give me some contacts of good interior

designers in these companies?

Inzen

Tau interior design

Ideal house

Ideal desing studio

spacious planning

Thanks in advance,

Lost and frustrated

[notforsale 0]

Anyone???

[SGK 0]

  notforsale said:

Hi everyone,

I have gotten my keys to a 4 room resale flat and have just started looking for an interior designer. I have only been to 2 companies and the impression I have received is that they are more like a contractor then an interior designer. What happened is that in both companies, they just asked what we want in the floor plan and said they'll send a quotation to us and after we signed up, they will let us see some drawings. In the 1st place, I stated that my fiancee and I do not have a definite idea of what we want but we want the theme revolve around simple and cozy. I expected them to sell me their ideas either in the form of some simple drawings ( note: I did mention to them I do not need complicated 3d drawings straight away) or some photos in their portfolio which applies to my criteria. However, the response I have received is that they cannot even draw me a simple 2d draft and I'll need to either sign up or pay a designer fee. This has gotten me very puzzled indeed.

Question 1: I am looking for an interior designer to help me design my home but they are not willing to show me designs

until I sign up. But if they don't show me their designs, how do I know they are the ones I am looking for?

Question 2: Is what I have encountered so far the norm in the industry or am I plain unlucky?

Question 3: Any advice as to what I am doing wrong?

Question 4: I have been browsing through this forum and found some companies which seems to have garnered some

good reviews. I have shortlisted some of them to visit. Can someone give me some contacts of good interior

designers in these companies?

Inzen

Tau interior design

Ideal house

Ideal desing studio

spacious planning

Thanks in advance,

Lost and frustrated

Hi notforsale,

I think it is quite common for IDs to ask you what you want for your house so that they can come up with a layout that suits your needs. You may want to discuss with your fiancee on the important components of the house. e.g Walk-in-Wardrobe, balcony, study, feature walls, storage cabinets, etc. before you speak to the IDs. The better IDs will listen to your requirements or proposed layouts and give you their honest comments and counter proposals. In this way, you are likely to get a house that you will enjoy staying in.

To get some design ideas, visit the websites of the various ID firms or simply look around this forum. You should be able to pick up some really good and exciting ideas easily.

As to your questions, here are my answers:

Question 1: I am looking for an interior designer to help me design my home but they are not willing to show me designs

until I sign up. But if they don't show me their designs, how do I know they are the ones I am looking for?

Ans: All the IDs I met provided me with the 2D layout for free. There is one that tried pursuading me to pay him the design fee so that he can produce the 3D drawings but I rejected. Nevertheless he still provided the 2D drawings.

Question 2: Is what I have encountered so far the norm in the industry or am I plain unlucky?

Ans: It is quite unusual for IDs to request that you sign up with them first before they give you the 2D drawings.

Question 3: Any advice as to what I am doing wrong?

Ans: Conceptualise what you want in your house with your fiancee before seeing the IDs.

Question 4: I have been browsing through this forum and found some companies which seems to have garnered some

good reviews. I have shortlisted some of them to visit. Can someone give me some contacts of good interior

designers in these companies?

I am not familiar with these ID firms but Tau seems to have many good reviews here. You can also consider the ID firm I engaged: Earnest Interior. They too have quite good reviews here.

Hope the above helps

[kiven78 0]

  notforsale said:

Hi everyone,

I have gotten my keys to a 4 room resale flat and have just started looking for an interior designer. I have only been to 2 companies and the impression I have received is that they are more like a contractor then an interior designer. What happened is that in both companies, they just asked what we want in the floor plan and said they'll send a quotation to us and after we signed up, they will let us see some drawings. In the 1st place, I stated that my fiancee and I do not have a definite idea of what we want but we want the theme revolve around simple and cozy. I expected them to sell me their ideas either in the form of some simple drawings ( note: I did mention to them I do not need complicated 3d drawings straight away) or some photos in their portfolio which applies to my criteria. However, the response I have received is that they cannot even draw me a simple 2d draft and I'll need to either sign up or pay a designer fee. This has gotten me very puzzled indeed.

Question 1: I am looking for an interior designer to help me design my home but they are not willing to show me designs

until I sign up. But if they don't show me their designs, how do I know they are the ones I am looking for?

Question 2: Is what I have encountered so far the norm in the industry or am I plain unlucky?

Question 3: Any advice as to what I am doing wrong?

Question 4: I have been browsing through this forum and found some companies which seems to have garnered some

good reviews. I have shortlisted some of them to visit. Can someone give me some contacts of good interior

designers in these companies?

Inzen

Tau interior design

Ideal house

Ideal desing studio

spacious planning

Thanks in advance,

Lost and frustrated

hi NTS,

below are just my own personal opinions:

Question 1: I am looking for an interior designer to help me design my home but they are not willing to show me designs

until I sign up. But if they don't show me their designs, how do I know they are the ones I am looking for?

Pertain to your 'free design conceptual' worries i can understand,and indeed its like seeking a needle in midst of Atlantic ocean.

