Our Mythoscape Blog Series
Welcome back to another title in our interior design Mythoscape. In our first discussion, we discussed how some consider the color white as boring and why this is a misconception. We then counted some of the benefits of using white in interior design.
Today, we want to discuss another misconception, which is, to our astonishment at least, rather globally accepted. The myth we’ll debunk today is the long-established idea that interior design is only for the rich. Let’s see how this one-sided interior design idea took root and why it’s far from the truth now.
A Peep Into Interior Design Costs
Whether you want to check this in old history books or the earliest documentaries or movies about the elite society, you’ll notice that rich people’s houses are always nicely decorated, whereas the poor possess ordinary, unattractive homes that are void of any decoration! To some extent, the same story applies to the modern time as well. To find out why, we need to take a look at interior design costs first.
How much does interior design cost? As always, the immediate answer is “It depends.” It sure does! It depends on the size of your property, whether or not you’re gonna buy new furniture, the designer you hire, and so forth.
There are commonly three ways interior designers charge for their service. On average, most designers charge per hour ($50-$200). Some designers charge per square foot and that ranges from 5 to 15 bucks. Still, other designers charge per room, which could vary from $200-$2,000!
On the whole, most home (re)designs cost around $1,500 to $12,000, and this is obviously no small amount for many. Nevertheless, there is a way around it! Continue reading and you’ll learn why we aim to disprove another interior design myth.
Try DIY interior design
I know it, and you’ve probably heard it, too. Interior design is not a DIY job. You may not possess the required understanding of light, color, space, etc. But does that mean you have to hire an interior designer for the whole project? Certainly not!
Using Google, you can access thousands of pages that share valuable content on various aspects of interior design, and, more often than not, those pages connect you to designers who can guide you through your project for a reasonable fee.
Another way – perhaps a better one – is to shoot the rooms and let artificial intelligence (AI) assist you in designing the place. For example; you can log in to our platform and use our AI Interior design service and see how your entire place is magically decorated or redesigned.
You don’t have to play rich
Interior design has always sounded like a luxury thing, which subconsciously makes people think that if they go for it, they’ll have to shell out a hefty sum and buy a handful of luxury products.
The truth is that most of the time, you don’t need new furniture, and when you do, they don’t have to be from a catalog of some well-known brand. It doesn’t even have to be new, either! Buy what you need from a nearby second-hand store and give them a good shine before putting them in place. That’s it! You’ll save a great sum of money. Always remind yourself you’re not designing your place to look rich. You’re designing your place so that it gives you physical comfort and mental peace.
Don’t do a holistic redesign
Wearing a pair of new sneakers with your old jeans doesn’t sound like a very good idea, but when it comes to your house, it actually works! You don’t have to design or decorate every inch of your place all at once.
For the start, you can design the living room and the kitchen and leave other spaces for a later time. This way, you don’t have to worry about the cost. Just remember to pick a certain design and stick with it throughout the whole plan.
Mix high and low elements
Another trick you can try, which, by the way, is very practical, is to use a mixture of high- and low-end items. People tend to pay more attention to the couch than the rug beneath it! In the same way, lighting fixtures draw more attention to themselves than curtains do.
So, I guess you now know how the combination works. Make a list of the stuff you need and find out which category they belong to. For the stuff that draws a lot of attention, you can opt for expensive brands. For the ones that are somewhat unnoticeable, you don’t have to pay that much.
Think of it as an investment
We’ve been discussing various ways you can minimize your interior design costs up to now. But we shouldn’t lose sight of the mental relief that a good design brings about in the house.
We are well beyond the time when homes functioned merely as shelters! Now, apart from that primal function, we want to get as much happiness and comfort from our homes as possible. Whether we like it or not, the design of our homes provokes certain emotions in us. It could be sadness, stress, boredom, and disappointment, or it could be relief, relaxation, hope, and happiness.
So, the money you pay to decorate and design your place is not really wasted. It comes back to you in a much better form and benefits you more than your cash could. Next time you consider redesigning your place, think of it as a short-term investment whose benefit you can collect from the first hour!
