I have a friend who is a designer. I have since moved away and we still work together. Everything is done through phone, pictures, online, and her sending me samples. Tons of people worked this way during COVID. Maybe for $2,000 you work with her from a distance and fly her out during the process once?

I was quoted $280/hour and I live in NYC. A per room minimum can have so many factors in it, hard to compare. Talk to two other people near you to get a wide range of rates in your area.

I would try to work with your friend. She knows you and you have worked together before. Ask for her current rate.

What is the designer doing for you for $4,000.00?

I need a lot more info as to what you are wanting the designer for? A per space pricing is alien to me so more info please.

Walk away. Doesn't matter if that's what THEY do where you are...it's not what you are willing to pay and no way would there be $4Kworth when done. WALK AWAY WALK AWAY.

My sister has used a stager which was much less expensive, and suited what she needed to have done. She was very happy with their advice on wall colours, room arrangement etc. Her prior experience with decorators was that they pushed her to purchase expensive "you'll have it forever" furniture which still didn't last (think wobbly dining chair legs, fabrics that showed wear quickly etc.).

Clarifying your questions - $4000 is the base right for her time in coming to see my space, measuring and picking out pieces, colors, fabrics, ordering and managing delivery and staging. But somehow I still feel like this should be charged hourly and without knowing how many hours she will actually need to spend seems like a very high place to start. Yes, I will be spending additional for any furniture and other items I buy based on her work.

So this looks like a flat fee for a full-service design project, from soup to nuts, for her time to complete the project. When she leaves, you will have a fully furnished room that she has planned, organized, ordered, and followed up on. If you assume an hourly rate of $200, which is quite reasonable, then she's spending 20 hours, which is not that much time for all that work.

If she charged you by the hour, you still wouldn't know exactly how much time she would be expending, and the project could easily be a lot more than $4,000.

There's also the issue of how long it takes a client to make a decision. Let's say she brings you several fabrics for a sofa, and you don't like any of them, how many times does she go back to find one that you like? If she charges you by the hour, you'll be paying a lot more for your indecision. So bottom line, it sounds like a pretty good deal.

However, you don't have to hire her. If you're uncomfortable and rather pay by the hour, then perhaps find another designer whose fee schedule is more in line with what you feel is fair and can live with.

"There's also the issue of how long it takes a client to make a decision. Let's say she brings you several fabrics for a sofa, and you don't like any of them, how many times does she go back to find one that you like?"

There's the rub. Now...... couple that with this:

"I just want the best looking home I can have, for the least amount of money"

That is the all too frequent answer to "do you have a budget in mind?"

Structuring a fee has become the bane of life for designers .

You are paying for experience, for art, for the "eye" - it isn't just shopping. That is a meandering task of I have no specific goal, I'm wandering.

The designer already knows what she wants. She knows why. Now she has to source it, apply it to the "imaginary" budget, give you some options. Lets use a lamp as example. You see her selection, you approve. You Google search it. You find a lower price online! You tell her.....

One question here:

How did you know to Google THAT particular lamp, and yes I ask.... rhetorically.

: ) : ) : ) How did you know?

Find a designer whose fees align with your budget. One who makes the terms clear and understandable. One whose taste level you trust, and someone you like and can talk to.

If that is your friend? Do that. Technology has made all things possible for a skilled designer. The distance has little to do with it, assuming the ability to work with your trades , remain organized and in communication with you, and all others involved.

Have since moved too far to still ask her to help.

FaceTime!

"But somehow I still feel like this should be charged hourly and without knowing how many hours she will actually need to spend seems like a very high place to start."

Have the conversation. Ask the questions you are asking here. No one can answer them but the designer. As Diana noted above it may end up being a bargain but you will not know if you do not have the conversation. If the designer cannot answer or explain properly and to your satisfaction, then you move.

No answers to questions no help here . We are totally in the dark about even the space yiu want the designer for. If you want to pay by the hour get a designer tha charges that it for sure will not be $50/ hour . I think call your friend instead of here with no info

Further, if you are doing a kitchen or bath, then the stakes are much higher than if you're just redecorating a bedroom, living room, or dining room. Plan to spend even more than $4K for those spaces.

