Ask an Interior Designer: Top Questions Answered by a Pro

It's one thing to want to make changes to your living space. It's another thing to actually plan and execute those changes to create a space you love. That's why so many people hire interior designers to help them remodel and redecorate. These pros have the expertise and experience to go from a vague idea or vision board to a fantastic finished project—all while avoiding mistakes and saving you time.

But what do you need to know before working with an interior designer, and how can you get inspired by their know-how to improve your decorating skills? Here, Bre Hance of Los Angeles design-build company InHance answers our questions and shares her tips and tricks to help you elevate your home to its fullest potential.

Hance: "The role of an interior designer is to help clients create a cohesive look and come up with something creative that they may not have thought of before. I help clients navigate the entire process from A to Z: how to budget correctly, manage the procurement timeline and put designs into production."

Hance: "If you're doing one room, you could DIY it based on inspiration images. But if you're going into a whole home project that's more dynamic and requires different consultants (like an architect or an engineer), you need to hire a designer.

I own a design-build company and I am trained to think about a project holistically. I'm not just a decorator. I add value when you need someone to assemble a team and strategize the most efficient way to run the project. It's not like picking out a rug—you need an expert to give you advice."

Hance: "The very first step with our clients is a design kickoff meeting, which is where they tell us their budget and scope of work. We ask our clients to come prepared to show us any inspirational images that they've collected, and we learn their needs. So it could be a family with little kids and they want everything to be durable and no sharp corners, or it could be a solo athlete and they entertain a lot. It's a meeting of the minds: We get inside their heads to understand their goals."

Hance: "We often ask clients what colors they like, and we do the same thing with patterns. You have to play around with it a bit, but it's definitely got to tug on your heartstrings before you commit.

I always present two options to clients. If we know they don't like color, it might be a subtle color. It may be a white room, but we're accessorizing with color—things like a throw pillow and blanket that are super easy to swap, or a pop of color in a picture frame, or maybe a subtle color and pattern of a rug that adds depth and movement to the room. So experimenting with materials that are easily interchangeable and don't break the bank is one way to do it.

You can also bring color in on hardware. I did a kitchen in Manhattan Beach and the kitchen is an oatmeal-ish color that looks like wood. But I put a hunter-green leather handle on that cabinet. It's the most beautiful pop of color ever, and it's super subtle."

Hance: "Lean in and think about all five walls—that means including the ceiling—or think about all six and do something awesome on the floor. If it's a super small foyer, I would make it the best entrance ever: a fun floor, a big light fixture, wallpaper the walls, put in a big mirror.

A nice mirror makes a space feel bigger, and something on the ceiling also makes it feel bigger. We had a small gym one time and I painted the ceiling black, believe it or not. I remember people going, 'It's going to feel so small'—but it did the opposite.

I have a little third-story room in my house now. It's literally just a little bit of attic space with this really cool sloped ceiling. We call it the jungle room: I did jungle wallpaper on all the walls and the ceiling, and leopard carpet with a red sofa. It's the movie room, and it's awesome. It feels big and so much more impactful. In my opinion, if you don't lean in to a small space, it's going to feel unintentional and small."

Hance: "The earthy organic movement is here to stay. How can you go wrong with a beautiful wood-tone cabinet, right?

I think having your kitchen island a different color is always going to be here. It is trendy, but it's nice to have an accent in your kitchen, especially if you don't want to go bold on your perimeter cabinets.

A trend when it comes to space planning is having an open floor plan. That's not going anywhere. Having defined spaces is one thing, where you have maybe a light fixture anchoring that room or a console table behind a sofa to separate a family room from a dining room. But having compartmentalized drywalled walls in a smaller space is not what people are doing.

In addition to that, the indoor-outdoor vibe is huge, especially in California. It's a little different in hot places like Arizona: I've created some projects where we have huge bifold doors that go from a family room to the outdoor space. Or I did a house in Austin, where there are a lot of bugs, so it's more like creating a sunroom or solarium. But that indoor-outdoor concept seems to be a desirable feature for everybody."

Hance: "Plan it all together—don't piecemeal it. If you hire a designer, even if you're not going to implement all the rooms at the same time, plan it together.

Cohesive does not mean matchy-matchy. I think that's a common misconception: People think, 'My house is cohesive because every room looks the same.' Some people want a neutral palette across the board and that's the style. But if you're doing it yourself, a misconception is that every room needs to match. I'm a big believer in every room having its own personality.

It's more about pieces complementing each other. So if I'm standing in a corner of my primary bedroom and my sight line goes to the family room, maybe I see wood beams that match a wood piece in my primary and it flows—it feels harmonious. Always stand back, pay attention to your sight lines and what's in the background and see how it works."

Hance: "We're mindful of not having too much waste. There's not a ton of garbage at the end, like overbuying on tile or lumber and then there's nothing you can do with it afterwards. You can get a plumbing fixture that doesn't waste a lot of water. And we have a lot of people putting solar panels on their roofs now, which obviously helps with their electric bills."

Hance: I have a hashtag I use: #LoveWhereYouLive. It really came out over COVID when I couldn't see my clients. I interviewed past clients on what they loved about what I brought to their spaces, and it showed me how special it is to have the opportunity to create someone's sanctuary. It's a huge responsibility. Your home is where you reset, where you build so many of your memories. I get to play a little part in my clients' journey with that, and it's pretty exceptional for me."

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