How to hire a designer to help you save money on a project

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[00:00:27] Eric Goranson: If you have a friend that is really good at design and you're gonna talk to them, maybe ask one person their opinion. But if you go out and start getting eight people's opinions, you're going to get 10 different answers. And the problem is, is you are going to take that back to your designer and that is gonna cost you thousands of dollars as a, when it comes to remodeling and renovating your home.

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[00:01:10] Eric Goranson: We're gonna talk with Aria Vent about those beautiful events that you see out there. So, Couple things. If you wanna get ahold of us or find out more about this show, whether you're on the radio or the podcast, head over to around the house online.com and you can see everything there from, uh, on the website, from videos, especially the videos from my television show, which is weekly around the House Northwest that currently is airing in the Portland, Oregon area.

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[00:02:04] Eric Goranson: What I call the, the specialties here in this part of the show, and kitchen and bath is something that you really need to specialize in to handle it. And nothing against our N C I D Q designers and the, you know, those type of more commercial based interior designers. But if you're gonna be drawn out cabinetry and drawn out for a kitchen or a bathroom, or designing showers, I want to have somebody.

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[00:02:48] Eric Goranson: They've changed the names a little bit a few years ago. This is through the National Kitchen and Bath Association. They have their certified kitchen and bath designer. Certification. So it's one certification. [00:03:00] Back when I took it, there was a certified kitchen designer, a certified bath designer, and a certified master kitchen and bath designer.

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[00:03:30] Eric Goranson: Now there's the associate kitchen and math designer, and that's kind of your entry level certification, which means that you've met kind of the minimum standards there. So it does get better as far as how that goes. Something to think about. So the thing is, is this is why I want to talk about these certifications, because you have to know your stuff, right?

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[00:04:12] Eric Goranson: It was a rapid fire. There is no way you could fake your way through this test. You either know it or you don't. And then the last half of the test was a drafting portion where they gave you, you know, the task and you had to draft out this room. But I'll tell you what, back in the day they gave you, Tricks in the test where they could autofill you.

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[00:04:54] Eric Goranson: Typically, people took it two or three times to get there, but I had a fair amount of experience. I think [00:05:00] I had eight or nine ex, eight or nine years experience when I took it. So I had been doing it for a long time, so I was pretty experienced. Now here's the thing. I think the uneducated designer is very dangerous.

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[00:05:30] Eric Goranson: And they're out there. And I'll give an example of one of 'em. I'm not gonna say any names, but you'll get, you'll get a clue here of the kind of person that you should be scared of. This person is someone that I saw out in the industry. They did not finish middle school. Now they did have some medical conditions like dyslexia and things like that, I believe.

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[00:06:21] Eric Goranson: And did not have the ability to design a space. Now they could figure out, oh, this back splash will look good, this floor look good, this cabinetry might look good, but no different than maybe your next door neighbor. And that's where I don't want you to pay for something like that. You know, a good designer is going to cost you money, and if someone is giving you free design, Then I, you are paying for design someplace.

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[00:07:13] Eric Goranson: For what they make. So the people that are really good tend to leave the home centers pretty quickly cuz they just don't pay that well. A good kitchen bath designer is a six figure salary and making 40 or $50,000 a year at the big box store usually doesn't pay very well for them. And so the ones that are really good at what they do tend to leave.

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[00:07:57] Eric Goranson: I can usually, if I went in and saw [00:08:00] Craftmade, American Woodmark or Schuler or name the brands out there, I can usually get those cabinets cheaper at a local dealer. Now, the only time. That it might make sense is if that manufacturer or. You know, the, the, the home center has a financing option through their credit card where you can finance, you know, 12 months, same as cash, that kind of stuff.

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[00:08:47] Eric Goranson: I would much rather just know what the design is, what's the design gonna cost? And it could be a few thousand dollars for them to do their work, but you know something, you get to hold them accountable for it as well. And that's the key. And so [00:09:00] really finding out what that design's gonna cost you. If you're spending a few thousand dollars for a, a good designer, that pays for itself really quickly, but keep in mind how many hours you spend with them is up to you.