I only design for kitchens, baths, new construction and remodels. I do not offer decorating design. I require a minimum $5000k non-refundable flat fee regardless the size of the project. This covers the first 28 hours. After 28 hours, I charge an hourly fee of $180. I always provide an estimated total number of hours up front, but it is just an estimate and the final number may end up lower or higher than my estimate. My client is still required to pay for the actual number of hours, even if it exceeds the estimate. I also charge a 20% markup on any goods sold, but oftentimes the builders purchase all materials, not me.

There is no consensus among designers on what/how to charge. Some believe in flat fees, others like me are more comfortable with hourly. Finding a designer whose process and fee structure aligns with your expectations is just as important as finding one with an aesthetic you like. So you should interview a number of designers to find the right fit.

I actually just posed this topic in a case study for my Accounting class. In addition to being a designer, I am a CPA and teach Accounting at a local college. The students had to cost out a custom curtain order, which, as I told them, was the easy part. Then they had to decide how much to charge the client. It made for a lively debate. Each one of them had a different viewpoint and good reasons for their choice. And so it goes--ask 10 designers how they charge their clients, and you'll get 10 answers!

Thank you all for your responses, this is very helpful. I really do need to have someone local as I got some pieces from my friend, who really does a great job, but although they looked great on paper they didn’t fit well in real life. I think this boils down to am I comfortable with $200 an hour because I’m certain she will spend at least 20 hours on my space. Some things to mention - my space isn’t empty. I do have some pieces I am keeping such as my couch which is 2 years old, and tables. So she will not start from scratch but rather have to find things to fit with what I’ve started.

The best question?

Can you afford not to have a designer?

Yup…. you read that correctly:)

I’ll now hide under the desk , lol

If all you want help with is picking furniture, colors, and furnishings, try Havenly or one of the other online services. The limitations there are that they will only use certain vendors. If you are looking for super high end, fancy, or unique/antique furniture, it wouldn't be for you. But if you use Pottery Barn or Wayfair, for example, they use those stores (and a ton more). I have a designer at Havenly that I've now used for my master bedroom, guest room, entry, dining room and living room. I've been very happy.

I absolutely think there is a strong ROI on working with a designer - that said, like every professional they're not a fit with every client -

if it were me, I might be a little nervous to spend $4k on my very first project with a designer. I'd be tempted to have them help with a smaller project first (same hourly rate just fewer hours) and make sure you're a good team. If you're a good team, then the investment in their time and expertise will be SO worth it!

Very good point, la_la Girl.

Also find out how detailed (transparent) their billing is. The first designer I used was smoke-and-mirrors with her billing. I would get monthly invoices for $1,500 and all it would say is Designer Services. One bill had $600 for researching tile for a fireplace in that Designer Services bill, which I never agreed to or even gave her the job ... we had talked about it as a future potential project and she decided to start billing me! Padding bills is not a good long term business strategy!

We parted ways and I found someone that billed hourly, was very detailed and would list the time spent on the different functions she was performing. Never questioned her time or billing practices, because she was transparent with the information.

That's a terrible business model, chispa. When you bill by the hour, you need to be meticulous about your records. Logging in your hours and describing what you did is essential to presenting the client with a detailed invoice for services. You need to be honest and open about how you bill clients.

Billing by the hour is THE single biggest pain the "arse" , and it is that for several reasons.

The first? Designer finds a lamp in 20 min, it's perfect, it is gorgeous. It is also going to set the client back 600.00 after a 20% discount, but it works in the total budget. Client balks. Designer pleads and finally goes back to drawing board......not one lamp is as perfect, has the look, quality, size/scale proportion anything close. Takes designer 3 hrs of time at 150.00 to return with two really decent options, and client says,...... "ohhhhh okay you're right, I really like the first a lot better!! "

WTH!!!!! NOW WHAT?

Because that designer now has a 450.00 effort into the damn 600.00 lamp she sourced in 20 min., and she should do what?

Full transparency my ass. In the interest of relationship, in fairness, I'm going to give that client NO discount on something else, and probably let half the 450.00 go to the circular file of real time lost.

So.......do you want to pay for good merchandise, appropriate to your budget and trust the designer? Or do you want to pay her for spinning wheels.

