Contributor: Joel Chown

All this time spent at home is giving everyone a chance to do some much needed spring-cleaning and home maintenance. At the same time, it has homeowners day-dreaming about their current or potential remodel projects. Unfortunately, shutdowns & quarantine regulations has thrown our economy into a dive and thus having potential clients tightening up the budget and trying to cut where they can. In this project engineering exercise, the cost of hiring a designer might come up as optional and they might decide that they can go at it alone.

My advice: if the project requires the expertise of a professional designer and you’re thinking you’ll save money by being your own designer: don’t. If the project can wait until money isn’t as tight, wait. It will most likely end up costing you in the end not only in dollars but most definitely in final product. Thinking about the money you spend on your project as an investment and not a budget can help put things in perspective. A designers hours pay long-lasting dividends into your “investment.” Designers bring everything together in a cohesive manner that we can only dream of accomplishing on our own. Not to mention, designers get deep trade discounts at showrooms across the city that can save you tons of money on items you need for your job from fixtures to flooring, from to tile to wallpaper. Nearly all of our Industry Partners in ASID Oregon offer trade discounting that can save thousands!