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[00:09:29] Eric Goranson: And so that's where it gets expensive. Hey, when you come back, I've got so many more tips on hiring a designer. Just as soon as around the house returns, why

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[00:09:56] Eric Goranson: So many people.[00:10:00]

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[00:10:25] Eric Goranson: You can catch it on the podcast, just look for around the House show. And if you want more information about the show or to contact me, head over to around the house online.com and you can do it over there. And if you want to be a part of my TV show, which is around the House Northwest, you can actually go over there and there's a burst page where you could submit a video question showing me your project, and you might end up on my television show.

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[00:11:11] Eric Goranson: There are many ways that the, the payment structure works. Now. A designer is going to charge you someplace cuz they've gotta make money. This is not a nonprofit and this is where I get very concerned. I would much rather see the designer book their services in the contractor, be their own person. So the designer is not marking up.

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[00:12:01] Eric Goranson: As far as you know, license, bond, and insurance. You might not be covered like you think you are, and I'm not an attorney, nor do I pretend to play one on the radio or podcast, but this is where you gotta be very careful. So I if, if they're gonna mark this stuff up or if they're gonna be managing it, I would much rather see you pay for that designer under an hourly rate or if there's a percentage of the project.

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[00:12:48] Eric Goranson: This can be a lot of different issues, and I think the same thing, to be honest, runs with the interior designer buying the product and giving it to the contractor. In getting it to [00:13:00] you who installs it. I would much rather have the contractor purchase the materials or their subcontractors purchase the materials so it's covered.

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[00:13:34] Eric Goranson: Now, in many places, and depending on where you're located, check with your local contracting laws. But in many places, when that contractor goes out and buys it, it's covered under their warranty. They purchase it, they controlled the product, they got it out there, and they installed it. So then that's covered under their umbrella of a warranty.

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[00:14:11] Eric Goranson: All it takes is one temporary service or somebody like that to get hurt. And there's fingers pointed on who's getting the bill for that person. That's why I never want to see you having anybody out there working on a project that is not under someone's license, bond or insurance. Even you as a homeowner grabbing somebody off of Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, or even just a temporary worker, if they're not covered by someone's workers' compensation insurance, guess what?

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[00:14:58] Eric Goranson: So back to that designer. [00:15:00] Now, you know, looking for that certification is key. And here's the number one personality. If you are having a great communication with this des, with this designer. Whether it's a kitchen, a bath, or interior designer or whatever, that personality is key. Can you communicate?

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[00:15:37] Eric Goranson: And so that's the issue there, and make sure that you guys are working solidly together. You're on the same team. Work together. Now, here's one of the things, a little tip as a homeowner where this can get expensive and this is going to end up being your fault if you do this, and I [00:16:00] see this happen 20% of the time out there.

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[00:16:32] Eric Goranson: But if you go out and start getting eight people's opinions, you're going to get 10 different answers. And the problem is, is you are going to take that back to your designer, and that is gonna cost you thousands of dollars as a homeowner. Now you're gonna drive the interior designer crazy, and more importantly, you're gonna make them a lot of money because that hourly wage that you're paying them, whether it's a hundred, 200, $300 an hour, whatever that [00:17:00] price is, You're paying for that like an attorney.

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[00:17:25] Eric Goranson: No, it wasn't the Smith's kitchen. By the time I was back at 13, I was back to the original design and that's what they ended up buying after 13 revisions, which meant I went back and did 13 major design changes. We went back to the original one and that's what it was. And so the original colors, original everything.

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[00:18:04] Eric Goranson: The money they spent on that, they could have put their friends in the nicest hotel in town for days, anytime they came to visit, and it cost 'em more. So now when we come back, we're gonna talk a little bit about some ways that you can take a look and see if you've hired the right designer. Or design firm.

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[00:19:11] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Round the House Show. This is where we hope. You get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. If you're catching us on the radio, don't forget, we do have a podcast. And if you're catching us on the podcast when you're driving around, make sure you're tuning into AM M F M Radio and you can catch around the house Show all across the United States.