Are you going to argue about her profit and Google every item sourced and announce " "Hey! I found that for less!" Because after decades of experience, billing for time punishes the designer unless she raises those rates to the moon and you won't love that either.! She is faster, better than any less expensive "newbie" you could ever hire!

Here's another, real life:

Designer has neurotic who suffers incredible difficulty with decision. Every single thing is a delay and hand wring. Designer is tracking, pushing him, and miracle of miracles pushes him to a phenomenal result he adores. He lives luxuriously, has much largess ......is a solid citizen type , and she has no worries as to getting paid. She invoices merchandise through process, she does not invoice hours. Why? Because she knows it will stall him and the project DEAD in the water. At completion and much happiness, she bills the hours and as FULLY expected? He freaks. On the 30th day, he pays in full, no questions asked on an invoice where the designer has let a full 15% of her time go to the trash can of lost time because the hand wring was so unnecessary as were delays, back tracking ad nauseam.! He doesn't speak to designer for eight mos. She takes it in stride, knows exactly what is going on, invites him to dinner at xmas season. What happens?

All is good and more project / ensues that very evening. Why?

Because that designer, over a drink, chided that man into an acknowledgement of exactly what his neuroses were ..........and they were not going to change. He was $$ gifted by me, and get a GRIP ON IT, FOR GODS SAKE!! : )

WALK A MILE in our shoes lol

I'll add. I adore the guy. Great mind, great humor, great taste. Just..........neurotic.

Try being shrink, financial advisor, cajoler in chief. Source it, invoice it, track your time, check the deliveries, the back orders, deadly surprises, install it, push all the other folks involved to deliver the desired result.

I guarantee you, there will be many days when you'd be better off with a mop at Burger King.

I get what you are saying, Jan, but every service business at one time or another "eats" hours. When I was in public accounting we had a "budget" for the number of hours necessary to complete an audit. Woe was the accountant who went over the time allotted for any task. You'd never get promoted and probably let go if it became a habit. So if it took you 5 hours to do 3-hour job, you billed 3 hours and let the rest go. Munch, munch, yum.

Unfortunately, in addition to the problems accountants face, being an interior designer or decorator is considered a "fun" job by most people. So there is the expectation that you should WANT to do a lot of your work for nothing. It's so much fun, right? And yes, you are also a marriage counselor, financial advisor, and cajoler in chief.

In the case of clients dragging their feet on decisions, hourly billing can be a deterrent. Charging 5 hours @$200 for a $150 lamp becomes a burden after a few times. Making that point upfront could avoid the problem.

Oh...... trust me, Diana. No amount of explanation does the job. Wish it did: )

It's the very reason "design venues" such as Havenly exist. They are NOT design, they are styling venues/ stylists. You pay them some money, and they source the stuff from the ready to go places like Pottery Barn, Wayfair etc and get it delivered to you and tell you where to place it. It sounds the same, it is nowhere NEAR the same.

I do not want to get dramatic. But it's what I might call the soulless approach. No real relationship formed, not very personal. At its best, a designer and his/her client is much more than the "stuff" that went into making a thrill at the finish.

The very reason I say to clients: "It's an abstract until the joy happens for you". Call it magic, call it whatever you like. Magic is often a really great word.

My experience is that the likelihood of thrill/joyfulness is not in direct proportion to the amount spent on the decorator's consultation fees. $200 per hour is too rich for my taste. YMMV.

I understand partim, but less than $200/hour may not be worth the effort for some designers.

Diana Bier I agree, designers will charge what they feel they are worth and what their customers are willing to pay. But a designer who charges less may do good work too. If the OP feels this is out of her price range, she should look for someone less expensive who may suit her needs well. It's not a choice between $200 an hour or do-it-yourself. I suggest she interview more than one person anyway. It's a lot of money to spend and she should have some choices, not take the first one she finds.

It's a relationship, no matter the designer fee.

Nobody is out to get you, rare does a newbie come out of a design school commanding 200.00 an hour unless he or she would already have significant "connections" : )

Designers aren't out to get you, and are very considerate of your spend, along with the fact they are plying a craft that earns them a living. A life that comes will bills identical in nature to yours . Not different than the pricing available on any consumer goods? Pick your flavor, but don't expect a Chevy to provide identical everything as a Lexus or Mercedes.

The good relationship at any budget, even one with luxury limits? .......case in point below, my comment on a thread regarding bargains.

