Notes from the Studio

Design fees are one of the least transparent parts of hiring a designer. I've laid out exactly how Studio Kestrel sets its fees, what our projects start at, how furniture is priced, and what's billed separately, so you can budget with a clear picture before a first meeting.

Miami residential design has its own timeline, its own board rules, and its own material problems. A designer unfamiliar with how Miami buildings work will underestimate all three. Here's what to look for when hiring an interior designer for a Miami condo or single-family home, and what most often gets missed.

Hamptons construction runs on a calendar most people don't think about until they're behind schedule. The window to hire, design, permit, source, build, and install a whole home before Memorial Day is shorter than it looks. Here's how to choose an interior designer who understands the local timeline, the local trades, and the specific way a Hamptons home actually gets built.

Most homeowners hire the wrong designer for the right reasons — nice portfolio, warm meeting, good chemistry — and then spend eighteen months learning what "full-service" actually means. Here's how the hiring process is supposed to work, what to ask, how fees actually get structured, and how to tell in a single consultation whether a designer can run a project the size of yours.

Most homeowners hire an architect first and think about the interior designer later. That sequence costs more than any other decision on the project. Here's how the designer-architect collaboration is supposed to work, when to bring the designer in, and the questions that separate designers who actually work with architects from designers who just say they do.

"Interior designer" and "decorator" get used interchangeably online, but they describe two different scopes of work — one includes floor plans and architectural coordination, the other doesn't. Hiring the wrong one for your project usually shows up mid-renovation, right when it's most expensive to fix. Here's how to tell which one your project actually needs.

Most of what gets recommended for vetting a designer — credentials, years in business, a portfolio that photographs well — isn't actually what predicts a good fit. The bigger tells are in how a firm handles fees, timelines, and communication once the season gets busy. Here's what to check before your first call.

Kitchens and bathrooms still recoup the most value at resale, but the choices inside them matter more than the renovation itself. This piece breaks down which finishes, layouts, and customizations let you build a home you love now while still protecting its value down the road, and which ones turn into a buyer's negotiating point instead. Here's how to tell the difference before you spend.