The collaboration between builders and interior designers.

That kind of a relationship between builders and interior designers is very much a business deal which brings large profits to both parties - which has no advantage at all, to the customer or buyer. In fact, the cost is more and the design is less, than what you want.

This is what they do:

1. The builder hires a designer to design a model, because a fully furnished home produces more business for builder. We all have a better concept of the space when it is fully furnished, but when the buyer sees this model and does not like it, because of the style and quality of work, then the designer did a bad job.

2. When the buyer decides to build his home and hire a builder to do it, many times the builder will insist that you use (his designer) that did the model you did not like - and there is no way he will allow another designer to be involved. You are not told this, because he will make a good profit on that deal, when you use (his designer).

3. Since you are the one who is paying that builder and not the other way around, you should walk away immediately and go and find yourself another builder – remember its your money and you have a choice. There are a lot of builders, adding these charges into their prices, no matter what the builder tells you.

4. What a smart buyer should do, is get the price per square foot from the builder, without the architectural detailing and interior design, and then get a separate bid from a licensed interior designer that will do all the architectural detailing and all the payouts with the selections you need. You will get a product that is less expensive with a better design – avoiding the unnecessary extra charges.

5. When more talented professionals are used, it produces more satisfaction when it’s done. Consider checking their education, licenses, and experience in architect and interior design work.

Mimi Gabr

Why Should I Hire an Architect Interior Designer For My Home?

Why Should I Hire an Architect Interior Designer For My Home?

After you get over the initial shock of buying your dream home, I always tell my clients to settle down and live in it for a couple of months. I want you to get the feel of the place and decide what you want. Now we come to the question – why should I hire you versus my wife and I fixing the place up ourselves?

Here are the main reasons.

1. Use us as your tool, to achieve the exact design you want, because making mistakes will cost you a lot of money – when you sell your home. I don’t live in this place, you do, but I will achieve everything you have in mind to reflect your life style.
2. I have total accessibility to a huge variety of resources to purchase what you need - at Factory prices. The sale going on in the furniture store next door, will not qualified, for saving you money - you will spend too much right there.
3. The word "sale" is totally psychological. The mark up on these stores are over 100%+ so if they say they are giving you a 30% off, they are still making at least 70%. I work with factory cost which is the lowest you can get.

Think about it for a minute and watch for a series of blogs every week, with a new one to show you how that works. Most likely, you are looking at my web site now, and saying this looks very expensive and we don’t want to spend that much. That will be a big mistake, because the idea is to have your design look good on your budget, which automatically increases the value of your home.

America is on Sale

I was watching Squawk Box one morning this week and one of their guest Robert Darbelnet AAA President and CEO said "America is on Sale Now".  This is literally so TRUE.  

We all go through the good prosperous time and the bad time, but the smart ones can take advantage of the bad times, something good has to come out of this.  This is the time to spend a little and get a lot in return from real estate investments to remodeling and improving on what you have, so go for it. 

 You will be glad you can look great and still be on a tight budget.  

You just have to have a good vision to do that and I can help, so call me with any of your questions at (239) 643-9294.

Getting Your Home Ready for Sale on a Small Budget

Getting Your Home Ready for Sale on a Small Budget

Well for one thing, the Naples Home prices are great. Almost most manufactures lowered their prices to encourage buyers to buy and the products out there are getting better and better.

In my industry, which is Interior Architect and Design, it is a great time for "A Real Fixer Upper" and total makeover. A good time to improve on what you got and adding to the biggest investment you've got your own home.

So go for it, you can do what you always wanted to improve on your home for half the money that you would have spent if the economy is stronger.

Please visit our web site, or call us @ 239-643-9294 and find out how we can help you to save a substantial amount designing and furnishing your home to increase the value of your investment.