" In the process of hunting "refreshers" for a few guest bedrooms where I have certainly blown the budget in the home of my man client?

I truck home these just yesterday: )

Chair w/ottoman from Pearson!! in blue/white ticking, a super comfy club with a companion white duck slipcover, expertly custom made and tailored both pieces. ( consignment dicker sticker, lol)

600.00

Two marble base 3 way lamps, perfect deep green. Home sense, marked down.

58.00 both

Side table with green top, iron base, for next to bed. Adorable

49.00

Two darling light blue toss pillows, scalloped edge with a little white trim .

29.99

Two brass candlestick lamps for another room

150.00 both

TADA!!!!!!!!!! CHAIR, OTTOMAN, 4 LAMPS, 2 PILLOWS 887.00.

All of which was on the heels of a Hickory Chair leather classic English arm leather, tight back sofa on Saturday, jammed down the tonsils of a new client whose hubby has not made it to bed all week as he's so comfy he's falling asleep on it, great " Coach handbag" warm color

1800.00 ( was in consign for a year, and I watched it go 3800.00, 2800.00, 1800.00)

In short? A very good week : )"

Do I do this if you beat me up at every turn, wondering if you are getting screwed in some way?

No...................I do not.. It's a relationship, and it involves two, each considerate of the other.

Jan, I am so impressed with the scores you made on those eight items. All of that, and with your eye for design and quality, for less than $900. I know it doesn't always work out that way but you must have had/should have had a very happy client! And the leather sofa sounds providential. A satisfied hubby makes future buys so much easier for a lucky wife. 😊

"less than $200/hour may not be worth the effort for some designers." Gee really??? The rest of us manage on waaay less than half that per hour!!! What arrogance!!!

If you only need a furniture layout plan, it will be inexpensive. But if you need a full 3D-Visualization with makimalnym realism, the prices will be from 3000$. In 3D rendering studio you can specify the exact price https://render-vision.com/ 

@jayapple21

I love a score ! : ) Multiple scores are even better.

To be clear on all else as it relates to this thread; what designers charge, what SHOULD designers charge, should you have a designer, can you afford same , at what level of fee and service, is it worth it and ............we could go on.

Lets! Should it be hourly, are you entitled to a designers discount and how much. What SHOULD the designer earn?

It is not for you or anyone other than that designer, to decide.

You may decide the fee/service is not "worth it" to you. You are the decider in that regard, and only that regard.

The one thing that is true,( at least it is from this desk)?

The incomprehensible attention to detail, hand holding and reassurance, to bring a client joy, to manage and remove the stress, make that build or remodel or simple room design go as efficiently as is humanly possible?

You've no idea : )

It's not arrogance, arcy, it's just a fact of life. Jan's right, many designers will charge a lot less, and many charge more than that. Everyone has the choice of hiring a designer or not. Deciding what they want to pay, what price level is worth it to them. Clearly the OP was questioning the value of spending $4,000 at the outset. After she finds out what is included, she will make her decision, the decision that's right for her--there's no right or wrong.

And the designer has the choice of how much work she wants/needs and what she wants to be paid. That's not arrogant, it's just being practical. If she really needs the work, she may lower the price. If her alternatives are more lucrative, then she can afford to require a higher rate.

It's a basic economic principle in a free market--the right price is what a willing buyer and a willing seller will agree on. If they can't agree, then they walk away.

"less than $200/hour may not be worth the effort for some designers." Gee really??? The rest of us manage on waaay less than half that per hour!!! What arrogance!!!

Remember that an hourly fee applies to billable hours only. Designers are not guaranteed a 40-hour work week. I'm a very busy firm with about 18-20 projects happening at any given time, and I only average about 20-25 billable hours a week. The rest of the time is spent running a business...accounting, marketing, CEU classes, dealing with problems or mistakes, etc.

People who do not own their own businesses have no idea of the overhead that businesses pay. $200 an hour is not a 400K a year income, like it would be if you worked for a soul sucking bureaucratic company. A designer billing $200 an hour is extremely lucky to have a 100K actual income. Most will not. That isn’t how rough billing numbers work. Not at all.