We have been to countless ID firms during my scourge for the ultimate ID,though which most can easily draw some simple perspective drawings on the spot as we discuss on our expectations.But none other than Evan from Plush Design Pte Ltd can provide a couple of free full A3 size 3D drawings with no obligations,yes u heard it correctly FOC.We were impressed by his top notch service,advice,patient but we had to disappoint him due to $ factor,we admit its a total makeover which willturn our resale flat into a posh condo liked apartment but 50K plus is an amount we cant cough out.Special thanks also went out to Sunny to Barogue Desigz,we received fantastic service from him as well.In the end we commit ourselves to Henry of ID Note Pte Ltd as he could clearly and frankly understand and assure us of our makeover project,though $ factor they are lowest as well.Theres simply no perfect ID firm in this time and age as they too depends greatly on their sub-con - who are independent,therefore with these understandings in mind we just have to cut down chances of bad encounters by meeting up face to face with various IDs,checking online for their HDB licence,their reputation in RenoTalk and so on so forth...

Question 2: Is what I have encountered so far the norm in the industry or am I plain unlucky?

Not at all,during our scourge for the 'perfect' ID firm,we came across some IDs who are like 'Ai Mai Ai mai ' attitude,i mean u can feel their hack care attitude 5 mins into the discussion,they can promise the world but delivers 'shyt' not even a quotation..there are black sheeps everwhere in all industries,its up to u to identify and avoid ...

Question 3: Any advice as to what I am doing wrong?

Theres nothing wrong u do there as u mentioned u r green horn,there will always be 'first time' for everyone everything...what u need is a patient,understanding ID who can provide you with the most beneficial, unbias,truthful advice that will fulfill your expectation with the lowest possible costing.

Question 4: I have been browsing through this forum and found some companies which seems to have garnered some

good reviews. I have shortlisted some of them to visit. Can someone give me some contacts of good interior

designers in these companies?

Usually when you ask for such contacts,you have to be mentally prepared for certain mishaps due to their immerse popularity,things like delays,poor response and so on so forth just readup on those infamous ID threads like'Ah soon and u ll know what i mean...therefore proper communication and trustworthyness of ID is of utmost importance here,im sure u dont want any unnecessary delays on your reno..just read up more and do more homeworks,face to face interaction and leave the rest to god.

[pinkpetter 0]

My humble opinions...

Question 1: I am looking for an interior designer to help me design my home but they are not willing to show me designs

until I sign up. But if they don't show me their designs, how do I know they are the ones I am looking for?

Ask to see portfolios of homes THEY have done. Not those done by the company. See if you like them. Also as you discuss your plans, if he keeps saying everything can can can... just be careful especially if he's vague on details. If everything CANNOT... also be careful. A good ID will understand your need to look for more quotes to compare. If he's pushy then it's a no-no.

Question 2: Is what I have encountered so far the norm in the industry or am I plain unlucky?

Pretty much the norm. Some go beyond and do provide an idea of what they can do for you but no real drawings will be given.

Question 3: Any advice as to what I am doing wrong?

Go to various ID's websites and browse through people's T-blogs here to have a feel of what you want. You can collect some pictures and show them to the ID. Of course.. these pictures are for personal use and reference... You're doing lots of right stuff... by doing homework first... and I'm glad you realise the importance of looking for a reliable person and not a reliable company only.

[zhiz 4]

I think we need to understand that the time and effort put into a drawing for client, some clients end up using those drawings and engaged a cheaper contractor instead. Its really not fair but then, all of us has a tight budget.

Perhaps like pinkpetter has suggested, its better to see completed works and the relationship between the id and past customer to actually have a better feel of things.

Sometimes, drawings are even outsourced to a drawing specialist in a id firm so its better to see the real thing and the workmanship.

Dun sign up because of drawings only.

[wolflet 1]

initially when i was ID shopping. for the 1st few IDs i spoke to, i told them i have no idea how i wanted to layout my flat. told them we have 2 occupants.. needs lots of storage. divider to block off view of living room frm main door, need a specialise service yard area in the kitchen. and let them do the design. but because of the layout of my flat, turns out, almost all IDs came up with similar layouts.. only varying my slight differences..

so now, since i already have the idea of what i want, to compare quotes, i just go to every ID and repeat my story. takes me about 20 mins to tell them my requirements and takes them about 1 week to come up with the quotes.. saves alot of time for me.

go to more established IDs to fish for ideas. those smaller scale ones might be semi contractors thus might not have much design ideas.

[hcbing 0]

My apologies to the TS if it seems that I'm hijacking this thread, but I'm in a similar situation...a true-blue green horn at renovation and interior designs. Gonna get the keys around May for a 5I resale.

I'd say our requirements would need probably around 80% overhaul of the whole unit. Nothing too fancy...just a decent above average all-white theme. Wondering with a budget of 28-30K whether we should go for an ID for a peace of mind or go for those reno contractors? Appreciate the advice.

Thanks!

[zhiz 4]

i did my 4room overhaul, total spend is around 30k. size is 104 sqm.

you should be searching for reliable id/contractor rather than selecting between id or contractor