Rochester NY decorating services / help?

November 4, 2009 4:27 PM

We're remodeling our kitchen and adjacent family room and we need help finding someone in the Rochester NY that can help us pick out and coordinate the colors of our walls, counter-tops, rugs and floors. I've been looking at the web sites of interior designers and decorators and I find them very intimating. It looks like they work on $$$$ projects and we have a modest house and a modest budget. Do you have any recommendations or suggestions?
posted by 14580 to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

There are definitely designers who will work on an hourly rate (often with a retainer; you give them an initial deposit for a certain number of hours, and they bill against that, and you get the balance if any refunded when done) -- try looking for one of those. They should be upfront about when you are getting charged; typically when they are on-site working with you, taking you to shop for materials, working on conceptual drawings/designs etc.
posted by kanuck at 4:41 PM on November 4, 2009

Have you thought about hiring out online help? Kelly and Olive or This Young House of Love are both very well trafficked design sites and charge very reasonable prices.
posted by banannafish at 4:52 PM on November 4, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't think my wife will consider working with someone who's online.
posted by 14580 at 5:50 PM on November 4, 2009

Are you all doing the work yourself? Or is someone helping you? I'm asking because, for example, when you go to pick out tile, the people in the showroom can help you with colors. Or the people at the kitchen place where you are buying the cabinets. Even Lowe's or Home Depot might have some basic services.

What's your budget for this?
posted by bluedaisy at 7:00 PM on November 4, 2009

Response by poster: The work is being done by a contractor who has already started some of the work (we were going to just remodel the family room). He recommended a cabinet builder who does excellent work at reasonable prices but who is not in the business of suggesting paint colors or flooring. Total cost is going to be around $25k.

My wife and I just aren't agreeing on anything and we can't put off decisions any longer. It's starting to cause some serious friction between us.

We've decided on the style and color of the cabinets. We mainly need to decide on the color of the counter-tops, the color we're going to paint the walls and what kind of flooring we're going to put down.
posted by 14580 at 7:47 PM on November 4, 2009

Do you both really want to hire someone to help you do this? Or is this more about a communication break down between you guys?

You can still go to showrooms for floors and tile (for example) and talk to people there.
posted by bluedaisy at 8:31 PM on November 4, 2009

Go to a locally owned and operated home decor store, sometimes they hide in the guise of a paint store, or a wallpaper store (Try Sherwin Williams for example). They usually have an in house designer or two.
posted by Gungho at 5:43 AM on November 5, 2009