Interior Design In the Age of AI

As a society we’ve gone from relying on snail mail that takes months to transport a letter, to corporate-run shipping entities that can guarantee your product delivered the next day. If we want information we can usually Google it and have an answer in seconds. And now if we want a design concept, it looks like AI has us covered right? Nearly. The age of instant gratification is challenging for interior designers on many levels, but here are some key points to consider before you dismiss the importance of hiring an interior designer.

1.        Online reviews are not always reliable

If you’ve ever spent hours agonizing over reading hundreds of reviews, only to find that the product/hotel/service really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, you’re not alone. Online reviews are becoming less and less reliable, now that they can be purchased, edited, and manipulated. And without credible online reviews, online purchasing can be a pretty terrifying guessing game. AI will take reviews at face value, whereas an experienced designer will know what to look for and which resources are the most reliable. Some of this is based on professional intel, and some is based on years of experimental purchasing experience from different suppliers. Even designers win some lose some. But the good designers will write off the losses, and re-order from a higher quality source when they get a dud. In cases like this, the client is reaping all the benefits, while blissfully ignorant to the irritating and expensive process that was involved. For contractors especially, I have found that online reviews are flimsy at best. I’ve dealt with some terrible contractors that had glowing online reviews, and better contractors who had weak online reviews. If you’re planning to invest many thousands of dollars in your home, whether it be refurnishing or remodeling, or both, it’s good to have a real person with solid industry intel in your corner.

2.        Online photos are not usually reliable

I have come to expect that virtually no product photography online is consistent with what is delivered. There are some exceptions, but only through experience have I learned which vendors have the more reliable product photography, and which ones are a crapshoot. It’s not even dictated by price unfortunately. This is a huge part of what you’re paying for when you hire a designer—eliminating the guess-work.

3.        Filters will only get you so far

When shopping online, there will usually be filters you can use to narrow down and find the product that is the best fit—some of the most popular being the product rating and the price. I’m not going to lie, I do my share of Amazon shopping (usually for personal items) and I have gotten pretty savvy with filters. One thing I’ve noticed though is that some filters have noticeable flaws. The ratings filter for instance. When I look at reviews and ratings from past buyers, I am accepting the input of literally anyone, rather than vetting my sources. You can’t always take reviews at face value.

Then there’s the price filter. If you’ve never purchased a high quality armchair, and don’t know how to distinguish between good quality and poor quality, how are you supposed to know what sort of price point to look for when searching for an armchair online? When a designer is shopping for an armchair online, and they see one listed at $399, and another listed at $3,999, they know instantly what sort of quality both can be expected to be. The consumer generally sees only the price tag, scoffs at the more expensive option, and purchases the cheaper one before they have time to really think about it. If you have cats, and all your furniture will be destroyed quickly no matter the quality level, I understand and respect this decision. But if you want quality, and longevity, and don’t have cats, consider the bigger ticket option as it is very likely to be higher quality, even if you’re paying partly for a label.

The benefit to working with a designer in this scenario is the designer will be able to filter through all the labels and retail chain distractions and take you directly to the very best quality product for the most justifiable price. AI and online search engines are at the mercy of big box retailers with multi-million dollar advertising budgets. They will not be able to serve your needs the way an experienced designer can.

4.        Finer details are a designer’s bread and butter

AI has come a long way, to be sure. The ability to render an entire room in a visually pleasing way is fantastic and inspiring, but a design concept is just that, a concept. The difference between a cool design concept and a comfortable and attractive design reality is in the details. AI might suggest a really nice looking sofa with good reviews and an agreeable price point, but AI won’t be paying attention to the seat height, seat depth, arm height, back height, and fiber content. AI won’t be accounting for the location of your heating vents, outlets, or TV.

