Being an interior decorator is a tough gig; creativity is your lifeblood, it’s your bread and butter, it’s how you sell yourself: “I’m creative! But instead of using acrylic paints, canvases and smelling faintly of turpentine, I use fabric swatches, colour cards and I love a good throw!”

But because creativity is a subjective, rather mysterious talent – “it just came to me!”-people are either sceptical of interior decorators, or they have unrealistic expectations that leave them feeling disappointed when they aren’t met (“I hired an interior decorator and all I got was this lousy ottoman!”).

So we’ve compiled a list of five reasons why you should hire an interior decorator; whatever side of the fence you’re on.

A Visual Storyteller: interior decorators are trained to think differently, spatially, and notice things you may not. For instance, you want to make sure you have the proper placement of floor outlets and lighting if you’re going to have your living room sofa floating in the middle of the floor – would you have thought of that? Because an interior decorator would have!
Professional Assessment: An interior decorator can give you an assessment of your home, which can help you put together a solid action plan and determine a budget.
Save You Money: Once you and your decorator have determined your budget and put together an action plan, they stick to it! They don’t go on a frenzied shopping spree with the credit card you keep hidden in the sock drawer in case of emergencies.
Wide Availability of Resources: that old saying: it’s not what you know, it’s who you know – totally applies here. Interior decorators hob knob with suppliers, daily, so they’re able to source items and pieces not widely available to the general public; also saving you time and money.
Home Sale: A well decorated home will fetch a better sale-price, and faster. In fact, for those homes that look like cyclone Tracey just ripped through them, real estate agents will often employ an interior decorator to get the home up-to-scratch before it goes on the market.

As much as we all like to think we’re multi-talented, sometimes we’ve just got to face facts: we’re not. Your home is your biggest asset; it makes sense to invest in a professional to help you decorate your home to ensure it’s functional, aesthetically and otherwise.