The $50 an hour dilettante who has ”good taste”, and who has the breadwinner spouse, is who ruins the design experience for people seeking professional design help. That is not a professional designer, needing an income, working a real business, and who is driven to successfully create happy clients. Insta clicks and ”influencer” status is not a successful business. $50 is not even making any money, by the time even minimal overhead is accounted for. Which is why the Havenly business types are predatorily abusing design students on foreign shores.

There is a lot of envy packed into that statement. It is jealously wishing there was enough disposable income to live the kind of life that hires $600 an hour designers. Because $200 an hour is not that expensive for a designer in the real world. Just take a look at a The Expert for multiple $2000 per 55 minute session designers. https://www.theexpert.com/consultations/find-an-expert/jennalyons

Most designers could not afford to hire themselves.

Rent for office, office furniture and supplies, utilities and internet, subscriptions to necessary computer programs and accounting software, trade membership fees, business insurance, health insurance, accounting fees, legal fees, credit card transaction fees, etc. These are all things I pay as a designer who works completely on my own. When I had ten employees? I'm sure you can imagine the overhead.

"The only thing more overrated than owning your own business is the joy of natural childbirth".

I bought my home (2000 sf, 2 br, 2 ba, 10 rooms total)

I knew I would be renovating end to end. I owned almost all the furniture I would need (needed a sofa and a mattress).

I wanted some advice and guidance . . . ideas to consider. I called around and couldn't find anyone willing to do just a consultation.

Same thing with landscape designers.

I landed on Houzz and got tons of great advice and when I went to buy my sofa the store had a couple of designers on staff and one came to my house, measured the room, discussed how I should set up the room and what style, color and size sofa I would need. They charged $150.00 that I got back when I made a purchase through their store. If I bought my sofa somewhere else I would have been out the $150,00.

I understand. The consultation wasn't worth the time for those designers with an established business and customers who could pay for all the work that goes along with the job.

As in most businesses a designer will make 80% of their income from 20% of their clients and I was not part of the 20% that they need to focus on.

I was grateful for the assistance I got from the furniture store designer.

I'm happy for you Jennifer. The problem now is that many of the brick-and-mortar furniture stores are closing up, so that option may not exist for too much longer.

""The only thing more overrated than owning your own business is the joy of natural childbirth".

There are days I want to like that comment ten thousand times and just as many days when I believe I should get on my knees to thank God and the heavens above........with these words: )

"You're fired !! "

The joy? I get to say them. I'm not the recipient.

Diana, this is one of many issues that were not so problematic when we had a stronger middle class. As we get more and more disparity, you either are in the class that can afford most anything or the class that has no option.

I'll disagree on many fronts.

There is no law on the books anywhere, that says you have the god given right to professional interior design. Just as you do not have the right to more home than you can afford, or more car, or more vacations, luxury clothing and handbags, or anything else.

In this free society? You are free to buy a little less square footage, free to not insist on a forever home when you are thirty two years old.

You are free to live with some imperfections, and save money until you make a home your dream.

You can buy hours of consulting from many pro designers. Will you get your hand held through the entire process? No. But you certainly might get a good kitchen plan you can execute or a room arrangement that works for you. You can read and you can learn, as so many who frequent this site would tell you!

The word "entitlement" comes to mind here as well. After you don't know how MANY years of three careers, inclusive of this endeavor - I know one thing. You can work, you can slave, you can save money, invest money, and you decide how much. There will always be someone with more. There will always be someone with less. The economy will go up and down as will investments. As a friend used to quip?

" We all work the same number of hours. Some do a lot of it at the beginning, and some work to the bitter end" You can study to be a brain surgeon, or a bar hop. I am neither. Most of us aren't lol

We've lost the art and pleasure of gratefulness. Many many things in this life are far more important than an interior and despite this line of work , I know that for fact.

Do you need a tombstone that reads .........

"She had such a fabulous home!" or do you want something else: )?

Jan I agree with some of your points. Having the most beautiful home in the world won't make you a better person or a happier person.

"In this free society? You are free to buy a little less square footage, free to not insist on a forever home when you are thirty two years old."

I often look at posts on Houzz and think - these people do not have a clue. They just bought a home and feel like they have to rip out a perfectly functional kitchen because it has arched doors on the cabinets. I know so many families that would be tickled pink if they had that nice of a kitchen.