Designers get paid to think about EVERYTHING under both the aesthetic and comfort umbrellas. We think about how tall our clients are, and how that will impact what sort of seating will be most appropriate. We think about whether a down alternative cushion is available for those with feather down allergies. We think about what rug size will be able to both encapsulate all the furniture in the room while also minimizing trip hazards in high traffic areas. We think about lighting conditions, ambience, and color temperature. We think about whether the client is likely to stay put or relocate. How much makes sense to invest when they may relocate within 2 years? Contrary to popular belief, interior designers are highly practical, and deeply interested in our clients’ comfort and satisfaction with their finished space. It’s not about commission on product, and it’s not about fancy wallpaper. It’s about the client.

5.        The higher your quality expectations, the more essential a designer becomes

It can be difficult to pursue high quality anything when you don’t really know what to look for. When I go car shopping, I am at a serious disadvantage because the fancy spiel the salesman is giving me is falling on very oblivious ears. I don’t know what the heck he’s talking about, and I don’t know that I really care either. I just want a nice car that drives the way I want it to drive, handles nicely, looks fabulous, smells good, and is reliable. That’s it. It’s much the same for homeowners looking for a finished home. They want quality. They want comfort, and they want all the bells and whistles. But they don’t necessarily want to spend hours in a classroom or on YouTube or Instagram studying up on every itty-bitty detail of how to create a finished designer quality space.

Can you have good quality without a designer? Absolutely. But it may take considerably longer with a lot more trial and error along the way. And ironically, sometimes more $$$. If you start by purchasing a sofa that is $1,999, toss it a couple years later, buy a “nicer” one for $4,999, then toss it a few years later, then buy a “nicer” one for $12,999, then sell it on Facebook marketplace for $300 because the cushions have totally lost their shape, you have spent nearly $20,000 (not including the cost of your time on each attempt) for NOTHING. Let that sink in.

People do this all the time, avoiding hiring a designer, because they don’t want to spend more than they have to. And yet the cost of the mistakes can add up to really insane levels, and the time to come to that realization can span many years. I'm not here to claim that interior designers are the key to saving money. But they can definitely save you time, and take you more directly and easily to solutions and products that feel WORTH the investment. Saved time + Good investments = WINNING.

Check out our premium design services here.

6.        There is no substitute for excellent and LIVE customer service

If you’ve ever tried to get help from customer service recently, you know that it can be an exercise in madness. Best case scenario, you’re on the phone for 20 minutes, and have to spend another 20 minutes submitting photos, your order number, the item number and quantity, the description of the issue, etc. Over the course of one large project, having to do that several times can get very old, very fast, costing you time spent on your actual job and with your family. Imagine if you didn’t have to deal with any of that because you had a personal assistant who not only discovered the issue to begin with, but took the liberty of handling all the logistics of sourcing a replacement/solution on your behalf? What if your assistant took care of all the old packaging disposal, return shipping, product assembly and installation for you, without being asked? That’d be a dream come true right?

Well my lovelies, that is the reality of what it’s like to work with a full-service interior designer. We don’t just pick out nice things. We take care of the majority (if not all) of the less pleasant logistical tasks as part of what is called project management.

When a designer charges a markup on product, it is not about greed, it is about their experience level telling them that each item comes with risks like damage in transit, potential defects, quality issues, or being lost/stolen (least likely but still possible). When a designer is hired to coordinate an entire project they are not just making selections, but accounting for every issue related to every individual product that comes up along the way. That costs the designer not only time, but also money to source replacements when things go awry. Hence the markup.

Many prospective clients hesitate in hiring a full-service designer because they struggle to justify the price. But no one questions the price when they check into the Ritz Carlton, because they know that they are paying for a premium luxury experience. Hiring an experienced and reputable interior designer is very similar in principle. They remove the unpleasantness of the decision fatigue, and the hundreds of miscellaneous tasks that get you from A to B. They cut through the noise of a million distractions that will derail you from optimal results, taking you directly to the correct answer: a perfectly designed and crafted space. They operate with the intention of delivering you a Ritz Carlton level experience, and a finished space so satisfying that you never want to leave.

To learn more about design services that can make your life easier, explore our service offerings here.