Interior Designer

1. How many of you have ever used an interior designer? No I have not. If you have not, would you? depends on how much it cost.
2. Do you think the types/selections of specialty shoppes in the Shoals is sufficient? Are you kidding me? I think they are either WAY over priced and / or sell junk.
3. Where do you typically shop for interior/exterior furniture and accessories? Anywhere I find them. The Bombay Company, Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, IKEA. So mostly outlet stores, specialty stores, and catalogs.
4. If there was a really cool kitchen design store, would you be more inclined to shop there rather than a big box store, like Lowe's? Do you mean like KitchenArt or Pampered Chef, but a whole store with just that stuff? Heck yeah! Or do you mean a place that sells kitchen cabinets, countertops, and faucets? Like the kitchen section of IKEA? Heck yeah!

If you use an interior designer/decorator, be prepared to pay at least $60/hr for them to listen to what you want and suggest what you already told them. I have worked for 4 different ones in the Shoals and can recommend only two of them. One from Florence and one from MSC. If you want their names i will give them,.... i am going to include a pic of some cabinets that we stressed. In the pic, the cabs were originally white. These do have a semi-gloss poly finish, but i personally like a satin, less glossy finish.

First off, OriginalBama, those cabinets are beautiful! Please tell me how you did them.

I have used Jackie Wallace from Custom Creations. She didn't charge me an hourly fee, but I bought products from her that were pretty steep in cost.

I also used the kitchen specialty shop that was in East Florence for kitchen design. I paid her by the hour, because her merchandise was too expensive for me. I don't think she is in business any longer.

I shop the box stores for convenience, but wish we had a designer in the area who could help me reconfigure my old house into a better layout.

1. Yes
2. No
3. Birmingham/Huntsville
4. Both

May I suggest looking at "her" home first? We had a neighbor in Rivermont in the 90's that called herself a "designer". The most godawful decorating in her house I ever saw. But, I should've looked at her makeup. That would've told me everything I needed to know about her color sense.

In my opinion....if you would like an opinion on interior design for free....First find out what project you going to do....Lets say....in my Profession....Roofing....instead of calling a consultant out...paying upwards of the $60.00 and hour range....Hire someone that been doing that kind of business for many years and discuss colors with them.....This happens alot with me....Folks call...and when I get there....they say....Well...I want to change colors...but I dont know which one....Well...after 20 something years in the business...there's not alot of homes I haven't done with Red Brick...painted White with Dark trim and so on....So...I pretty much know what colors go with what the outside looks like...I will tell you this....If you have a...lets say....White Home...then you need a Dark colored Roof..You cant put a lite color Roof on a lite colored home...it will clash big time....So using someone that has experience with colors and have seen what colors go with what...can be a benefit to you..I do know that a lite color inside the home will make any room look larger...but the liter the color the more likly it is to turn a yellowish (if thats a word) over the years...especially if your a smoker or use wood heat...I like Exterior High gloss Oil base White on my inside trim...it takes about two days for it to dry...but it shines a year down the road and it's hard to chip.....Hope this helps.....The Roofer....

My advise is go here http://www.behr.com/behrx/index.jsp and look at the different colors. They also have rooms that are close to what you want painted and you can apply different colors to each room you look at.

Keep one thing in mind. In the behr paint if you decide on a color get the next color slightly lighter to match what you're looking for. Home Depot sells the behr paint.

Those are gorgeous cabinets, OriginalBama! Thanks for your responses. Roofer, I had no idea you had such a good eye for color/design! But I guess after roofing for as long as you have, you develop one.

quote:

Originally posted by mandomama:
Those are gorgeous cabinets, OriginalBama! Thanks for your responses. Roofer, I had no idea you had such a good eye for color/design! But I guess after roofing for as long as you have, you develop one.

Did you not like my idea ?

If you want paint,..... dont waste your time with the DIYers,.... aka Lowes/Home Depot. Usually the paint is over priced and if you get more than one gallon, its sometimes a slight shade off. Pittsburg Paints beside WalMart is some of the best paint out there. Their contractor grade paint, SpeedHide, is less expensive but still a superior grade paint. Paula and Patsy will work with you. If you want to match off colors with a bedspread, curtains... or even a sofa.... take it out there and they can fix ya up. But just take a cushion, no need to take the whole sofa lol... Also Greg at Florence Decorating Center on Tennessee St is excellent. You will pay a little bit more for the Benjamin Moore paint there though. But great customer service at both places. And the good thing about both places is they are locally owned.

quote:

Originally posted by notdmbazdrt:
First off, OriginalBama, those cabinets are beautiful! Please tell me how you did them.

I have used Jackie Wallace from Custom Creations. She didn't charge me an hourly fee, but I bought products from her that were pretty steep in cost.

I also used the kitchen specialty shop that was in East Florence for kitchen design. I paid her by the hour, because her merchandise was too expensive for me. I don't think she is in business any longer.

I shop the box stores for convenience, but wish we had a designer in the area who could help me reconfigure my old house into a better layout.

Thanks. They turned out really nice and the homeowner got some black knobs that looked worn and had copper showing through. That set of cabs had 36 doors and 13 drawers against red walls and a gold ceiling, with white crown and trim. I remember working with Jackie several years back on some townhome kitchens she did. But her shop isnt in E. Florence any longer ive noticed. If you really want to know the way to do those, i guess i could tell but you'll have to pm me... it is a process to it and it took a week to do.