Long gone are the days when only those with very deep pockets are the ones turning to interior designers to mastermind their homes. Enter consultancy – a service that has, no doubt, existed in an informal way for some time, but which has taken on a whole new power in the past few years thanks to an increasing number of designers offering consultancy services. Hour-long slots can be booked at the click of a button through websites such as Jake Arnold’s The Expert, which gives potential clients access to an impressive array of designers, while many high-street brands, including Ikea and John Lewis offer their own in-house consultancy service. And that’s not to mention the increasing number of designers who see consultancy as an integral part of their business model, balancing out a few major end-to-end design projects with many more quick-fire consultancy sessions, aimed at equipping you with the power to transform your house.
‘It’s about holding someone’s hand and giving them the confidence to trust their instincts,’ explains interior designer Nicola Harding, who alongside offering a full interior design service, also offers regular consultancy sessions on an hourly or daily basis, either remotely or in person at her studio. Consultancy, she suggests, is ideal for those who want to have a go themselves. ‘Interior design is a bit like cooking was in the 1970s when it used to be something only chefs did, before Delia Smith started doing it in her kitchen,’ she reasons. ‘Interior design used to be the same and you needed designers for their little black book, but it’s a lot less mysterious now,’ adds Nicola, who shares a Pinterest board with consultancy clients after their session as a visual representation of what they’ve discussed. Designer Anna Haines, who offers one or two hour-long consultancy sessions a week through The Expert, agrees: ‘consultancy makes design much more available and allows people to get the expert eye and opinion that any good project needs,’ she explains. ‘Within an hour, you want to help someone resolve any issues and empower them to go away and infuse their project with the ideas you’ve discussed,’ she adds. ‘Consultancy is all about being as productive and helpful as possible.’
So why is it that consultancy is proving quite so tantalising an option today? And is it likely to take on even more weight in our industry? A huge driver is the cost. While consultancy still represents a significant investment – Nicola is £700 an hour, for instance, and designers on The Expert can be anything from £500 to £1300 an hour – it is still a fraction of what a full interior design service would cost. It also puts the power on the client to make the final choice on pieces and finishes that sit within their budget, while also still having that all-important seal of approval from a designer. Consultancy is a particularly appealing option in our current cost-of-living crisis, Nicola points out, because it means clients can tackle projects bit by bit in a way that works with their finances. ‘It’s a really attractive offering, because you can tackle something in manageable, bite-sized chunks,’ explains Nicola. Clients might sign up for a one-hour session to begin with and then six months later, when funds and enthusiasm allow, sign up for another session.
For a client, the benefits of having an hour or so with a designer to work through the furniture and lighting plan for a room or devise a kitchen layout are huge. Consultancy allows clients to hone in on the particular area they need help with, ranging from paint colours for a couple of rooms or the overall plan for the entire downstairs of a house. ‘It’s about unlocking sticking points and pointing you in the right direction,’ explains Nicola. Sometimes, it is just a matter of a designer suggesting that you put your dining table in a different place or put a table lamp in a dark corner – even though these aren’t massive, expensive changes, they make a huge difference to your experience of a room and that is ultimately what you’re paying for. For a home that is better suited to your needs and makes you feel secure.
Consultancy also prevents costly mistakes. ‘Doing anything to your house is an investment and people really don’t want to make mistakes and like the reassurance that can come from a consultancy session,’ suggests designer Thea Speke, who offers consultancy alongside a couple of full design projects a year. ‘To make a mistake in a house is hundreds of pounds, but you can spend those on a half day consultancy and avoid the mistake in the first place,’ adds Nicola. She proves her point well to me in our hour-long session discussing my kitchen and sitting room, advising wisely on wall and ceiling colours and suggesting that the money I was about to fork out on a built-in banquette might be a waste of money in the long term. I was blown away by how she understood my budget and suggested clever ways to move things around rather than just spending money on new pieces. Very often, consultancy appeals to a creatively-engaged client – someone who wants to be hands on, is very happy to take on all of the legwork (it’s very rare for a designer working on a consultancy basis to do any more than give you the names of fabrics and pieces, so it’s on you to call in samples and get ordering) and is ultimately happy to take responsibility for the project. ‘What I love about consultancy is that you’re working with creative people and being exposed to so many different styles,’ explains Thea. She describes the experience as ‘cramming’ – ‘you’re seeing so much of different peoples' brains,’ she says.
For designers, there are also countless benefits. Both Anna and Nicola love how consultancy is self-contained and offers a break from full-on interior design projects that might be rumbling on for many months, or even years. ‘Consultancy is in the moment and I absolutely love thrashing out problems with people,’ explains Nicola. ‘You have a very direct relationship with the person you are talking to and are visibly helping them, which is a good feeling.’ Anna also values the ‘compact’ nature of consultancy. ‘I love the brevity of it,’ says the designer, who started offering sessions via The Expert about two and a half years ago. ‘Interior design can be a bit feast or famine and the joy of consultancy is that you can work it around what’s going on with your other projects.’
Anna admits that it is easier to offer consultancy via The Expert, rather than through her own website and design studio. ‘Through The Expert, it is all managed through the platform and everyone is on the same page that the hour is as contained and productive as possible,’ she explains. Thea, who initially set up on her own as an antiques dealer and interiors consultant, admits that it can be hard to manage the boundaries with consultancy. ‘It’s a fine line and I ended up doing a lot of admin work that fell outside of my half day or day of consultancy,’ explains Thea, who now takes on one or two full interior design jobs a year and a handful of consultancies. ‘With consultancy, you don’t know where you’ll be from one week to the next and you’re pulled in different directions depending on what clients want and I actually missed that sense of flow you get with a full-on interiors project,’ she explains. ‘I missed knowing the whole story.’
So is consultancy the way forward? All agree that it’s a crucial part of the industry and one where they would love to focus more. ‘I’d love to do more consultancies, because it just opens interiors to so many more people,’ explains Nicola. Consultancy certainly attracts a huge spectrum of demographics and ages – from young couples living in their first flat who would traditionally have never have dreamed of approaching an interior designer to older couples who are looking to refresh their home after their children have moved out. ‘I find it very refreshing to work with people in all different life situations,’ adds Anna, who admits she would love to add more availability to her calendar on The Expert if time allowed. Consultancy, it seems, will continue to be an expanding part of the interior design world, but that’s not to say it will replace full-on interior design. For designers, these comprehensive end-to-end projects are their bread and butter and provide stability – as Thea says, ‘you know what’s coming next and can plan accordingly’ – but consultancy, it seems, can add the spice and variety that they also so often crave. Ultimately, the world of consultancy is fed by the bigger world of interior design – ideas trickle down and would a designer ever suggest something in a consultancy where they hadn’t experimented with it in a full interior design project first? Perhaps not.
‘Consultancy is approachable, digestible and a fun doorway to everyone being able to have a go at interior design,’ says Nicola. ‘I absolutely love doing it, because it’s about giving someone confidence in their choices.’ You can’t argue with that.
