Who's the Best Interior Decorator on TRIBE?

[Klubmasta Will]

and how much is the TRIBE community discount?

recommendations please!

we just bought a house and are happy with the existing fixtures, appliances, etc. we would like help buying the furniture, rugs, beds and assorted nic-nacs. preferably someone who gets a good discount on everything which they would pass on (in whole or in part, but preferably in whole) to the customer.

please post websites, contact details, testimonials, etc.

thanks!

 

[MoFo]

Decorators get discounts? I've never heard that. Maybe on really high end stuff at trade shows I assume? Or access to staging furniture? Or wholesale knock-off stuff? Interesting.

 

[alexd]

I bet the Klubmasta is on pinterest

 

[MoFo]

I'd do it for free! Haha. Love this shit.

 

[kuba]

Decorators get discounts? I've never heard that. Maybe on really high end stuff at trade shows I assume? Or access to staging furniture? Or wholesale knock-off stuff? Interesting.

What are you talking about? All interior designers get wholesale from such places as italinteriors, kiosk, plan b etc., and most high-end places. Why? Because of volume.

Or were you asking sarcastically?

In example the Womb Chair is $3000 MSRP, and could be had for about 70% of that thru a designer.

 

[kuba]

THEN if the designer is smart, they knock the price up to charge you the diff and they pocket it.

 

[MoFo]

What are you talking about? All interior designers get wholesale from such places as italinteriors, kiosk, plan b etc., and most high-end places. Why? Because of volume.

Or were you asking sarcastically?

Nope, I don't know anything about that world. That's why I asked if it's just high end places because I can see them having relationships with ongoing decorators. Wasn't sure though as I can see those places be kinda snooty and profit-driven. But I guess if you can have decorators come in over and over then it's worth the discount.

I have a friend who's a restaurant and workplace designer in Paris and showed me all the furniture he gets for almost nothing. He said furniture is a huge rip off especially stuff like Eames, Nelson and mid century. He showed me his collection of chairs in his office all priced at 45 euros. They sell for up to 800 euros in the store.

Jake, you would've loved his workplace. To do a mock up for his client, he sends his team out to get the stuff. His office is a huge warehouse-like loft and his team assembles the exact replica of his design in his space within days. He works in that space for a while to tweak and figure out the electrical issues. Then all that shit gets thrown out, donated or sold before he implements it into the client's restaurant or office space. Incredible incredible pieces.

Sometimes when he's not happy with it, he scraps the whole project and starts over. It's like a fantasy job for sure where he gets to just create room after room after room. I went with him to the furniture district to look at the perfect set of pendants for over the bar at this upscale new restaurant opening. It was so neat to see him scour and look at every minute detail. He ended up scrapping all the lights because they were a little too blue! Ugh, that would definitely be a dream job.

 

[basketballjones]

ppl need help buying furniture?
i guess if dog walking is a viable job anything is

 

[sk8]

Hey! I was a dog walker for a while. Best high school job ever!!

Most of my clients were elderly people who were alone and had pets for company but weren't mobile enough to walk them as much as they needed or who's health had declined but wanted to keep their pet still. My favourite was an old wire-haired dachshund named Max. Aw, I miss the woolly wiener.

 

[MoFo]

Well, some people don't have an eye for design or how to arrange things, bbj. Decorating a home is definitely a skill.

 

[Klubmasta Will]

ppl need help buying furniture?

is this more unusual than, say, paying a chef to prepare a fine meal for you? people need help to make their meals, really?

or paying a skilled photographer to take pictures for you? people need help to take photographs, really?

a talented interior decorator can make a room/house look a lot better than i could, given their natural artistic skill and experience. this is not my area of expertise at all, although i do know what i like when i see it. plus, as mentioned, interior decorators can get big discounts which they could pass on to the customer.

even if i didn't need the decorator for his/her skill and just wanted someone to do the legwork because i have a busy schedule, would that be weird?

 

[Klubmasta Will]

I bet the Klubmasta is on pinterest

what's pinterest? i googled it but it won't let me in the site unless i sign up via facebook (which i'm not on) or email (which i don't want to give).

 

[MoFo]

Jesus Will, what are you, 70 years old in 2005?

Just use a junk mail email.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinterest

 

[kyfe]

Will, you have always struck me as someone with good taste, I'd suggest giving it a go with your wife and then have a decorator come in and touch it up.

As for furniture, let me know specifically what you need and I can certainly point you to some excellent stores, for free of course As kuba pointed out the discount typically doesn't get passed on (in whole) to the consumer anyway as most decorators will markup furnishings ~20% from their discounted price.

 

[ravinjunkie]

Decorators get discounts? I've never heard that. Maybe on really high end stuff at trade shows I assume? Or access to staging furniture? Or wholesale knock-off stuff? Interesting.

Yes, I used to work at Hunter Douglas!! Btw, Will you MUST get HD blinds, soo beautiful and I know you can afford it.

 

[Dirty Girl]

go on one of those tv shows willie!!

 

[MoFo]

What are HD blinds? And I am in the market to replace all the blinds in my house.

