I recently had an experience with an interior designer (my first) that really bothered me. I'm wondering if I violated some code of interior design etiquette that I was unaware of. When a designer comes to a home for an on-site color consult, are you not supposed to write anything down?

She mentioned at the store, when she sold me the consult, that she would tell me to grab a notebook and pen during the in-home visit and that she "doesn't always do that," and then when she arrived I wonder if she had forgotten she had told me that. At the end of the hour she mentioned that I had written everything down so she would just take a picture of my notes with her phone (which I felt was a little invasive actually--I might have written down anything on that page during the hour that she was there--and I might not have caught all the paint names--I didn't know that I was responsible for that, I am just a note-taker by nature.) The cost was $90 and I handed her a $100 bill and she did not offer change. I could have asked, but it wasn't worth it for $10. But it still did not feel right. I'm on a budget.

She told me to pick up materials at the store afterwards and after two attempts I finally got them but then she didn't give me anything written afterwards--just a bunch of paint samples with no notations about which colors were for which spaces. Is that normal? Hopefully I saved my scribbled notes! I expected something typed up and I'm pretty sure she mentioned that a few times (I'll just type all this up and put it together) but not 100% sure.

She did not seem to enjoy the visit and she made me feel small for not having more money to spend. Is that just an artistic personality who is offended by seeing poorly decorated or undecorated spaces (my house)? That I get.

But I feel like it was also $. I was clear from the outset with her what the situation was (starting from scratch). The consult was a mother's day gift from my mom and I didn't say that but I let her know this was a big deal for me.

Other possibilities: the house was picked up and uncluttered for her to view. No kids, no pets, no dangerous entryways, no dirty dishes, a very appreciative customer---what was the problem? I only come back to the notebook and the fact that I am starting from scratch without a pile of money to spend.

Aside: designers, please treat all of your customers with respect and encouragement, not disdain. If you can't do that don't take on customers who aren't going to have the budget you want to work with, in fairness to the customer.

But if there is something that I did wrong from the part I described, please let me know. I would like to have professional design help in the future and I'd feel much more comfortable asking for it if I know what transgression I made this time!