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[00:19:47] Eric Goranson: If they're calling themselves a certified interior designer, you know, in Florida, in other states there's certification laws. So make sure you understand what those laws are in your area, and second of all, do some research. I [00:20:00] want you to see how many times this person has been dragged to court. Now in many states with contractors' licenses, you can go see how many complaints there are.

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[00:20:31] Eric Goranson: And they said, Hey, if you wanna pay $750, we'll make you accredited and you'll have an a plus. So I was able, if I paid that money to get an A plus, I talked about it on a radio show up there. And guess what? After that radio show aired, I had an a plus. I've also had people that I know of that are contractors who had a bad rating and they paid to get it accredited and [00:21:00] they had complaints and they got the A plus after buying that.

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[00:21:29] Eric Goranson: If the interior designer or the company they work for has had multiple legal issues where they have been sued or personally sued, that is a red flag. I know design firms out there, you know, and, and guess what? There are always bad customers, like there's bad designers. So having a couple lawsuits isn't something that really makes me nervous, especially if they were taken out of court.

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[00:22:32] Eric Goranson: A contractor, if you've already done your research and you've hired a great contractor, then the biggest. Thing for them is they want someone that's gonna get, get it right and make it easy. So if there's one there that, that your, your contractor know says, here's my designer. Take that with a grain of salt because they are gonna be probably very easy to work with.

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[00:23:18] Eric Goranson: And yes, the designer is gonna hold that contractor accountable. Hey, that wasn't supposed to go like that. That's the designer's job. No question. But if they work well together, that's gonna be better for you and your project. So those two have to be like BFFs in this process. And if they're not getting along to start with during the honeymoon period before construction starts, it is going to get much, much worse.

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[00:24:12] Eric Goranson: Now, some of the other things I want you to look at out there is going to be that designer's continuing education. Little ways to find out, do they go off to the big design shows every year and see the latest products? For instance, have they gone to the design and construction week that's in Las Vegas or Orlando every year?

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[00:25:02] Eric Goranson: So I wanna make sure that they're attending conferences in shows and all of that stuff. That continuing education is one of the biggest parts of finding the right designer, because especially with how technology has been changing from, you know, if you've got a designer that's, oh yeah, I love these lacquer cabinets, guess what?

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[00:25:51] Eric Goranson: So that's where the new products come in and they're gonna start speciali specializing in that. And, uh, they're gonna maybe be on step beyond some of the [00:26:00] older materials and finishes that are gonna give you something more durable. So that is one of the things. And then really the other thing that I really want to to talk about is how they stay on top of industry trends.

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[00:26:30] Eric Goranson: That's, you know, where I think is gonna be important to find the right person. Now, the other thing I wanna look at here too is talking to referrals. How well did the projects go on the previous projects? You know, did these things turn out great? You could see pictures. But today's problem with pictures is, is I can steal anything off any website out there and make myself look like a designer and never have done it.

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[00:27:18] Eric Goranson: And that's okay. You wanna be able to give your name out there as well, and that's gonna be an important one. Well, now when we come back here, I'm gonna talk about, one of the thing is one of the biggest things that you should really take a look at out there. And it's an important one, and I think this is gonna be something that you should be doing in finding out, because your project, many times we don't under budget that project, right?

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[00:28:10] Eric Goranson: Like if I've got somebody that is, uh, gonna work in my condo or my, my townhouse, I wanna make sure that they have. That knowledge of working on those type of things. Because I tell you what, someone that's worked in residential homes, their entire. Career the first time they work on a condo. You're gonna see problems.

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[00:29:04] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Round the House Show. This is where we hope to get the most outta your home through information and education. We've been talking today about my tips to make sure that you've hired the right designer and hiring the right interior designer. Maybe it's kitchen, a bath designer, bath designer, whatever.