 

[kuba]

Nope, I don't know anything about that world. That's why I asked if it's just high end places because I can see them having relationships with ongoing decorators. Wasn't sure though as I can see those places be kinda snooty and profit-driven. But I guess if you can have decorators come in over and over then it's worth the discount.

I have a friend who's a restaurant and workplace designer in Paris and showed me all the furniture he gets for almost nothing. He said furniture is a huge rip off especially stuff like Eames, Nelson and mid century. He showed me his collection of chairs in his office all priced at 45 euros. They sell for up to 800 euros in the store.

Jake, you would've loved his workplace. To do a mock up for his client, he sends his team out to get the stuff. His office is a huge warehouse-like loft and his team assembles the exact replica of his design in his space within days. He works in that space for a while to tweak and figure out the electrical issues. Then all that shit gets thrown out, donated or sold before he implements it into the client's restaurant or office space. Incredible incredible pieces.

Sometimes when he's not happy with it, he scraps the whole project and starts over. It's like a fantasy job for sure where he gets to just create room after room after room. I went with him to the furniture district to look at the perfect set of pendants for over the bar at this upscale new restaurant opening. It was so neat to see him scour and look at every minute detail. He ended up scrapping all the lights because they were a little too blue! Ugh, that would definitely be a dream job.

No doubt that furniture has a huge mark-up but I don't think an $800 product could be had for $45 wholesale.

I can't divulge numbers for our business exactly but it is similar to furniture in that the raw goods and cost of labour and shipping all add up, and suffice to say although there is a margin, it's not that big.

That job sounds AMAZING. So do his connections. And he requires such attention to detail-it is why he is so good at his job in the first place!

 

[ravinjunkie]

What are HD blinds? And I am in the market to replace all the blinds in my house.

Window Treatments - Hunter Douglas Window Treatments - bad UX, but you can get an idea or google it.

It can be pretty pricey, I remember seeing an invoice for $25,000 [most likely for a mansion]. However, you can customized them to how much opacity you want and they have a colour sample to choose from. I'm sorry I can't give anymore info, as I did not handle any sales/pricing.

Maybe I should be a salesperson for them! Oh yeah it's an American company, but HD has a warehouse & headoffice in Brampton, where the blind manufacturing takes place.

 

[MoFo]

No doubt that furniture has a huge mark-up but I don't think an $800 product could be had for $45 wholesale.

Kid you not. 45 euros for a Kartel dining chair. It was like... Design heaven. The store he took me to was... I pretty much almost whipped it out and started to jerk off. I could not believe that whole design area actually.

What's hilarious is that the lightbulbs he was looking at were 1000 euros and up. They were pretty spectacular.

 

[kuba]

MoFo I actually LOLed at your whipped it out comment and I NEVER write LOL!

That's funny (and sad) that prices are so crazy.

I guess we should get business licences and open a fake design company to start getting deals!

 

[R4V4G3D_SKU11S]

I have a friend who's a restaurant and workplace designer in Paris and showed me all the furniture he gets for almost nothing. He said furniture is a huge rip off especially stuff like Eames, Nelson and mid century. He showed me his collection of chairs in his office all priced at 45 euros. They sell for up to 800 euros in the store.

Jake, you would've loved his workplace. To do a mock up for his client, he sends his team out to get the stuff. His office is a huge warehouse-like loft and his team assembles the exact replica of his design in his space within days. He works in that space for a while to tweak and figure out the electrical issues. Then all that shit gets thrown out, donated or sold before he implements it into the client's restaurant or office space. Incredible incredible pieces.

Sometimes when he's not happy with it, he scraps the whole project and starts over. It's like a fantasy job for sure where he gets to just create room after room after room. I went with him to the furniture district to look at the perfect set of pendants for over the bar at this upscale new restaurant opening. It was so neat to see him scour and look at every minute detail. He ended up scrapping all the lights because they were a little too blue! Ugh, that would definitely be a dream job.

So it turns out you know alot about that world.

 

[MoFo]

I think saying I know a lot about that world would undermine my friend's and other designers' talents. I know about it as much how I know how firefighting kinda works.

 

[basketballjones]

Well, some people don't have an eye for design or how to arrange things, bbj. Decorating a home is definitely a skill.

who are you decorating it for if you dont decorate it as you want?
i buy the things i like because i like them and they suit me. i dont hire someone to buy things they think will look good in my house

 

[MoFo]

Jason, don't you work with designers and architects and stuff for your line of work?
You can design an interior of a home much like how you can get a stylist or like customize a car.

You pay someone for consultancy services and who have an eye for textiles, placement, ergonomics, design expertise... And as some people mentioned, access to pieces and discounts. It's obviously not for every day folk.

Here's an example: you want a man cave that looks like an old library with lots of club chairs, bookshelves, bar carts and some art that reflects a certain era blah blah blah. If you have the dough, get someone to show you ideas and design a room for you. If you're the client, you have the final say. You can also get ideas that you normally wouldn't just think of as decorators and designers are educated in that stuff.

It's not that simple to design and implement your ideal interiors. Takes a good eye and lots of practice for sure. It can also save you a lot of time going to stores, looking for pieces, specific colours etc. Again, it's a service. I'm not sure what's so hard to fathom? Am I missing something here?