5 Myths About Interior Designers (& What We Really Do)

When you imagine an interior designer's role, you might picture us artfully arranging accessories, browsing luxurious showrooms, or celebrating with clients in their newly transformed spaces. While these moments do happen—and they're absolutely rewarding—they represent only a small fraction of our work.

The reality is that 95% of our time is spent behind the scenes, handling the countless details that transform your vision into reality. For every beautiful space you see, there are hundreds of hours of meticulous planning, coordination, and problem-solving that happened long before the final reveal.

As interior designers, we’re involved in every stage of your project—from initial concept through final installation—not just the moments that require hands-on decorating. Today, we want to take you behind the curtain and share what really happens during each phase of our process, while addressing some of the most common misconceptions about what we do.

1. The Discovery Phase

Myth: Designers will impose their personal style on your home.

Why It's False: This concern comes up from time to time, and we can understand why. Your home should reflect you, not our portfolio. When we approach a project, we're not looking to replicate our previous work or showcase our personal aesthetic—we're focused entirely on understanding your lifestyle, preferences, and vision for your space.

What We Really Do: Our process begins with deep listening. We conduct thorough consultations to understand your needs, preferences, planned investment, and timeline. Through detailed conversations and careful observation of how you interact with your current space, we gather insights that become the foundation for every single design decision.

Your inspiration images help us understand your aesthetic preferences, but they're just one piece of a much larger conversation. We then create design concepts that are distinctively tailored to you—from spatial planning and material selections to custom furniture and lighting solutions—each of these elements are selected to serve you and your specific lifestyle.

2. The Design Development Phase

Myth: Designers are just decorators who make spaces look pretty.

Why It's False: While creating beautiful spaces is certainly part of our work, it's far from the complete picture. This myth significantly underestimates the technical expertise and strategic thinking required to create spaces that function beautifully for how you live.

What We Really Do: Think of us as problem-solvers for your space. Our first consideration is always functionality—how will you use this room? What does your ideal morning routine look like? Where will your family gather? How do you entertain? These functional requirements are the driving force behind our design decisions.

We bring specialized knowledge about spatial planning, building codes, accessibility standards, and material performance—the things most people simply don't have time (or industry knowledge) to master. We create detailed drawings, elevations, and specifications that ensure every element works together perfectly.

During this phase we are designing custom built-ins, planning electrical layouts, specifying finishes that meet both aesthetic and durability requirements, and coordinating with architects and structural engineers when needed. This way, before any construction begins, you have a comprehensive plan for every detail of your space.

A furnishings plan of a recent living room project

3. The Procurement Phase

Myth: Ordering products for design projects is like going on a shopping spree.

Why It's False: If only it were that simple! Every item in your home requires ordering precision that would surprise you. Take a single countertop, for example—we must specify the exact material type, color, edge style, thickness, precise dimensions, finish type, and how it will connect to surrounding elements.

What We Really Do: Once you've approved our design presentation, we begin the complex process of sourcing, ordering, tracking, and quality-controlling everything that will go into your home. This involves comparing dozens of vendors, verifying lead times, calculating shipping costs, and finding alternatives when items are discontinued.

We manage every detail of your orders—from creating purchase orders to coordinating with vendors, tracking shipments across states or countries, performing quality inspections, and safely storing items until installation. We also handle the inevitable challenges so you don’t have to: damaged deliveries, fabric variations, vendor changes, or timeline adjustments.

This behind-the-scenes work is why we don't typically "go shopping" with clients. Much of our sourcing happens through trade-only resources, and the coordination required simply can't be done efficiently in a retail environment.

4. The Construction Phase

Myth: Designers have no role once construction begins.

Why It's False: Handing over plans and specifications to your contractor doesn't guarantee your design will be executed as envisioned. Without professional oversight, the responsibility for receiving deliveries, coordinating trades, and managing countless project details falls to you—and that's essentially a full-time job.

What We Really Do: We serve as project liaisons throughout your construction or renovation. While we're not physically building your home, we maintain constant communication with contractors, architects, and tradespeople to ensure everything progresses according to plan.

We field questions from builders, electricians, and plumbers, troubleshoot issues as they arise, and make real-time decisions to keep your project moving forward. When challenges come up—and they always do—we present you with calm, proactive solutions rather than panic.

This oversight includes attending site visits, advocating for quality workmanship, ensuring building codes are met, and coordinating the complex timing of various trades. Our experience allows us to anticipate potential problems and address them before they become costly mistakes.

5. The Installation & Styling Phase

Myth: You can achieve the same results as a designer with Pinterest and social media.

Why It's False: We often hear from potential clients who initially thought, "How hard could it be? I have Pinterest boards full of inspiration and I've been following design accounts on Instagram for years." While social media provides wonderful inspiration, the polished images you see online represent the final result—not the complex process required to achieve it. The gap between a beautiful inspiration photo and actually executing that vision in your specific space, with your budget, timeline, and lifestyle needs, is where the real expertise comes in.

What We Really Do: Those stunning "before and after" posts don't show the months of planning, the dozens of decisions about materials and measurements, or the coordination required to make it all come together seamlessly. As interior designers, we're involved in every stage of your project—from initial concept through final installation—not just the moments that require hands-on decorating.

Installation Day involves coordinating furniture deliveries, overseeing placement, hanging artwork, steaming textiles, and styling every detail until the space feels complete and harmonious. We're scheduling multiple vendors, managing installation teams, and ensuring each element is positioned perfectly. We handle the logistics so you can focus on the excitement of your transformation.

The Experience of a Professionally Designed Home

Myth: Hiring a designer is only for the wealthy.

Why It's False: Yes, this is a premium service, but the value goes far beyond the investment. We help clients make smarter decisions, preventing costly mistakes and allocating funds where they matter most.

The Value of a Designer: We bring specialized knowledge about space planning, scale, and materials that most homeowners simply don't have—creating spaces that not only look beautiful but function perfectly for your specific needs.

While hiring a designer represents an upfront investment, in the end, we often save you time and money by preventing costly mistakes, accessing trade-only resources, and helping allocate funds where they truly matter. More importantly, we bring peace of mind and professional expertise that allows you to enjoy the process rather than feel overwhelmed by it.

Achieving Your Goals with an Interior Designer

As you can see, the role of an interior designer is far more comprehensive than simply making a pretty home. Behind every beautiful photo is a hundred tiny decisions: spatial planning, construction limitations, lead times, code requirements, material durability, lifestyle needs…the list goes on. Great design looks effortless, but it takes strategy, skill and coordination to pull off.

We believe that design isn’t just about making things look beautiful – it’s about solving complex problems beautifully. If you’d like the support of an expert team to bring your project to life, we’d love to help. Reach out to us here, and let’s begin the conversation.

– Veronica & Aggie