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I'm amazed that this discussion has carried forward for nearly two years! In that time I have moved to another coastal area (cooler climate and better proximity to children) and this time found most of the discussion still rings true. Finding another home here was an incredibly frustrating journey made all the worse by a mad investor rush in the area just when we arrived to start our home search. That search took the best part of six months and in the end there would only be three or four houses to choose from in any week. Result? A rushed purchase, a desperately inadequate building inspection and failure on my part to notice poor bathroom tiling, shortage of closet and storage pace, just how small the lounge room really was, and etc. I disappointed myself because I had let the pressures beat me and now we are trying to resolve all of these issues in a home designed and built by one of this states most respected project home builders 25 years ago. Having now studied the floor plan with more care I realise it was put together (designed) in modular fashion - most bedrooms have similar dimensions and the living areas are all approximately the same size as if the designer simply juggled three boxes of one size and four of another size and then worked out traffic flow. Then he must have thrown them all in the air to see how they would land and that was design number two! And etc and so on. This house aside, we looked at a great many during the six months because we had to broaden our search above and below budget trying to find something. There were massive termite problems, leaky roofs, asbestos galore, gazzumping at every turn, almost all but the most expensive properties suffered at least one substantial fail for the most basic of needs and to top it off the best home in our price range just happened to be built on flood prone land - approved by council who put the flood signs up less than five years earlier. We live and learn. Then there were the real estate agents, but that would take another two years and I doubt the internet has enough free page space available!!! OK, I hear you, they're not ALL bad...

I agree with all and above. Good interior designers can think outside the box. We are trained in many areas and although everyone loves a certain style, interior designers will appreciate and respect all styles and see your passion and love and will follow a brief to make sure the home flows and that functionality is key. As i said earlier, its really important to start with a consultation and then you can decide from there, the 1st consultation is the start of see what you want, like, require and so on as you may only need a designer to guide you and then the rest you may be able to pick up on. The most beneficial advice i can give is do a consultation and through that you will see what you need and a good designer will be honest and will tell you if they feel you only need a small amount of guidance. I will give you an example of a situation where a person should have employed an interior designer, my next door neighbour built a home (im in a brand new area) and he choose the colours, textiles on his own and ended up with a moss green render, burgundy column and grey pathway. his house is horrible and had totally devalued his home just by doing it him self as he had no idea and now its to late, he rents it out and struggles to do it and real estates told him that he will have to lower the rental price due to the look. Good luck with it all, $150 is a small price to start with to give you an idea and all professionals will give you a further quote so that you know what to expect and then its up to you

I wish I had consulted one when my kitchen was being designed. I think additional storage options could have been explored that I simply didn't consider at the time.