I know too many families that are food insecure and will never own a home.

I know too many retired people who have lost their homes. Too many who have to choose between paying the property tax and getting medical care or sometimes eating vs getting medical care.

I don't want to live in a socialist society like the 1970s USSR where everyone is given the government assigned housing with the white refrigerator mass produced for government assigned housing.

I also don't want to live in a society where the only people who can afford a home is the top 1% and the rest of society works to make them wealthy.

We are not there yet, but as of the second quarter of 2021, the top 1% of Americans by income had an aggregate net worth of $36.2 trillion, edging out the aggregate net worth of the middle 60% of $35.7 trillion. That's the first time the total wealth of the top 1% has been higher than the middle 60% since the Federal Reserve began tracking this data in 1989:

In 2020 the top 1% of Americans added $4 trillion to their wealth — more than the total amount of wealth that the bottom 50% of Americans held that year.

From 1943 to 1973, the typical American family would double their income around every 23 years. But over the past five decades, that amount of time has lengthened to 100 years.

Retired workers received an average Social Security check of $1,830.66 in February 2023. That translates to $21,967.92 a year. The average out-of-pocket limit for Medicare Advantage enrollees is $4,835 for in-network services.

HUNGER QUICK FACTS FOR 2022

• Overall: One in 8 households (12.8 percent) experienced food insecurity, or lack of access to an affordable, nutritious diet. An estimated 44.2 million Americans lived in these households.
• One in 20 (5.1 percent) households in the U.S. experienced very low food security, a more severe form of food insecurity, where households report regularly skipping meals or reducing intake because they could not afford more food.
• Children: Over 1 in 6 households with children (17.3 percent) experienced food insecurity, an increase of 40 percent compared to 2021.

These numbers are not right. It should not just be the top 1% or 10% or 25% that can live in relative comfort. Shouldn't the top 75% live without worry. Not fancy, but okay.

"In 2020, 96% of the US households owned at least one television set. As of 2019, the number of television sets in the average U.S. household was 2.3.

" About 97% of Americans owned a feature phone or smartphone in 2022, compared to 81% in 2015.Dec 12, 2023"
..........................
AND I WILL STOP THERE: )

Other than to add it would be nice to not create food deserts via riots and lawlessness that moves the very businesses needed for comfortable living and nutritious food out of the neighborhoods who need them desperately.

It would be nice to really read our laws - such as the one that allows an EBT card user to buy garbage frozen chicken fingers, but disallows a roasted prepared chicken to a working single mom trying to feed her kids!

No one will argue that food insecurity exists, nor poverty.

None of them are thinking about getting an interior designer, any more than this designer is running out to shop for a center entrance Georgian Colonial. : )

This might get lost in the direction this post has gone but I wanted to say…
I just used an interior designer for the first time on a project. She charged 15% the total project cost, including an up charge on all items she selected and purchased. We used her GC. It was a full remodel by my standards but I was trying to limit waste as much as possible, keep what was good, etc. and we were clear on that from the beginning. She was up for the challenge, and I knew from her portfolio that she had completed projects like this before. If I sourced something myself she did not add that to the project cost for her fee calculation.
I felt the pricing was very fair. I had been following her Instagram for 3 years, and I knew her style and personality would be a great fit for mine and my project. After wasting so much time and money on former projects I completed myself, I felt hiring a designer would be worth it, and I was absolutely correct. I learned a lot about my own style and how much I don’t know about design. I learned where to spend money and where to save. It was an awesome experience.
Designers are certainly not one size fits all. Make sure the designer shares your design aesthetic and philosophy. Make sure the fee seems fair to you. An hourly fee made me uncomfortable, and I’m glad she worked with me on that. Designers are supposed to make the process less stressful, and if that’s not happening, it’s not a great fit. Also, I pushed back very little on her recommendations, because she’s the pro, and that was hugely beneficial because the project turned out just right!

Jan - Your saying that people below poverty level shouldn't own a mobile phone or that somehow owning a phone makes them not needy? Why would someone need to have a cell phone? Maybe they would like to be able to call 911 when their child is choking. Maybe they need to be able to call social services or a prospective employer. Maybe the person who is homeless needs a way to communicate with their family to find a couch to sleep on. How does a school reach you when your child is ill if you have no phone. Do you think they use a messenger service to go to your home and tell in person? This is a ridiculous comparison.