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[00:29:50] Eric Goranson: So what I want you to be careful of is hiring a designer that is doing a style that they don't like nor understand. So if you've got this [00:30:00] beautiful mid-century house that you're gonna do something, it's mid-century. I want somebody that has really dove in and handled mid-century before, so I wanna make sure that they understand that style.

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[00:30:43] Eric Goranson: What the max spend is, because here's what I wanna do. If you're being charged by the hour, and if that designer goes beyond whatever hours a week, 20, 30, 40 hours a week, I wanna see in that contract [00:31:00] that you have turned around and have a stop gap in there that says, Hey, I was notified when I hit this benchmark.

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[00:31:39] Eric Goranson: I want to know if we are going beyond the budget. I wanna know, and you should have that notified via email and confirmed receipt and acknowledgement, and I wanna see that in the contract. And of course, follow your state and local laws on what that contract states, [00:32:00] because I wanna solve this before it gets to be ugly.

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[00:32:30] Eric Goranson: The contract. I wanna make sure that you understand what the road ahead looks like, because you're gonna go through the design process, you're gonna do selections, and in this process, things will probably go sideways a little bit at some point, and that's okay. It can go sideways. But how you react, how the design team reacts and how the contractor reacts is what the key is.

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[00:33:23] Eric Goranson: I wanna see the big pieces there. Especially the custom ones before you start, because that takes time. I have a big project on my house I'm gonna do with siding and doors and stuff like that. Do I want to get after it and start doing it? Absolutely. It's my front door here. No, it's a custom made door. It gets here.

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[00:34:04] Eric Goranson: I can't tell you how many times I've seen a semi-truck get flipped over or a container gets flipped over and things get destroyed. These are things that get really difficult. Can't tell you how many times I've seen that happen, where the, the kitchen gets destroyed or the bathroom materials get destroyed on the way there.

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[00:34:39] Eric Goranson: And on top of it, you as a homeowner are going to be very stressed. During this whole time, you have different people coming in your house. You have different people costing you money. You're gonna be worried about, Hey, why isn't somebody working at my house? It's 9:00 AM on a Monday. [00:35:00] And a lot of this has to do with what trades are there and what the schedule is.

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[00:35:24] Eric Goranson: These are those things that are gonna really make your life easier so you don't micromanage it. Now if that contractor or designer says, Hey, I'm gonna have somebody out here at 8:00 AM and it's 10, nobody's there, of course let them know. But just be prepared for that. And if you see something that looks wrong, and I'm not talking the tile tiles half done, but if you see something that looks like that's the wrong color, completely ask, bring it up early, it's easier to fix it than it is to have to start over if you [00:36:00] have to pop some tiles out because they got 10 tiles laid in the shower and they look like the wrong color.

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[00:36:32] Eric Goranson: And that was kind of on you as a homeowner. This is gonna be find someone when in doubt that's local or has the ability to travel and be in your area whenever they can. Because I don't like the online design options out there where you can get a designer online and they're gonna zoom in. I get doing Zoom meetings, but I don't wanna be doing a, have a design project in Philadelphia and have [00:37:00] something from LA or Florida.

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[00:37:24] Eric Goranson: Do they need to be there for rough ends? Probably not. But when materials start going in, yeah, they need to be an active part of that if you are paying them to do that. So start your search in your local area and it's gonna help you on travel anyway, because guess what? If someone has to jump on a plane every time to come see your project and they're gonna be there weekly or biweekly, that's gonna get expensive.

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[00:38:04] Eric Goranson: I will personally respond to everyone over there. So if you head over there and hit the contact us page and you can find it there. And if you are someone that wants to be. A guest on around the house. You can do that over there as well. Just send over there and say, uh, say hey over to around the house online.com.

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[00:38:41] Eric Goranson: We're gonna be talking with Avent and I don't know if you've seen these guys out there. It really popped up, uh, a few years ago and it's the first really, to be honest, designer vent that I've seen out there that makes those air vents, air return vents. And even bathroom accessories look [00:39:00] good. They even have, and I'll give you a little secret here before we talk about it.

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[00:39:24] Eric Goranson: Thanks for tuning in to around the house. I appreciate it.