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Not too long ago, one moved into a house, purchased new or used furniture to live in some comfort and slowly started building a home with proper furniture, curtains, decorations, etc. Today, functionality seems to have taken second place in the order of priority and decoration has taken the prime place. So how do you pick a good decorator and when do you need one? There are three likely occasions when one opts for interior decoration: -
When you are sick and tired of existing arrangements and want a makeover -
When you have to keep up with the Joneses -
When you have got yourself a brand new home and wish to make it aesthetically appealing and comfortable Occasionally, you are also forced into this exercise if you are promoted to a new post where you will need to entertain a lot of clients, officials, etc. Whatever be the reason, interior decoration is usually handled by professionals. In most cases, the architect involved, or the builder from whom the premises is either rented or bought, helps us trace a good interior decorator. If you are constrained by other legal or audit requirements, it is also common practice to advertise for the requirements by inviting tenders. In all these cases, references of other jobs undertaken can be asked for and the premises visited before choosing the one that you will be most comfortable with. If the interior decoration requires complete painting of the interiors and/or exteriors, this is a specialized job, nowadays handled by the manufacturers of paints. If you contact them, they have a panel of painters that they recommend to visit your place, submit quotations and they also assist you in the entire process of choice of primer, paint, shade matching, etc. Here too, the painting contractor can be asked for reference of other jobs done. Large furniture and furnishing stores too usually have a panel of interior decorators that can be sourced and a competent one chosen using the same criteria of asking for references of previous jobs done. Your local newspaper is a great source for classified advertisements by interior decorators. If they do not appear every day, there will be special days on which they appear and you can easily find out these days and locate a few who can then form a pool from which you can select one to do your job. The best way of choosing an interior decorator in your city, however, is likely to be word of mouth reference. Just ask someone whose interior decoration appeals to you to introduce you to the decorator. You will rarely go wrong. If you are so inclined, the Internet offers a great source of information on interior decoration, and decorators. In all the cases, however, do ask for references and check other tasks handled by the interior decorator before committing yourself. Can something be done about creating a more accessible professional body for interior decorators, like that of accountants, architects, etc? Can Indian interior decorators become more professional, advertise, and market themselves as important service providers?
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