As for Televisions - Do you think the people who are worried about having enough money to pay for food are going out and buying brand new televisions? Did you ever think that maybe someone gave them a TV when they got a bigger, better TV? Maybe they owned a TV before they lost their job or before food prices went through the roof.

You painting this picture of people who are too lazy to work and sit at home watching TV and talking on the phone all day and don't care about improving their lives or finding a way to get out of poverty.

I have a friend who I met about 15 years ago. Her and her husband had both worked their whole lives and had saved enough money to buy horse property where they could board other people's horses and make a profit and live their dream retirement. I boarded my horses there when I lived in California. Then the housing crash hit. People abandoned their horses, stopped paying their board and they were stuck with feeding the animals. Their property was upside down and they were struggling to pay their mortgage. They have been fighting to keep their home since 2008. They split their home into 4 apartments and the rentals were just enough to cover the mortgage, but just this past summer they lost 2 of their renters and were having a hard time finding new renters. Christina is 78 years old. I haven't been able to reach her by phone since November. I looked on the internet and found that the house was foreclosed on and is now on the market. I know she didn't know what she and her husband were going to do. She had no money and no place to go and she was terrified of being homeless.

I have another friend who retired early because her son had cancer and was dying and she needed to take care of him. Her SO (not the boy's dad) left because he couldn't handle the stress. They sold the home and she took her 1/2 the profits of the sale and bought a smaller place, but still had to take on a hefty mortgage. She makes it month over month only because she took on a part time job stocking shelves. She is over 70, has terrible arthritis and has so much pain that she cries when were on the phone in the evening, but it is the only work she has been able to find and her pension and SS barely cover the mortgage, taxes and insurance for the house and her car, so if she wants to eat she has to work.

In May another friend of mine is coming to stay with me and we are going to try to find her a small job and an apartment she can afford. My home town has some pretty good charitable programs for seniors. I met her at work back in 2006. She was an administrative assistant, but she had a heart attack and died while sitting in the emergency room waiting area. They rushed her to a treatment room and shocked her to bring her back to life. She lost her short term memory and couldn't remember what anyone said to her for more than a few minutes. Needless to say, the company we worked for found a way to fire her. The government deemed her partially disabled and granted her a whopping $800.00 a month disability payment. She went from living in a nice apartment to renting a room in someone else's house for $500.00 a month. Her car payment is $200 a month and insurance and gas for the care takes more than the last $100. She gets work acting as a companion for older people. She gets food stamps and goes to the food bank so that she has enough to eat.

My best friend passed away and her husband couldn't keep up with the mortgage and lost their home to foreclosure. She died at age 45. They didn't plan on either one having to pay the mortgage on a single income.

Yes, all of these people had or have cell phones and televisions. (my best friends husband died a couple of years ago). None of the others are making it without struggles that I can't imagine having to go through at my age, much less well into my 70s.

I can tell you many other stories of people I know who are struggling just to make ends meet. They are all good people who worked hard and didn't deserve what life brought. They simply had bad luck.

So please explain to me what having a TV or a cell phone has to do with being food insecure or homeless or unable to pay for medical care. Maybe you shouldn't judge so harshly without walking a mile in their shoes.

Environmental causes, medical tragedy, and a million other reasons can factor into poverty. I'm not even going to attempt to list them.

Go back to one thought and back on track:

Many many designers could not afford their own FEE. Could not afford the homes, multiple homes, and the projects they routinely manage.

Despite catering quite routinely to the rich or incredibly fortunate, most do not suffer envy at the end of any work day for their client's homes or anything else they may enjoy. We come home, kick off our shoes like anyone else.

My dad would have split a gut laughing if mom had ever even entertained the idea of a "designer", but he was thrilled when I did their kitchen refresh, free naturally!

We veered : )

The title of the thread was

"Cost of an interior designer?"

To which the answer is: the fee structure you find agreeable and that pairs with all else you want/need from said designer.

It's a service as varied as any other, and as wide a selection as products on the grocery shelves. So too the fee structures, experience level, talents, tastes, styles, personalities of those who ply the trade.

Well said, Jan, and thanks for bringing the discussion back on track!